Behaviour systems

[teeththief]

I detest our school's behaviour system.

The pupils who have behavioural problems either get taken off the system or don't care what sanctions they're given. A lot of the children without behaviour problems are constantly on edge waiting to be sanctioned over something minor which leads to anxiety.

I, and a lot of other parents, have mentioned it to school and school have set up a meeting to discuss it all. I feel like I need other ideas to present to them but I don't know if there is such a thing as a 'fair' system.

What do your schools do with regards to behaviour?

4 boards. Silver, green, Amber and red. Everyone starts fresh every day on Green. Any particularly fantastic pieces of work, behaviour or achievements gets name moved to the silver board for the rest of the day. Any bad behaviour gets an initial warning and name moved to the amber board. Any further transgressions result in a consequence and moved to the red board. Next day start afresh all names back on green. Names are Velcro backed and boards have Velcro strips. this is for primary - years 3 to 6. Same system throughout school - includes both SEN and behaviour challenged.

Like FanSpam's but with bronze, silver and gold, blue, yellow and red. Everyone starts fresh every session on green but, once a child is moved up to bronze, silver or gold, they stay there for the rest of the term, so those children who always do the right thing are rewarded.

Same here, start on green each day, warning moves to amber, then red, miss 5 minutes of play. Super behaviour / work / effort moves to superstar then up to out of this world which gives you a trip to the head for a special gold sticker

Our school has just introduced 'Classrom Dojo'. They get green 'dojo' points for good behaviour, red points for bad. This is an app, it pings and dongs whenever points are awarded. The kids' names are up on the whiteboard with their current total of green and red points listed for everyone to see. End of the week, the child with most green points (per class) gets a certificate and that child gets mentioned in assembly on the following Monday.

I strongly disagree with several aspects of this:

• small children should be able to start with a clean slate every day.
• behaviour should not be a competition. And even less so, a competition that has only one winner and 29 losers.
• ... and continues over a whole week so that children who struggle a bit, but are really making an effort, still have no chance of ever winning, as there will be a glitch at some point within that week...
• My DC is very compliant and anxious about pleasing the teacher. Has come 'second' twice in a row. Got fantastic 25 green dojo points, and feels like a failure. Is on the verge of giving up trying to 'be good'...
• children should IMO be encouraged to do the right thing because it is the right thing, not because it will earn them some 'points'. DC have already told me that they did x 'when Mrs T was watching' because, well, there would be no point in doing it otherwise as you can't earn green points when teacher isn't watching.
• The frequent pinging and donging is intrusive and distracts the children from their work, focusing them on behaviour instead.
• the way the names are up for all to see and keep track of points feels very much like public shaming.

The same system (classroom dojo) can be used in much healthier ways. E.g. class has a group challenge to achieve x points in a day. Points reset every day. No making public of who has how many points.

Thinking about what makes a good behaviour management system, it should help those children who find it hard to behave well to behave better, and it should encourage those who are doing well to keep up the good work, instead of just taking them for granted. Most systems however do nothing to help the kids with bad behaviour to behave better. And some make those who would naturally behave well most of the time become anxious and worried.

I love the idea of being able to go up as well as down. It gives those who are usually well behaved AND those who struggle something to work towards. I also like the clean slate every day week. Once ours get any sanction they're pretty much doomed for the rest of the academic year

Love the idea of bronze silver gold

Child gets a warning, another misdemeanour and their name gets written on the board, 3 names and they get sent to the other class in the year, continued misbehaviour and they get sent down to a lower year. Doesn't work at all. Those who want to get out of work would rather go and play with the younger ones. Major transgressions result in a trip to SLT but that's rare. Reward system is essentially marbles in a jar (one per class) and a full jar results in a class treat. Don't think it has much impact.

Green (all pupils start afresh on green each day), orange (warning that can be worked back to green if behaviour improves), red (sent to other year group class), black (sent to headteacher), white (sent home/parents informed). Same system for everyone but rewards are given/behaviour judged individually as our school has around 30% SEN so some things (such as sitting still perhaps?) are rewarded to some and not others IYSWIM?

I like the system personally as:

1. it judges the child on their own personality/circumstances, not a universal norm. The teachers and TAs are very fair in this respect and it works as overall behaviour has improved.
2. Those that always on green recieve a sticker at the end of the week and a larger reward at the end of term. Why shouldn't they if they have made the effort to behave all term?
3. The system is in place throughout the entire school so the DC get very used to it and the expectations.

Would be interested to know how that meeting turns out. In my experience, a lot of parents want an effective behaviour system and sanctions, but they want it applied to other children, not their own. As soon as their own child is in trouble, they're in complaining about the unfairness of it all.

Look at chad vale school.behaviour policy online ... very comprehensive ...
Traffic light system does not work after year 4, also if hitting a teacher moves you to red, same as say being cheeky, in for a penny in for a pound and all that. Its crap and doesnt work.

We used that traffic light system years ago and abandoned it. It was a pain in the arse to administer fairly and it didn't work anyway, as mom says, particularly in the upper school.

I don't like the traffic light system. Children who struggle to maintain acceptable behaviour are not deterred by it, warnings don't work and they inevitably end up on red anyway so it's not effective.

Those children who usually manage ok but have a slip up are very upset if they are moved off green and I believe it is a form of humiliation which has no place in a school.

Imagine if there were a similar board in the staff room and staff had their picture moved onto amber if they messed up (which they do sometimes, they're only human). How humiliating it would be up there on the wall for everyone to see rather a private word from the HT.

If you have to have the system, you need lots of additional ways to show that children are maintaining the expected behaviour. Our class uses these:

1. A higher level than green for exceptional effort (such as gold)
2. A fresh start every day for everyone
3. An opportunity to move back from red to amber, amber to green, by changing and improving behaviour.
4. A quiet chat with child, rather than a public warning.
5. A five minute fun 'activity' if struggling child manages to stay on green for an hour
6. Special recognition at the end of the week for anyone who stayed 'green' all week.
7. Certificates go home to parents if child maintains green for 3 weeks
8. An individual mention in weekly celebration assembly for any exceptional effort
9. Child takes work to show another teacher (often their teacher last year) or headteacher who will praise them and give them a sticker
10. Table points for group work with five minutes 'extra play' for table with most points at end of week
11. Individual sticker charts rewarding behaviour (kindness, sharing, etc.) rather than work
12. Whole class rewards for working together
13. School wide reward system (such as house points) that can be awarded by any member of staff to any child. This encourages good behaviour whilst moving around school, walking quietly, holding doors, giving way to adults, etc.
14. Teacher or TA keeps a record to make sure quiet children are not missed.
15. Lots and lots of positive reinforcement so that the child starts each day with the expectation that they will succeed
16. Lots and lots of forgiveness so that the child learns that one mistake does not ruin the whole day
17. Opportunites for children to 'put right' and move back to green as soon as possible (maybe time out - thinking time - and then reset to green for a fresh start)

Reward based schemes work better imo

I saw one on another thread which I liked - which was points awarded for good behaviour etc but they only compete with their last week total - so if James got 24 laat week then 25 and above gets him a sticker or whatever. Jonny got 4 so this week he needs to get 5 or more.

House points also seem to be popular with my dc - postcards when they get 50, 100 etc plus collective house award.

In order to run such a scheme (traffic lights) properly, there'd be no time left to actually teach.

And everyday there's a stream of parents at the door after school arguing the toss about why their child was moved down and it wasn't "fay-err."

I actually had a parent complaining to me once how upset her (badly-behaved) daughter was that she hadn't "got up to gold" the previous day, "as it was her birthday." She seriously thought I should have rewarded her anyway.

We use the traffics light system of green, amber, red. Everyone starts in green (infants are moved back to green after lunch too) but there is nothing to 'aim' for.

I hate it, like others said it is humiliating and upsetting for the children. As a reception teacher we have it in the classroom, all kids names on green and it stays that way when I'm in!

If children are being disruptive (deliberately) I have a word in the 'please stop talking, you're friends can hear' 'if you carry on I will have to move you, your choice' 'you've chosen to carry on talking, your friends can't learn so now please go and sit out (on a different carpet behind the other children and away but still within eyeshot and hearing distance of me so they can still learn)

Works pretty well.

Oh should say they sit out for a few mins until they are welcomed back to the carpet to join us all and it is forgotten.

This goes along side constant 'oh my goodness what a good job you are doing of sitting/listening/sharing etc'

Been using the class dojo system here too and love it. Children can earn points as groups as well as individuals too. The teacher decides what the points are earned for so you can choose a whole range of behaviours from good manners to being positive or working hard. I haven't use it to punish negative behaviours though. Seems unfair to give a point for being polite but remove it for not completing work.

I think the traffic light system works so long as it's part of a bigger system. Moving to red can't be the last step, need to have more serious consequences for some behaviours and those who are always good or better also need to have something to aim for. All my children get a fresh start every session too. My traffic light type system is more of a reminder than public shaming.

I don't think one system alone can work for every child. There need to be a range of rewards and clear sanctions.

Our school has just implemented the class Dojo system too and I am not liking it one bit.

Tbh I feel like Big Brother, watching what my dc gets up to in the day. From being told my dc has always been well behaved I'm seeing negative points awarded for various things, some of which are whole class negative points (but there's no info telling you this). Dc is getting pretty stressed with it too. I can't imagine what it must feel like for the dc in the classroom and tbh I don't know how the teacher finds time inputting all of this info, when she should be teaching. How much teacher time does it take?

And as others pointed out, there's no fresh start the next day, if you're a minus dojo down, that remains with you all week. Bloody awful system!

Our school has just moved from the traffic lights system to classdojo.

The dojo system is better in asmuch as it rewards good behaviour (our school isn't using negative points) rather than noticing poor behaviour.

Points accumulate over half a term which I think is too long, but we'll see.

It doesn't take long to administer, a whizz through after registration and then at the end of the day. I like the idea of putting in 5 minutes a day to reinforce good behaviour rather than sporadically noticing bad, and I'll be interested to hear if it has had a positive effect.

It's had a negative effect in ds case. I can understand only using positive dojos being better but still, I don't like it. Ds has even had a friend tell him his Mum said they shouldn't be friends because of the minus dojo's his friend is getting. It's causing bad feeling outside of school too.

There are regular dojo updates on my phone, how can it take 5 mins in the morning? I get them throughout the day.

No, not a fan at all.

Your school must be using it differently.

Ours do the attendance ones with the register then the others are added all at once, usuallly after school.

They decided not to do the constant bleeping during lessons approach, and I haven't enabled the app on my phone, so I'm barely aware of it.

I will be taking it off my phone, in fact I'll do it today. Dc are not only having negative points in the day, which then carry on over the week, which then carry on at home and it's, from my understanding, on a white board for all to see for that day and the remaining week.

You need to raise this with the school.

If the system is new, the more people that raise concerns the more likely it will be modified.