Reflection On Al's Student Support Assistant

A guideline to all staff on how pupil’s behaviour should be managed. It is important that this policy is constantly being applied to ensure full safety of the pupils; this is why all staff must be familiar with this policy.

The school’s behaviour policy is very detailed and covers all aspect ensures every member of staff know what is expected from them as well as pupils. I feel that I am able to challenge any behaviour issues confidently. The policy is fair to all pupils and they are all aware that any bad behaviour will not be tolerated.

2.2 The teacher would need to promote appropriate behaviour and respect for others in the ground rules. Although this is not always adhered to by learners the teacher would make clear to the individual that inappropriate behaviour would not be tolerated and ask them to remain quiet or leave the session depending on the severity of the behaviour. Distractions from learners has the potential to distract others, therefore wasting time and potentially leading to the early commencement of the session.

The behaviour policy outlines several procedures for dealing with inappropriate behaviour. Firstly verbal warnings are given, and the child is given chance to apologise and choose to change their behaviour. Sanctions for continued bad behaviour can escalate from time spent on the thinking chair/ missed playtime, to being sent to a senior member of staff. In cases of extreme bad behaviour or physically violence a log will be noted into the class behaviour book and parents will be informed. Sustained inappropriate behaviour may lead to a behaviour agreement, discussed with the parents and child present where the child will promise to change their behaviour. Breaking this agreement, or other very extreme cases may lead to exclusion from school, which will be handled by the head teacher.

The schools policy for behaviour will give information on how you should manage more difficult behaviour as a teacher or TA. It is also important that pupils understand the behaviour policy of the school so that they have a clear idea of how bad behaviour will be dealt with if they choose to go against school rule or behave in an inappropriate manner.

All schools have policies and procedures in place to support staff in their management of situations these may involve violence, threatening behaviour or abuse amongst other policies which are all legal requirements within the setting of a school, you must adhere to these policies and familiarise yourself on where these policies can be found within the school surroundings. At our school all policies can be found in Mrs McNally’s the headmistress’s office within a contained cupboard all labelled up with titles on the folders.

After my maths lessons, I proposed a series of questions to myself: why does he call out during my lessons? Why do I have the expectation that he should put his hand up? Should I have imposed a different solution rather than have child x sit next to the teaching assistant? Could I have handled the situation more effectively? I continued to ask myself a series of questions which enabled me to reflect on what I did and why I did it. Although I may not be able to find a solution to my critical incident, I aim to explore and analyse it by reflecting on my teaching practice. Dewey (1933) in Pollard (1998) highlights that

Behaviour policy: is a guide for all staff on how pupil’s behaviour should be managed. It provides a cleared shared understanding between the Head Teacher, staff, parents and pupils on discipline. It is vital that the policy is constantly being put into practice to ensure the safety of the pupils in school and the efficiency of pupil’s ability to learn.

Recently, I witnessed a pupil at my setting using inappropriate language during a music lesson, where the class teacher was not present. I took the pupil to one side and bent to their level. I informed the pupil that the language they had used was both inappropriate and unacceptable. I told the pupil that I would be informing the class teacher of the incident and that should it happen again, I would be sending them straight to the head teacher’s office. Another child had overheard the inappropriate language and copied it. I took the same action with the second child, and then separated them, moving one child to the other side of the classroom. After the music lesson, I informed the class teacher of both incidents, who thanked me for my input and said that the pupils would need to be closely monitored for the rest of the day.

Policies and precedures of the setting support children and young people to feel safe and secure. Policies exists to ensure the well being of all pupils within the setting, ensuring they are safeguarded and cared for physcially, emotionally, socially and educationally. The behaviour policy focuses on incorporating a code of conduct, an agreed set of rules which underpin the values of the school and exist to keeping children safe. The setting support pupils to feel respected and be respectful by demonstrating positive role models of behaviour and promoting high standards of behaviour from all. Promoting inclusion, equal opportunities without bullying and discrimination and clear rules with consistent sanctions when rules are broken. They support

| Support children, young people and colleagues to identify the situations and circumstances which trigger inappropriate behavioural responses and ways of avoiding these from happening

I did ask many questions to understand the situation and what ideas the teacher had already implemented. This occurred around the thirty second mark. I really tried not to offer advice or suggestions but this teacher did not seem to be aware of various interventions. She had tried standing next to the student or talking with him in class but had not tried a moving his desk, talking to him in the hall or a contract. In addition, she did not understand what a behavior contract is and seemed to have limited experience with interventions in general. I should have gone into more depth explaining this intervention, why it is important while not being overly time consuming for her and how it really does work.

At approximately 9:57 PM while supervising the Collings House students and Haddon House peer, students Student Isaiah George began to verbally antagonize another peer. Mr. Ricks gave Student George a verbal prompt to discontinue this horse playing behavior. Staff directive were ignored by Student George and student behavior escalated from verbal to physical by smashed the peer in the back of the head. This event cause the peer to display verbal aggression toward Student George. While Mr. Ricks was in transition to repositioning himself to create space between the two students. The Haddon House peer became verbally agitated and simultaneously punched Student George in the eye. At this time Mr. Ricks escorted the Haddon House peer from the

Whilst working in a remote area I observed a year nine indigenous student (Lorena Bannard) and a teacher (Bill James), alone together after school hours. I considered this could be an unprofessional situation. I spoke to Bill later regarding the situation and he replied, “I’m helping her with some family problems, and I’m concerned about the effect it’s having on her school work”. I suggested he refer Lorena to the Guidance Officer.

A similar preventative strategy that was practical for outdoors was for the teacher to hold one arm straight up. This was a cue for students to mirror the teacher’s actions. All strategies appeared to have a ripple effect, as each student noticed another quieting or raising an arm they followed until all students were cued in. Such strategies are likened to Bill Rogers’ Decisive Discipline model, which requires teachers to be assertive, provide explicit routines, expectations and rules, and model positive behaviour for students (Rogers, 2009). These strategies were simple, positive, age appropriate for students in primary school, and they were practised across the whole school so every student understood them and they worked to prevent disruptive behaviour. The success of these strategies relied on students realising the teacher would not engage with them