Behaviour Policy

Introduction

At Kaleide International School we believe children's behaviour always follows an intention, whether it is conscious or not. Children's actions are motivated, to a great extent, by their emotional state. Thus it is of utmost importance for us to ensure that children's social and emotional needs are met; that every child is listened to and can find adequate means to express how she feels; and that the school fosters caring relationships based on respect and empathy.

Our View of Children

Within our approach, each child is valued as a subject of rights and a competent, curious, active learner, continuously co-creating and testing theories about herself and the world around her. We believe children are wonderfully prepared for active learning from birth; they are self-driven and intrinsically motivated to learn at every step. For them the world is an invitation to discover. This image of the child shapes our expectations of children, and the degree of freedom and responsibility we trust them with.

Policy Statement

At Kaleide International School, freedom and responsibility are inseparable. In our school, children enjoy a great degree of freedom, but we also involve them in setting adequate rules and boundaries that give them a sense of security and help them to understand what is important for their safety and for the benefit of the group. Children cannot be expected to take responsibility for decisions or actions which they have not freely chosen, for that would simply entail obedience; learning to be responsible requires being allowed the freedom to make mistakes and learn from your own experience.

Care and education form a unity in our approach, as education is built on caring interactions with other children and adults. At Kaleide International School, this caring bond will ultimately encompass the world of ideas, the human-made world and the natural world.

Scope of this Policy

This policy applies to children's behaviour:

• on the school premises;

• on school trips and outings;

• when students are travelling to and from school;

• whenever the child's behaviour may be disrespectful, or cause harm to another person.

Aims

We believe the school must provide, not only a safe and protective environment, but one in which children feel a sense of belonging and love, and where their self-esteem is strengthened.

We want to give children a sense of community and belonging, and help them to build strong bonds with other people in the school, regardless of their age. By creating a family-like environment, we foster caring attitudes, participation in school life, and acceptance of differences.

We aim to create a school environment which is inclusive and which respects the rhythms and needs of every child. We also involve children in decisions which affect them. This nurtures a sense of belonging, and encourages responsibility and the understanding that, as a school, we need to respect different points of view and try to arrive at decisions, together, which contribute to the well-being of the whole community.

The educational context we want to offer children is based on the same characteristics as a “nurturing family” (following the studies carried out by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in the University of Chicago):

• clarity: children know what is expected of them;

• centering: adults are interested in children's feelings and experiences, and listen to them;

• choice: children feel they have a variety of possibilities from which to choose;

• commitment: children trust the adults and become unselfconsciously involved in whatever they are interested in;

• challenge: the school provides the children with increasingly complex opportunities for action.

How we encourage Responsible and Respectful Behaviour at Kaleide International School

At Kaleide International School, responsibility and empathy are encouraged by:

• age-mixed groups, in which older children learn to nurture and lead the smaller ones, and teach them by sharing their own expertise and knowledge;

• supporting children's own goals and helping them reflect on their actions;

• viewing mistakes as an intrinsic component of learning and avoiding judgements which damage a child's sense of self-worth;

• resolving conflicts through dialogue, emotional awareness and self-reflection;

• trusting children's competence and capacity to make appropriate decisions for themselves;

• giving children growing responsibility for their own actions and for the environment;

• involving children in decision-making;

• engaging children in some of the chores involved in group life, for example, setting the tables for meals, tidying up after themselves, or sharing responsibility for keeping materials in good order.

Children learn from observing adults and older children, and imitating what they see. In this sense, facilitators act as important role models for the children, at least in four areas:

• caring (for oneself, for others, for ideas, for the human-made world, and for the natural world);

• attitudes to learning (a positive disposition to take on challenges, learning from mistakes, and sharing what we know);

• communication and conflict resolution (empathy, listening skills, dialogue and finding common ground);

• values (cooperation; treating everybody with respect, equality, and fairness).

We avoid using punishment and rewards as tools for managing children's behaviour. When behaviour problems arise, facilitators do not isolate or reprimand the child, and instead encourage him or her to discuss the problem with an adult, and with the children involved. We see children's behaviour as a visible projection of their emotional well-being and strive to address the roots of behavioural problems by working closely with the parents. The child's behaviour gives us valuable information regarding their emotional well-being and their unmet needs. In cases related to a recurrent issue, strategies to better support the child may be put in place in a transparent and consensual manner. Facilitators will resort to a specific range of interventions (based on the work of Ferre Laevers at the Centre for Experiential Education) in order to improve the level of well-being in individual children and start off “release processes”.

We strive to approach behaviour problems in a non-judgmental way and through a no blame approach. We do not “label” children or compare them with other children. It is our commitment to relate to them empathetically, never doubting their capacity to be kinder and more sensitive if given the chance. We treat children in a way that helps them to feel accepted and trusted –even when their social and emotional skills need to be improved.

All behaviour issues have an impact on the school community and can be brought up –by adults or children– at the whole school meeting in order to help children develop an awareness of the consequences of their actions on others. Our restorative justice approach encourages the expression of feelings, focussing on the harm caused to another person and on how to redress it, rather than on what rules have been broken and the ensuing punishment.

A “Mediation Circle” is offered when conflictual incidents re-occur between the same children. This will include these children, their parents, and a facilitator.

Should the behaviour of a child be consistently disruptive and/or should there be a cause for general concern, we will require that the child's parents seek external support, consult with other professionals and implement strategies to target the concerns. If parents decide to start therapy with professionals such as speech therapists and psychologists, the pedagogical team must be notified in order to maintain communication with those professionals and work along the same lines.

Each new child comes to Kaleide International School on the basis of a term's trial. If at the end of this term the child has not settled, we may suggest that the child needs a different setting with specific support systems to meet his/her needs. It is possible also that a term's trial may be extended if we deem it appropriate. If the child has been at Kaleide International School longer and a problem arises, every effort will be made with parental support to reintegrate the child into the group. However, if necessary, the parents may be advised to remove the child from the school.

The Director is to be kept fully informed, especially if the behaviour of a child continues to be challenging over a period of time.