Behaviour Support Policy Item 11 appendix 2

1. Context

The Behaviour Support Policy together with the Inclusion Policy and Special Educational Needs (SEN) Policy are key elements of Hampshire County Council's policy framework for supporting the needs of all children and young people.

These three policies reflect the corporate objectives of the County Council, namely:

· maximising life opportunities

· stewardship of the environment

· achieving economic prosperity

· building strong and safe communities

· improving services

· developing councillors and staff.

2. Summary

The essence of the behaviour support policy is to:

· address behaviour early

· value every child

· bring the work of all agencies together

· maintain high expectations of schools, support services, the community and the children themselves.

3. Introduction

Supporting the behavioural, emotional and social development (BESD) of all children and young people is a shared responsibility for the whole community: parents, carers, families, friends, neighbours and public, voluntary and private organisations.

The County Council and all Hampshire schools have particular responsibilities for:

· ensuring that all children and young people are able to experience and enjoy success

· providing a safe and inclusive place to learn

· promoting the social development and emotional health of all children and young people, and safeguarding their welfare

· identifying and removing barriers to learning and participation

· promoting rights, respect and responsibilities across the whole school and its local community

· supporting teachers and all members of the community to develop effective practice with pupils who have BESD needs through analysis of what works and coaching others to improve their practice

· working positively with parents and carers to improve outcomes for children and young people

· developing effective partnerships between schools, services and the wider community.

Socially unacceptable behaviour affects the work and lives of other children and the community. It has to be addressed in everyone's interest. Neither a laissez-faire nor a crudely punitive approach is effective.

When children and young people with BESD needs are nurtured, guided and encouraged, they learn to behave appropriately in a variety of social and educational settings. They achieve healthy emotional growth, acquire social understanding and learn the necessary social and inter-personal skills that will enable them to succeed. Children and young people who face barriers to learning and development require help, support and understanding.

This policy sets out how Hampshire County Council will meet its responsibilities for promoting the BESD of all children and young people. It provides a framework within which schools and other services can develop their own strategies. The document is divided into four sections. It begins with a statement of core values followed by a section on building capacity. The next section focuses on the provision of services and finally arrangements for monitoring and evaluation are outlined.

4. Statement of core values

All children and young people are valued irrespective of their needs, behaviour or background. They must be given the opportunity to enjoy and achieve, stay healthy and safe, make a positive contribution to their community and enjoy economic well-being.

Parents, carers and their local communities, supported by statutory and voluntary agencies (including Hampshire County Council and schools), have shared responsibilities to maximise the life chances of every child. One of these responsibilities is to promote the emotional, behavioural and social development of children and young people through collaboration, innovation and celebration of their successes.

Schools are where pupils should be for all or most of their education. Research conclusively demonstrates the negative effects on life chances of those pupils whose education is disrupted and who spend time out of school.

Hampshire County Council recognises and acclaims the achievement of schools in promoting inclusive practice and providing for the BESD needs of all children and young people.

5. Building Capacity

5.1 Building capacity in schools

Schools are complex structures within which a range of professionals, not only teachers, support the learning of pupils. This policy seeks to help schools and other providers to support effectively a broad range of pupils with BESD needs.

5.1.1 Supporting schools and promoting best practice

Hampshire County Council will work in partnership with schools to assist them in building their capacity to provide high quality inclusive education for all pupils, including those identified as having BESD needs, by promoting best practice to:

· develop effective leadership and management at all levels so that every child is in a well led school and every leader is a learner

· develop an inclusive ethos and culture to embrace the needs of their community

· provide continuous professional development opportunities for all staff with access to information and advice and to national, regional and local training events

· promote amongst teachers and other staff the development of coaching skills and an understanding of how to positively influence behaviour, rather than control it

· encourage implementation of effective measures to combat bullying, for example, "Bullying - Don't Suffer in Silence"

· monitor, evaluate and improve their own practice through action research

5.1.2 Developing and sharing curriculum approaches

Hampshire County Council will work with schools to help them to develop and share appropriate curriculum approaches to:

· provide educational experiences which are emotionally nurturing for pupils, and through which they are safeguarded

· emphasise rights, respect and responsibilities within the curriculum

· identify and address any learning needs which have led to the pupils' BESD difficulties and promote teaching approaches which cater for a variety of learning styles

· promote curriculum approaches which are sufficiently flexible and engaging to take account of pupils' difficulties in social functioning, including opportunities for individual support and teaching, counselling and guidance, and social skills development

· use the curriculum at all times to support the self-esteem and sense of self worth of all children and young people to prevent disaffection and/or address the signs of disaffection as early as possible.

5.1.3 Monitoring, challenge and intervention

Through monitoring, challenge and intervention in schools, Hampshire County Council will:

· encourage the self-evaluation of school performance in respect of levels of attendance, exclusion and behaviour

· take account of positive approaches to behaviour and inclusion in the annual school categorisation process

· intervene where there are ongoing behaviour difficulties in school that give rise to significant concern.

5.1.4 Schools and their communities

Schools exist to serve the community and its children in a particular area. Schools are self-managing and are accountable to the community. All children are entitled to full-time educational provision. Children who are not educated by one school will become the responsibility of another; therefore, Hampshire County Council will encourage schools to work together to:

· develop shared policies and practices

· share expertise in managing, influencing and supporting pupils

· manage transitions between schools

· access joint training opportunities, including visits to schools to see good practice in action

· work collaboratively to organise "managed moves" as an alternative to exclusion

· develop ways in which special schools and resourced provision can provide outreach and consultancy.

5.2 Building capacity in the Local Authority

In order to be effective in helping schools to build capacity, Hampshire County Council recognises that there is a need to build its own capacity in supporting the BESD of every child and young person. Hampshire County Council will:

· work intensively to ensure that all services and departments of the County Council, in addition to other statutory and voluntary agencies, see BESD as an essential element of their planning and provision

· ensure that local authority services collaborate effectively

· interpret government legislation and guidance at a local level

· develop the diversity and capacity of its staffing in order to deliver its policy more effectively

· provide joint training opportunities for all those involved.

5.3 Building capacity in the community

Hampshire County Council aims to improve the quality of life for all in Hampshire by:

· working with District Councils and other organisations through Local Strategic Partnerships to develop community strategies which have a strong focus on improving facilities and outcomes for children and young people

· participating in Hampshire's pilot Children's Trust to develop Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)

· supporting schools to implement the workforce reform agenda, to develop extended services and to engage effectively with their local communities.

6 Providing services

6.1 Providing services for schools

Schools are in the forefront of providing for BESD needs, but there are times when someone from outside the school can work effectively with school staff to find new ways forward.

Hampshire County Council will ensure that access to specialist services is well sign-posted, user friendly and leads to timely interventions that demonstrably add value. This will include developing preventative services for children and young people who are:

· at risk of exclusion

· emotionally vulnerable

· looked after

· or otherwise at risk.

These services will be provided by locally based teams and specialist centres in partnership with colleagues in health, social services and the voluntary sector. Services will operate within an efficient framework, clear referral criteria, agreed care pathways, multi-disciplinary support and shared reporting mechanisms.

6.2 Providing services for parents and carers

The role of parents and carers in the development of positive behaviour, emotional health, wellbeing and social confidence is crucial. Hampshire County Council will provide both universal and targeted support so that parents and carers will have access to opportunities to improve their self-confidence, knowledge and skills in fulfilling their vital role.

For all parents and carers, a range of services will co-ordinate, develop and improve the accessibility of courses and support services for parents. There will be targeted support for parents and carers of:

· pre-school children

· children with special educational needs

· children who are victims of bullying

· children who are emotionally vulnerable

· children who are at risk of exclusion

· children looked after

· traveller children

· children of ethnic minorities.

6.3 For children and young people

Hampshire County Council will work with statutory and voluntary partners to:

· listen to what children and young people have to say about the services provided for them

· ensure that special educational needs (SEN), disability discrimination and equalities legislation and policies are implemented

· provide services to children and their families to promote wellbeing and success

· tackle bullying and harassment

· promote early identification and intervention of BESD needs

· promote effective attendance

· provide opportunities for out of school hours learning

· ensure a high quality youth work contribution to this policy

· divert children and young people away from anti-social behaviour.

Hampshire County Council will support the small number of children and young people who are out of school, with programmes that respond to the identified needs of individual learners. There is a need to re-engage them in learning and, in most cases, return them to school.

Hampshire County Council provides a multi disciplinary team to promote the education of children looked after by the authority. Within this group of children and young people those at risk of exclusion are a high priority.

Specialist support services are available for other groups at risk of exclusion as a result of having specific needs (e.g. ethnic minority members, travellers).

7 Monitoring and evaluation

Hampshire County Council will work with other statutory and voluntary agencies to ensure that the educational objectives of this policy are fulfilled.

A range of qualitative and quantitative data will be used to assess the impact of this strategy on the behavioural, emotional and social development of children in Hampshire.

Related Hampshire County Council Policies and Plans

In reading the Behaviour Support Policy, it is important that cross reference is made to the following related Hampshire County Council documentation:

· Corporate Strategy

· Education Strategy

· Inclusion Policy

· Special Educational Needs Policy

· SEN Early Years Strategy

· Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services Strategy

· Corporate Strategy for Lifelong Learning

Produced by Hampshire County Council, Education

March 2005