The work of the Behaviour Panel and the purpose of the Pupil Support Provision – a guide for parents and carers.

Issues arising from poor behaviour and other disciplinary matters are recorded by staff in either the Archer, Aquila, Phoenix or Orion communities of which any student in Years 7 to 11 is a member. A daily record is kept for this purpose, and students whose names have been submitted, along with a short account of pertinent details or other information, are brought up at a daily Behaviour Panel meeting that takes place at the end of the school day. The Behaviour Panel is chaired by a senior member of staff, usually the Lead Principal with a responsibility for behaviour in the school where behaviour decisions are challenged to ensure a consistency of approach across the communities.

 

The daily Behaviour Panel meeting

At the daily Behaviour Panel meeting each student named on either of the communities’ behaviour reports for the day is discussed with a view to:

1. ascertaining what behaviour or other disciplinary matter has occurred;
2. determining the basis on which a report of poor behaviour or other disciplinary matter has been made, and the evidence available to support and contextualise this;
3. imposing a sanction for poor behaviour or involvement in a disciplinary matter using a tariff of sanctions that include:

• 15 minute break time detention;
• after school detentions for either 30 minutes or an hour;
• placement in the school’s Pupil Support Provision for one or more days or for part of a school day - this might be extended to a one day Pupil Support Provision exclusion that runs from 3.00pm to 4.15pm;
• placement in Westlands School’s Pupil Support Provision for one day;
• a period of Twilight learning from 2.00pm to 4.15pm
• a fixed term exclusion from school ranging from one to five days in duration;
• a fixed term exclusion from school of five days duration, pending permanent exclusion.

 

The Behaviour Panel will determine the sanction to be imposed. Parents or carers of students will be informed if a student has received:

• an after school detention via letter coming home with your child;
• one or more days in the Pupil Support Provision including the longer Pupil Support Provision Exclusion by telephone.
• a fixed term exclusion of between one to five days duration by telephone.

Contact is made with parents or carers by a member of the community teams or by a senior member of staff depending on the seriousness of the behaviour or other disciplinary issues that will have been considered by the Behaviour Panel.

 

Pupil Support Provision

The Pupil Support Provision (PSP) is a separate room in the school, used to place students for all or part of a school day. This will occur either:

• following a decision to use the placement by the Behaviour Panel in line with a judgement made about the consequences of poor behaviour or other disciplinary issue

or

• following one or more days of a fixed term exclusion or after a period of twilight on the first day of a return to school by a student.

A student may also be placed in the PSP:

• if an investigation into poor behaviour or another disciplinary issue is pending or in progress;
• following an exit from a classroom whilst a lesson is in progress;
• during unstructured time at the request of a member of staff or a Pastoral Support Manager.

Whilst in the PSP students are required to follow a clearly stated code of conduct and work in silence on work provided for them by their teachers. The PSP is run and supervised by specially appointed staff working in close association with senior members of staff and other staff designated to provide support during the day.

 

The Pupil Support Provision provides a morning and lunchtime break at a different time to the main school, during which access to the school canteen and toilets is provided. Students may also use the toilet at other times during the school day with the permission of supervising staff.

Students who fail to comply with the code of conduct and clearly stated guidelines in place to ensure time in the PSP is completed appropriately will receive a warning if there is a cause for concern. Failure to complete time in the PSP appropriately will result in one of the following sanctions:

• making up time lost through a failure on the same or a succeeding school day;
• completing an additional whole day;
• receiving an additional / new sanction in line with the nature of the time / day failed.

Students who fail to attend after school detentions set in accordance with the whole-school and Swale Academies Trust behaviour policy and disciplinary guidelines will be placed in the PSP until the detention has been completed. Similarly, students who fail to stay at the end of a school day to complete a period of PSP exclusion from 3.00pm to 4.15pm will remain in the PSP until the PSP exclusion has been completed.