Behaviour in my class this week.

[absopugginglutely]

I teach in a mixed R/ Key stage 1 class and the behaviour this term has been so bad I'm tearing my hair out already!
The past two day's examples.

Year one were asked to get into a circle and two different children took it upon them selves to dig their finger nails repeatedly into two completely innocent children's hands.

During PE one child pinched another repeatedly (again, unprovoked)

One child used his body weight to push a reception child out of his way.

One child was asked to wash their hands because they were playing with their snot and instead of actually washing them, was found by a member of staff loitering in the corridor very much not washing their hands.

One child scratched the back of another child's neck because they wanted to play with the other.

One child told another to call one of the girls, "fat" so they both did.

One child there their pencil down in a blind rage and refused to work because I pointed out they needed to use capital letters at the start of their sentence.

Half the class were kept in at break for simply not listening and fiddling etc during lessons.

The list is endless and I've been following the school's behaviour policy and issued letters home, talked to parents, brought the children to be spoken to by the head, praised the wanted behaviour, awarded kindness and still they are being a nightmare!

I found myself getting cross by the end of the day when after all the warnings, sanctions, letters to parents two children started calling other names.

I hate being a cross teacher, I normally have lots of fun with my classes but this year it has been awful so far.

What can I do?

[LegArmpits]

Sounds like a good day in my school 😂

[PancakeAndKeith]

Sounds fairly normal to me.
A day when you don’t get a chair thrown at your head is a win.

[zeeboo]

It b sounds perfectly normal and age appropriate.

[headwreckersrus]

Yr1/R is a really crappy set up to start with. You just need to keep plugging on with the behaviour policy and being very very firm.

I wouldn't keep them in at play time though- I would do an in-class time out.

Chin up. This bit before half term is the worst when the tiredness kicks in but the holiday is so far off.

[absopugginglutely]

But how do I avoid just becoming a grumpy old bag in the face of all of this nonsense!?

[absopugginglutely]

It isn't just R/ Y1 it's also Y2!

[Scarydinosaurs]

Well all those saying ‘normal’ when you know for your context that this isn’t normal...isn’t very helpful.

What do you think is different this year? Is it the R students? Or yr1s? Or a mixture of both?

[TimeforanotherChange]

But they are 4 and 5 aren't they? Sorry, I teach teens - but most children this age fiddle, don't listen, push someone else - and would get in the corridor and get distracted, forgetting all about washing their hands.

Do warnings and letters usually have an immediate effect on 4 year olds?

[TimeforanotherChange]

Hmm...sorry, cross posted. Is it the mixed ages do you think? The 2 year gap is presumably a factor in behaviour at this age.

[headwreckersrus]

When you have That Class you have to be a grumpy git until you get the ground rules in. I find that reducing language and being totally explicit about expectations helps greatly, even if it makes you sound like a terror- 'We will all come to our space on the carpet and sit with our legs crossed and our hands in our lap' instead of 'Now, boys and girls, let's all come to the carpet and sit down.'

[headwreckersrus]

The examples that OP gives aren't totally unexpected but they're still not examples of good behaviour. The vast majority of 4 year olds do not scratch or dig in nails.

[absopugginglutely]

I think it’s having a few really bad ones that need constantly bringing into line then the rest just start going haywire too!
Maybe we need to think of instant punishments rather than letters home to parents for the little ones.

[ballsdeep]

I find up until half term I sound like a nag but once the rules, routines and expectations are firmly in place I can have fun with them then!

[Teachermaths]

You definitely need instant punishments. The little ones have no concept of something happening earlier getting them in trouble later on.

Speak to parents by all means but the pupils need an instant consequence in the classroom at the time.

Can you separate the behaviour into "something age appropriate and just needs expectations reinforced" and "not appropriate in any circumstance" (ie nail digging. Then punish the not appropriate stuff and try positive reinforcement with the age appropriate but still annoying behaviour?

[absopugginglutely]

Thank you yes. We have a broad brush behaviour management approach at my school but perhaps we need to be focussing on instant repercussions of bad behaviour for the little ones.

[headwreckersrus]

Are they really bad? I'm the least fluffywoo person ever, but I'd be so reluctant to label a child as bad. Yes, you do need instant consequences but you also need age and development appropriate provision. I appreciate that is so hard with a R12 though.

Do they need more play? More 1-1 support? A very clear timetable and individual instructions etc?

I always come back to... they're not giving you a hard time, they're having a hard time. 90% of times that is absolutely true.

[absopugginglutely]

Yes they're really bad.
I've never known anything like it in my whole time teaching.

[user1474894224]

Do you use a visual board - red, amber, green type display? Do they understand when they are doing wrong? Then when on red the punishment kicks in - e.g. 5 minutes off break etc. If you go straight from bad behaviour to letter home there is nothing to warn them and no instant impact.

[joystir59]

A board up on the wall with a list of names and a slider thing which you can move from 'wobbly' on the left to 'good' on the right. They can be moved between the two things at any stage in the day depending on how they behave. Nail digging= wobbly, but then if they help another child they move into 'good'. Then have a treat at the end of the day which only the children who have stayed in 'good' get, which is a tangible reward/punishment. You can even gave a voting system.where you flag up to the class when a child has done something bad/good and say something like "Harriet was just very kind to Amelia so shall we move her back to 'good' now?'

[mistymoomoos]

I feel your pain! I also teach KS1 class and it has been a looong week! The poor behaviour has been constant. Children hitting, pinching, shouting at each other, not listening, not following instructions, outright refusing to do as asked, hiding under tables. They seem to take it in turns and just as you sort one issue out another one arises. I've never known anything like it and I've been teaching for a long time. I just wanted to say your not alone, I'm trying hard to keep positive and praise when I see good things.

Something I did last week that worked quite well was to take photos of children making 'good choices' in continuous provision, e.g. working together, tidying up, listening to a friend, etc. and then look at the photos together at the end of the day and explain the positive aspects of what I saw. It may be worth a try.

[mistymoomoos]

*you're