Behaviour Policy

Ethos

At Epsom and Ewell High School, we have a strong set of beliefs that guide everything we do. We
value kindness and teamwork, and we make sure that everyone feels included. We appreciate
the richness of our diverse community and understand how valuable it is. Every day, we create
an environment where everyone has a sense of purpose and feels empowered to have a positive
attitude. The principles of this policy derive directly from the school’s core values and this policy
is intended to ensure we can protect our ethos.

Behaviour Policy

This Behaviour Policy acknowledges the school’s legal duties under the Equality Act 2010 in
respect of safeguarding and in respect of students with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities
(SEND). In addition, this policy takes account of guidance provided by the Department of
Education in relation to behaviour and discipline, screening and searching students, confiscation
of inappropriate items, the power to use reasonable force and other physical contact.

Teachers have a statutory authority to discipline students whose behaviour is unacceptable, who
break the school rules or who fail to follow a reasonable instruction. All stakeholders are expected
to uphold the policy and its principles consistently and fairly; ensuring that they meet the needs
of all individuals.

Under the Education and Inspections Act 2006 it is the right of the school:

• To make clear the school’s statutory power to discipline students and that students and
parents will need to respect this.
• To enforce their school behaviour policy – including rules and disciplinary measures.
• To expect students and parents’ cooperation in maintaining an orderly climate for
learning.
• To expect student and parents to respect the rights of other students and adults in the
school.
• To take firm action against students who harass or denigrate teachers or other school staff,
on or off premises – engaging external support services, including the police, as
appropriate.
Equally, it is the responsibility of the school:

• To ensure the school behaviour policy does not discriminate against any student on e.g.,
grounds of race, gender, disability, or sexual orientation and that it promotes good
relations between different communities.
• To ensure staff are clear about the extent of their disciplinary authority and receive
necessary professional development on behaviour strategies.
• To support, praise and as appropriate reward students’ good behaviour.
• To apply sanctions fairly, consistently, proportionately, and reasonably – taking account
of SEND, disability and the needs of vulnerable children and offering support as
appropriate.
• To make alternative provision for suspended students, and where appropriate to arrange
reintegration interviews for parents at the end of a suspension.
• To take all reasonable measures to protect the safety and wellbeing of staff and
students, including preventing all forms of bullying and dealing effectively with reports
and complaints about bullying.
• To promote positive behaviour through active development of students’ social,
emotional, and behavioural skills.
• To keep parents informed of their child’s behaviour – good as well as bad, use
appropriate methods of engaging them and, where necessary, support them in
meeting their parental responsibilities.
• To work with other agencies to promote community cohesion and safety.

Code of Conduct

The governors are committed to securing the well-being of all members of the school community
by creating a safe, secure, and stimulating learning environment. Epsom and Ewell High School
has guidelines for student conduct and classroom expectations which are designed to set high
standards of behaviour and to be consistently applied by members of staff. However, discretion
and individual circumstances will be taken account of when deciding on action. We are
committed to ensuring the welfare of all students. Vulnerable students, including looked after
children, those with SEND, physical or mental needs, will receive behavioural support according
to their needs.
CODE OF CONDUCT

At Epsom and Ewell High School, we have 3 clear rules that all students must follow. By choosing
EEHS for their education, parents and students are accepting that following these 3 rules is non-
negotiable:

1. Be READY
2. Be RESPECTFUL
3. Be SAFE

Be READY

Students are expected to:

• Arrive to school on time.
• Be equipped appropriately for all lessons.
• Enter and exit lessons ready to learn.

Be RESPECTFUL

Students are expected to:

• Respect all adults by
o Following instructions first time
o Not being rude or abusive in their language or actions
o Listening carefully

• Respect each other by

o Not bullying or intimidating
o Not being physically or verbally abusive
o Not disrupting the learning of others

• Respect the school by

o Always wearing the uniform correctly
o Treating the school buildings, equipment, and surroundings appropriately
o Behaving appropriately outside of school and not bringing the school into
disrepute.
Be SAFE

Students are expected to:

• Arrive to lessons on time and remain in lessons (unless the teacher has given permission
to leave)
• Conduct themselves in a manner that does not make any other member of the school
community feel unsafe.
• Display safe behaviour in corridors and at break times.

Rewards

Students are encouraged to reach the highest standards both in terms of their work and personal
development. A range of measures are used to rewards students’ achievements and progress.
These include:

• Verbal praise; a written comment on students’ work, a letter or phone call to parents.
• Positive Class Chart points from staff for effort, achievement, learning, attitude,
standards behaviour, contribution to school events, positive contribution in class and
excellent effort.
• Attendance certificates.
• Displays of students’ work in school; acknowledgement in assemblies; special awards
either in assembly or in the summer awards evening.
• When the progress reports go out, the Heads of Year will analyse the student learning
profiles.
• Bespoke awards programmes for each year group based on positive Class Chart points.
• Significant achievements through the house system are recognised and rewarded.

Sanctions

The school reserves the right to use a range of appropriate sanctions ranging from, but not
exclusive to, the following:

• Detentions
o A standard consequence for infringements of any of the 3 school rules. These
will be at a time determined by the member of staff, break time, lunch time or
after school. Failure to attend may lead to an extended detention or internal
suspension. If a student is removed from a lesson due to their poor
behaviour, a 60 minute after school detention will be set for the same day.
 • Internal suspensions
• Suspensions
• Permanent exclusions

Standard 6

If a student receives 6 negative points in one week, a standard 6 will trigger an hour detention
with the HoY on the designated day. Failure to attend a Standard 6 detention will result in the
student receiving a 1.5-hour detention the following day. Deliberate refusal to attend, or walking
off will result in an internal suspension the following day. Any student who receives 12 negative
points in one week will automatically trigger an internal suspension.

It is expected that parents will support the school in incidents where a sanction is deemed
necessary.

Suspensions and Exclusions

Will be used for a one-off instance of serious misconduct or refusal to follow the school rules. A
student will be deemed to be acting as a member of the school irrespective of the time of the
incident/issue if it is proved to impact the school community. Parents will be contacted by
telephone and will also receive a letter from the school outlining details of the exclusion and
work will be issued to the student. Parents and students may be asked to attend an interview
with a member of SLT before the return to school where expectations for improvement will be
discussed.

Permanent exclusion is always viewed as a last resort. However, any student will be at risk of
permanent exclusion from school if their poor behaviour does not change after exhausting all
appropriate support strategies (listed under the support for students’ section of this policy).

Bullying

Bullying is being hurt, frightened, or threatened by someone else. Nobody deserves to be bullied;
everyone has a right to feel safe in and out of school.

You do not deserve:

• To suffer verbal abuse
• To suffer racist, homophobic, or sexist comments/ behaviour to you
• To be hit or physically hurt
• To have your possession stolen or touched without your permission.
Nobody should suffer the results of other people’s actions. It is everyone’s responsibility – staff
and students – to prevent bullying. Students are encouraged to talk to any member of staff with
whom they feel comfortable, including the Learning Mentors in the Wave, and the form tutors.

Use of Reasonable Force

All members of school staff have a legal power to use reasonable force to maintain good order
and discipline in the classroom and to prevent students from:

• Committing an offence
• Hurting themselves or others
• Damaging property
• Causing disorder

This power will also apply to people whom the Headteacher has temporarily put in charge of
students such as volunteers or parents accompanying students on a school organised visit. Up-
to-date records are kept of any incidents where restraint is used, and parents will be informed of
such incidents.

Having rigid categories of behaviour with associated scales of punishment is not effective. All
staff members are professionals and use their discretion. The most effective management of
behaviour is undertaken by the member of staff immediately involved. There are a number of
strategies that can be invoked dependent on the behaviour being encountered.

Support for Students

In order to support students with their behaviour, the school offers the following support where
appropriate:

Level 1
• Discuss difficulties with parents/carers.
• Discuss difficulties with student.
• Referral to Wave/MHST/Buddy Up/E2W
• Consult SENCO regarding additional needs if relevant.
• Change of teaching class/set
• Withdrawal from lessons
• Internal suspensions
• Student on report to form tutor.
• Implementation of SEND support (IEP) if relevant.
Level 2
• 1:1 pastoral support
• Allocated key worker.
• Allocated designated safe space.
• Review behaviour management strategies
• Intervention on restorative practice
• Student on report to Head of Year
• Consider application for EHCP if relevant.
• Consider EEHS alternative provision if suited to student.
• Suspensions
• 1:1 explanation of EEHS behaviour policy and any other relevant policies with student.

Level 3

• Adaptation to unstructured time

• Reintegration plan following suspensions
• Risk assessment
• Referral to NESSSS outreach
• Referral to social care
• Referral to Education Psychologist for support
• Professionals meeting if relevant (CAMHS, Inclusion Officer, EP etc.)
• Student on report to SLT
• Suspensions
• Referral to medical, behaviour or language specialists depending on students’ needs.

Level 4

• Reintegration plan may include reduced timetable.

• Pastoral support plan to include all relevant professionals working with student.
• Managed Move
• Placement at alternative provision if possible
• Review all support in place for student.
• Review pastoral support and consider school counsellor/nurse if student will engage.
• Hold emergency Annual Review/PEP if student is EHCP or CLA.

Support for parents

• Behaviour Policy issued to all parents for clarity.

• Communication home regarding child’s behaviour, including positive feedback.
 • Face to face meetings for early intervention; advice given for strategies to use.
• Referrals are made to relevant outside agencies.
• Reintegration meetings after exclusions to avoid future problems.

Support for staff

• All staff are aware which sanctions they can apply, and which may only be applied by
more senior staff.
• All staff receive training on what is acceptable conduct and what is not; specific
reference is made to contact with students, both physical and electronic
• All staff are DBS checked and the school adopts all the guidelines contained in the
Safeguarding Children and Safer Recruitment in Education. This sets out the
responsibilities of local authorities, schools, and FE colleges to safeguard and promote
the welfare of children and young people and details the process for dealing with
allegations of abuse against staff.

Confiscated items.

• To be lawful, confiscation must be a reasonable sanction in the circumstances of the

particular case.
• Decisions about retention and disposal of confiscated property must also be
reasonable in the circumstances of the particular case. Prohibited items include
weapons, knives, alcohol, illegal drugs, stolen items, tobacco and cigarette papers,
fireworks, pornographic images, vapes and any article that could be used to cause
harm and any item banned by the school rules.

Student misbehaviour outside school

We have a statutory power to regulate the behaviour of students when off school premises and
not supervised by school staff. The school’s behaviour policy will be considered when addressing
any non-criminal bad behaviour and/or bullying which occurs anywhere off the school premises
and which is either witnessed by a staff member or reported to the school.

Epsom and Ewell High School has expectations of positive behaviour off the school site. This
includes behaviour on activities arranged by the school such as educational visits and sporting
events; behaviour on the way to and from school; and behaviour when wearing school uniform
in a public place.
Date of next review: Autumn 2, 2024 - 2025