Behaviour & Ethos

At Ryhill we aim to:

• Develop inquiring minds, with the ability to question, think rationally and independently creating self-motivated thinkers.
• Promote excellence, equality and high expectations for everyone. Standards will be high in all areas of the school’s work and there will be an atmosphere of challenge and support at all levels.
• Establish learning environments that will be exciting and rewarding.
• Provide a curriculum that is a broad range of creative, stimulating, sporting and artistic opportunities through which the children will experience discovery and success.
• Enable our children to keep safe and adopt healthy life styles in order for our children to be emotionally and physically healthy.
• Establish an ethos where everyone is included, valued and respected.
• Everyone will be given the opportunity to fulfil their potential and become the best that they can possibly be.
• Be positive role models, we will encourage open-mindedness and respect for others.
• Enable pupils to take responsibility for their own learning, to use and apply their developing skills and to work collaboratively.
• Enable the pupils to set themselves high standards, to take pride in their work and strive towards their targets.
• Place the school at the centre of the community by working closely with parents and local groups, and strive to make a positive contribution towards that community.
• We will never be complacent and strive for continuous improvement through effective consultation and rigorous self-evaluation.
• Create a secure and happy environment in which children will learn to co-operate with each other in their work and play. We encourage them to learn self-discipline and ask them to respect and follow our code of conduct:

Click below to expand Our Five Golden Rules poster.

These rules are part of our positive behaviour policy and if children persistently break these rules they will lose privileges e.g. loss of play time. Ongoing problems will be initially discussed informally between parents and class teacher. If there are any serious problems concerning a child’s work or behaviour parents will be notified in writing by the Head Teacher and invited to discuss the problems and possible remedies.

Please find our Behaviour Policy in the school policies section by clicking here

Good to be Green

While it is hoped that all pupils will value and respect one another, and recognise the benefits of positive behaviour and attitudes, it is important too that a contingency to deal with inappropriate behaviour is in place, and administered consistently and reasonably by staff.

The school uses a visual traffic light system to monitor pupil behaviour. The scheme is called Good to be Green. A card chart is displayed in each classroom; all children start the day on a green card. If a child exhibits what the school deems to be undesirable behaviour, they are given a verbal warning. If the child continues to exhibit undesirable behaviour they will then be issued with a yellow ‘warning’ card. If the child still continues to exhibit undesirable behaviour then the child will be issued with a red ‘consequence’ card. The consequence of receiving a red card will be the loss of five minutes of playtime. If a red card is issued, parents will receive a text message saying that their child has received a red card and that they have lost five minutes of playtime. Parents are welcome to get in touch with school to enquire about the circumstances which led to the issuing of the red card.
The number of cards issued and the loss of playtime will be recorded on a class record sheet.

Where children have lost playtime, they will be removed from the playground and asked to sit inside (supervised) until the penalty time has passed. In this way, it is hoped that children experience a further opportunity to be motivated to preserve their playtime by following codes of conduct agreed in school and class.

Where pupils engage in inappropriate behaviour which is physical/aggressive towards another child, children will automatically receive a red card and will need to see a member of the SLT who will determine the consequence. If a child receives 3 or more red cards in one week, they will also be asked to visit a member of the SLT.

In order to reward positive behaviour and encourage children to consider the consequences of their actions on others, each class will calculate, as a percentage, the number of red and yellow cards received each week. The winning class (with the lowest percentage of red and yellow cards) will be announced in Friday’s Special Mentions Assembly every week and the winning class will be awarded a trophy. In addition, when a child has remained ‘green’ all week, they will receive a Good to be Green sticker to place on a collection card. If at the end of the half term, a child has stayed green every week, a praise card will be sent home to their parents/carers.

Reward System

All members of staff are expected to promote good behaviour at all times. We encourage and reinforce good behaviour by praise and obvious signs of approval. Consistency in behaviour expectations, school techniques and systems, is crucial. The vocabulary chosen by all staff must reflect the high standards of care and consideration that is placed on all pupils. As a consequence, we link our reward system to our eight key skills of:

• Creativity
• Problem Solving
• Presenting
• Listening
• Team Work
• Leadership
• Aiming High
• Staying Positive

Class Dojo points are awarded to the children based on them demonstrating skill in these areas. Children are then able to collect points and purchase prizes from our School Dojo Shop! All parents are invited to sign up to our Dojo system as this is not only a fantastic way of celebrating your child’s success but also a useful communication tool.