Behaviour policy principles

Our approach is governed by the school motto – “rather use than fame” and our vision: to be a school that nurtures successful students and good citizens through strong relationships. This is captured through our William Ellis attributes, the 5Rs: responsibility, respect, resourcefulness, reflection, resilience.

Behaviour is linked to attainment and attendance throughout students’ experiences of school.

• When students experience success, they are better able to self-regulate. Better self-regulation makes learning more productive.
• When students attend school, they are in better routines and have stronger relationships with peers and adults. When those relationships are stronger, they have a greater incentive to attend.
• When students attend school, they make better progress and have more positive learning experiences. In turn, this encourages them to continue to attend.

Behaviour needs to be taught explicitly and modelled so that it can be caught. We must include both strategies in our approach.

In line with the school vision, relationships are key to students’ academic success and strong personal development. These relationships should be cultivated through emotionally intelligent interactions with students, using the principles of trauma-informed practice.

William Ellis School is an inclusive community and must strive to do all it can to make students feel safe while they are at school, including from bullying, harassment, and discrimination.

Celebrations of and rewards for good behaviour must be at least as prominent in the school as sanctions and consequences for poor behaviour.

High standards of behaviour are best achieved when the school, students and their families work in partnership.

The expectations of behaviour in the school and the positive and negative consequences of students’ behaviour choices must be made clear to them, all staff and families through this policy and supplementary documents e.g. poster displays. These must be consistently applied by staff, with professional regard for the needs of individual students in relation to SEND and safeguarding, and with consideration for the impact of complex disadvantage.

Expectations of students’ behaviour extend into the wider community and students may be rewarded or sanctioned for this. There may be times when police involvement takes priority over any action that might be taken by the school.

This policy applies to all students on roll at William Ellis School in years 7-13 and may also be applied to LaSWAP students on roll at La Sainte Union, Parliament Hill or Acland Burghley when they are on or around the William Ellis School site.

We expect all students to...

• come to school each day on time;
• bring the things they need every day and look after them properly;
• wear their school uniform well and be tidy;
• work hard and do all their classwork and any homework as well as they can;
• make a positive contribution to the school;
• behave well, and be polite and helpful to others
• have high expectations for themselves and their peers

Our behaviour policy can be viewed on our policies and documents page. When students join the school, they and their parents are expected to sign our home school agreement. The latest version can be found below.