Behaviour

At Westhaven, our 4 word intent for behaviour for learning is:

● Communication
● Reparation
● Understanding
● Celebration

We understand that children who attend our school have needs (which are the result of specific conditions such as ADHD, SCLN and ASC), which may affect their learning behaviour. Therefore, our approach to behaviour is flexible, child-centred and focussed on helping our learners to self-regulate so that they are able to learn and make progress academically, socially and emotionally.

Our approach is centred on the belief that behaviour is a form of communication and that by helping learners to feel safe, they can alter their learnt responses. By building positive, nurturing relationships we are able to help our learners develop the ability to enjoy reflective and empathic relationships with adults and peers. We also emphasise the importance of reparation to ensure these positive relationships are maintained following behaviour incidents. Some of our learners have histories of rejection and exclusion (including from previous schools / educational settings), therefore we use a combination of strategies to support, encourage and reward positive behaviour that is conducive to learning.

We value positivity, respect, perseverance and cooperation and are proud of our excellent staff – learners relationships. We strive to consistently acknowledge good behaviour and focus on the positives, to celebrate learners’ achievements, however small, and to treat every lesson and every day as a fresh start.

At Westhaven, our ethos is the Westhaven Way and we have a positive reward culture which motivates our learners to follow the Westhaven Way throughout the school day:

The Westhaven Way is based on our core values that all learners should strive to be:

● confident communicators
● resilient learners
● respectful citizens
● inquisitive thinkers
● safely independent

Positive house points are earned throughout the school day, including break and lunchtimes, and are recorded on Class Dojo. These points count towards the weekly house totals which are shared in Friday assemblies each week and accumulate towards each learner’s Westhaven Wages which can be spent in the school shop. Learners are also rewarded in other ways, including: 

• Manner merits
• I Am Proud certificates
• Head learner 
• VIP badges
• School council representatives
• Star of the lesson/week
• Towler Cup for academic achievement 
• Etienne Cup for consistently following the Westhaven Way
• Letters / emails / phone calls home 

Please see our Behaviour for Learning policy for more information: Behaviour for Learning policy  

We have 2 full-time members of staff in our “Regulation Team”, Mr T and Mr Freeman. Their main role is to support staff and learners in understanding behaviour and behaviour triggers to reduce the likelihood of repeated incidents. This may take the form of timetabled regular check-ins for learners, advisory visits, debrief sessions following an incident and discussions with parents / carers. Behaviour concerns are logged on our CPOMs system and analysed by the Regulation Team on a weekly basis to identify patterns of behaviour and potential triggers.

The Principle that underpins the Safety Intervention philosophy is ‘least restrictive for the least amount of time’. Our highly professional and caring staff are trained to use Preventative and De-escalation strategies before positive handling is used as a last resort.

At Westhaven, every member of staff has attended a CPI (Crisis Prevention Institution) Safety Intervention Foundation Course, which focuses on the prevention and de-escalation strategies used to avert potential incidents. Zones of Regulation are part of the curriculum until year 9 and learners are encouraged to self-regulate where possible. A number of staff are trained in the use of positive handling, which is used as an absolute last resort and when a learner (s) is at risk of harm and is only used for the minimum amount of time. Please see the link below for further information: 

The use of restrictive intervention

Mr J Peacock, Mr J Bevan and Mr H Tuttiett are all qualified Safety Intervention Instructors and deliver the course to Westhaven Staff.

The Crisis Prevention Institute (CPI) has been recertified in February 2023 as complying with the Restraint Reduction Network Training Standards. The Bild ACT RRN Training Standards ensure that training is delivered by competent and experienced training professionals who can evidence knowledge and skills that go far beyond the application of physical restraint or other restrictive interventions. They represent a huge leap forward in protecting the safety and human rights for everyone including, but not limited to, people with mental health conditions, dementia, learning disabilities and autism.

BILD ACT certificate