Behavioural Policy.

Adopted by Driven Tutors on 1st of September 2024

Driven Tutors offer a quality service for school, parents and young people, and recognise the need to set appropriate limits to help manage the behaviour of young people. Behaviours are functional and communicative acts, which are meaningful because they achieve important results for an individual. What is unacceptable behaviour to one person is not necessarily unacceptable behaviour to another. Because changing behaviour is acting against a person’s personal choices it is therefore ethically more defensible to operate within the context of positive, supportive programmes. Driven Tutors enables young people to flourish by developing positive behaviours attitudes and aspirations and is committed to the creation of teaching and learning environments where the learning, social and personal needs of young people are addressed. We aim to empower children to achieve in an atmosphere of safety and mutual respect. By removing barriers to learning that have been entrenched in former educational settings we work to support transfers back to mainstream school, further education or the world of work. Everyone is expected to behave in a respectful way, to accept responsibility for their behaviour and to encourage others to do the same.

Policy Purpose

The purpose of the policy is to provide a simple, practical code-of-conduct for staff, learners and parent/carers. At DT we believe that a good behaviour policy is one of the keys to successful and effective teaching and learning. The policy applies to all students and will encourage students to develop a feeling of self-confidence, selfworth, respect for self and others, ability to negotiate, and a sense of their own and others’ equal value regardless of race, gender, class or disability. This policy is designed to:

• Enhance the development of positive relationships between student and tutor/s, as well as parents/carers
• Help raise students’ self-esteem and achievement through developing the ability to manage their behaviour and an acceptance of responsibility for their own actions
• Promote positive behaviour
• Manage challenging behaviour in an assertive, non-confrontational way
• Ensure fairness and transparency
• Encourage consistency of response to both positive and inappropriate behaviour
• Promote early intervention
• Enhance teaching and learning

As a student you can expect:

• To be welcomed at every tuition session
• Respect from the tutors, who will listen and offer support
• A safe place to learn either online or in-person
• Help with planning your future

As staff we expect that students will:

• Arrive on time and be ready to learn either in online or offline setting
• Respect the tutor/s and property
• Attempt to achieve the best you can
• Listen to the staff & behave accordingly

Examples of conduct which support our expectations:

• Following instructions
• Appropriate and respectful language
• Positive Behaviour

One of the most effective behaviour management strategies in schools has been shown to be careful planning that prevents difficulties from arising. Preventative strategies create a context where acceptable behaviour is positively encouraged and misbehaviour is reduced. An ethos is developed which emphasises co-operation, responsibility, concern for others and self-respect. Learners know what they expect of a ‘good tutor’. Our experience has shown that over a range of ages children produce a very similar list of characteristics that they look for in adults who work with them.

Students would like tutors to:

• Greet them each day
• Smile
• Ask about them and give them your attention
• Help them dream of what they might be able to do
• Challenge them and show them how to respond
• Trust them

It is evident that students prefer to learn in a relaxed yet purposeful atmosphere and where the tutors are safely in control; where they can progress their learning with success and be acknowledged as ‘people who matter’. We believe that where learners feel they are valued they respect tutors and accept their authority. Similarly, we recognise the implicit need for young people to develop the skills that make positive relationship with adults possible. It is critically important that staff working for Driven Tutors build strong relationships, develop high levels of personal resilience and have high expectations where the Quality of learning behaviours are concerned. Staff should never ignore or attempt to excuse poor behaviour. Rather, they should attempt to understand its communicative intent and teach the young person the skills associated with appropriate behaviours.

Interventions

The tutor/s provide pastoral and academic support and interventions for learners especially working with SEND children as part of National Tutoring Programme.

The tutor/s provide space and time for learners to deal with ambivalent feelings or personal crisis and allow learners to articulate concerns and use the opportunities to re-set boundaries. Where possible it is always our aim to manage the re-introduction of children back into their tuition centre.

Staff Strategies

Separate the behaviour from the student

• Make the behaviour unacceptable, not the student
• Making the behaviour wrong allows for changing to better behaviour
• Do not link poor behaviour to the student’s personality
• Linking good behaviour to a student’s identity builds self-esteem

Actively build trust and rapport

• Positive relationships are the heart of all we do
• Building rapport with students requires effort, commitment and skill. It happens in many simple ways: learning names, greeting students in corridors, showing interest in what they do – both in the classroom and out of it, show interest in them as human beings. In order to influence and guide students it is necessary to enter their world and be aware of their perspective.
• People achieve more when they are confident and trusting
• Having confidence and trust encourages risk-taking which leads to learning

Model the good behaviour you want to see

• Calmly resolve conflict using the planned approach to bad behaviou
• Calmness, predictability and certainty are the key behaviours to model
• Listen to problems and respond

Always follow up issues that count – remember the consequence is inevitable

• Always follow up student’s choices with a consequence
• Following up shows you care and what you say is important
• Be positive about future behaviour when following up
• Keep the focus on the behaviour not the personality

Work to repair and restore relationships

• Catching them being good afterwards allows them a way back
• Remember that students may still be stressed or resentful
• Allow time and repeat the attempts to be positive
• If there is no hope of a way back, relationships and achievements will founder

Inappropriate behaviour

Behaviour is considered inappropriate if it is not in-keeping with the spirit of Driven Tutors’ expectations and/or does not follow the expectations within the tutoring environment policies/agreements. Inappropriate behaviour will be subject to one or more consequences. Consequences will be determined by the severity and persistence of the inappropriate behaviour, and the circumstances. They are applied consistently and rigorously with the expectation that the student’s behaviour will improve/change.

Consequences: Inappropriate behaviour in lesson

Staff will use the strategies outlined above in a patient and non-confrontational manner. If these strategies fail or the student is negatively affecting the learning of others, then the tutor will use the 2 Step Plan - Step 1 request a meeting take place with the parent/carer, if this does not resolve the issue/s it will be escalated to Step 2, where the tutor will refer to the Driven Tutors Team, who will discuss with the Safeguarding Designated Lead Officer.

Exclusions

The vast majority of behaviour is managed with the tutor, however there are a number of more serious behaviours that stop learners doing well and could result in removal from the tutoring sessions or review of course placement. The following are examples of inappropriate behaviour that will lead to consequences being implemented:

• Verbal abuse
• Inappropriate use of language
• Defiance
• Physical abuse
• Walking off site / Leaving the call without the tutors presence
• Damaging property
• Theft
• Bringing inappropriate / dangerous / illegal materials to the tutoring session or uploading inappropriate content

In the first instance of the above, behaviours may include the suspension of tuition for safety reasons, informing the parent/carer and DT’s Designated Safeguarding Officer. The two step plan will also put into practice.

Physical Intervention

The use of restrictive physical intervention and search is very rare, and is wherever possible avoided. Driven Tutors follows the guidance as set out by the Department for Education. On an occasion where the use of restrictive physical intervention is appropriate, for example if a student is hurting them self / others or likely to do so, any intervention used will always be reasonable, minimal in proportion to the circumstances of the incident and absolutely necessary, and will seek to avoid injury to the student. Driven Tutors recognises that it is their legal duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled students and students with special educational needs. Any statutory or government policy change may apply, with immediate effect, to this policy. Similarly, the policy may, with immediate effect, be interpreted with respect to emerging technologies or other trends. For more information please refer to the Department for Education “Use of reasonable force” document.

Expectations of Students

1) Not use phones or devices during in lessons unless instructed by tutor. Option for students to hand them in whilst tuition happening. – explained at initial meeting.
2) Not to bring certain types of Food e.g. No energy drinks.
3) Behave respectfully towards adults.
4) To be able to listen to others and be attentive.
5) Are able to take responsibility for own learning.
6) Are willing to try new things and ‘take risks’.
7) Can make mistakes and ‘move on’
8) Are self-aware, know how and when to get help.
9) Are motivated to complete tasks
10) Not to show inappropriate material i.e. pictures/online images
11) Not to expose themselves in a way that could be deemed as inappropriate
12) Not to use the online chat function to make inappropriate comments or use offensive language

Attitude Behaviour Effectiveness of Learning:

• Engage in all activities with enthusiasm
• Are enthused by interest in the subject, well-motivated and not diverted from learning
• Use understanding of their strengths and weaknesses when planning their learning
• Have realistic expectations of what they want to achieve and know how to effectively stay
• on target and achieve in line with their ability
• Are not afraid to take risks with their work no disruptive incidents in lessons resolve problems using negotiation, discussion and compromise
• Can accept responsibility for their actions and move on.

Monitoring and Recording Behaviour

Pupil’s behaviour is discussed and scored for each teaching session as an effort grade on Student’s Progress. The These scores are recorded on a weekly record sheet, these sheets provide the basis for the future target setting.

Pupil Categories

For avoidance of doubt, Driven Tutors use three numbers to categorise pupils – 3 being the most extreme.

If possible, carers/responsible adults will need to advise the category the young person falls into – a few examples are listed below (we appreciate this is not always possible)

Dependent on the category advised different strategies will be implemented i.e. Location of tuition/teacher ratio etc.

Examples of Categories

A1 Pupil

• Have established effective relationships with staff most of the time
• Can resolve problems using negotiation, discussion and compromise
• Can accept responsibility for their actions and move on
• Are involved in few disruptive incidents in tuition, rarely high-level
• Can resolve problems using negotiation, discussion and compromise
• Can accept responsibility for their actions and move on more often than not

A2 Pupil

• Rarely accept the authority of adults in the learning environment
• Are involved in frequent high-level disruption and a lot of low-level
• Deal with problems inappropriately (with confrontation, aggression or violence)
• Have shown some self-control
• Can discuss their behaviour, on occasion confrontational, aggressive or violent
• Do not accept responsibility for their behaviour nor acknowledge the effect it has on others.
• Have made progress to reduce the number of disruptive incidents they are involved in, but are still disruptive on occasion

A3 Pupil

• Cannot accept the authority of adults in the learning environment
• Are involved in frequent high-level disruption
• Have made no attempt to reduce number of incidents in tuition (or previous lessons)
• Deal with problems by being confrontational, aggressive or violent
• Do not accept responsibility for their behaviour nor acknowledge the effect it has on others

Date of Next Review: No later than September 2025