Leading Behaviour Change - 2017 - Pivotal Education · Leading Behaviour Change pivotaleducation.com 4 Learners are never passed up the hierarchy. We have innovative approaches to

Leading Behaviour Change Paul Dix

‘You can’t stay in your corner of the forest waiting for others to come to you. You have

to go to them sometimes.’ Winnie the Pooh

Leading Behaviour Change pivotaleducation.com 2

Leading Behaviour Change Agendas 9.30 – 10.00 The Pivotal Approach

Pivotal Pillars underpinning exception practice Pure consistency

10.00 – 11.00 How to design simple, concise, consistent policy

Chaos of rules Essential elements of effective behaviour policy Self discipline v command and control

11.00 – 11.20 Coffee 11.20 – 12.00 Why managing staff behaviour is your first priority

The impact of adult behaviour on learner behaviour – emotional and financial costs

Managing tricky teachers: breaking patterns of entrenched adult behaviour Creating problem solving adults not process monkeys

12.00 – 1.00 How to structure Sanctions and Rewards to modify behaviour

Reducing detention, isolation, exclusion and punitive punishment Recognition beats reward Layering Restorative Practice

1.00 – 1.45 Lunch 1.45 – 2.30 How to design a policy to manage the 5% as well as the 95%

When sanctions stop working Monitoring behaviour without creating behaviour celebrities Teachers who pass the buck to others and how to stop it

2.30 – 3.15 How to create your Behaviour Blueprint

Collaborative agreements that work Embedding and defining key consistencies and processes Setting the culture for behaviour

3.15 – 3.30 Case studies of exceptional practice

Reducing detentions by 90% in three months Increasing attendance without punishment Isolation rooms that are no longer needed


Why the Pivotal Approach is different…..

We start with the behaviour of adults. We shape it to reach a level of consistency that most will

never have experienced. We create a platform for seismic change based around the one

behaviour we can control absolutely…..our own.

We believe all adults must be fully engaged in managing and modifying behaviour. Everybody

is trained to an exceptionally high standard so around the site, nobody walks past.

Individual Teachers are rapidly upskilled in leading edge classroom practice that eradicates low

level disruption and refocuses everyone on the learning. There is a huge shift in expectations in

every classroom and from every adult.

We work with Senior Teams, Teachers and all adults to dramatically slim down policy and

procedures.

Evidence based practice ripples through our curriculum and informs classroom practice as well

as interventions for the most vulnerable learners.

Humiliation in any form plays no part in the Pivotal approach. Learners are respected,

regardless of their behaviour. Adult behaviour will never be compromised by learner behaviour.

Adults strip out all negative emotion/response when dealing with challenging behaviour.

Recognition replaces reward. The Pivotal focus is on pride not prizes. Recognition systems are

not individual but collective. Learners are interdependent.

Our programmes are shaped around the 95% of learners who arrive every day keen to learn

and eager to please. The silent majority.

We don’t believe the 5% of the most troubled learners are ‘behaviour problems’; they need a

different approach. One that is not based on a set of increasingly large sanctions.

Learners are never able to ‘power play’ with adults. There is no ‘them and us’ culture. Universal

micro scripts are used to intervene with poor behaviour.


Learners are never passed up the hierarchy. We have innovative approaches to ensure

teachers at the classroom level remain in charge of the incident.

There are no detentions, segregation rooms, physical restraints or punitive punishments. Adults

and learners have structured restorative conversations.

We rigorously evaluate the impact of the programmes on teachers and learners. Our focus is on

tracking and increasing learning hours for all learners. Data is used to drive cultural change.

Everyone can see the impact that their efforts are making.

Emotional Cost Exercise

Kyra has been covered in paint. Ryan has been accused. He has already been given a

reminder, a warning and a breaktime detention. The teacher feels that his behaviour is totally

unacceptable and forcibly tells Ryan to leave the room

Ryan won’t move. He claims that the teacher shouted at him and was unreasonable,’ Besides, I

didn’t throw any paint, she fell on me’.

You arrive ‘on call’.

As soon as the teacher sees you at the door she accelerates into maximum sarcasm , ‘Oh, Mrs

Harris, I am soooooooo pleased to see you. THIS boy thinks that he can assault other children

and laugh about it. Look, look’. She is pointing at Ryan who smiles uncomfortably.

Ryan immediately assumes that you are on the side of the teacher and makes a run for it. He

bolts under the tables, through the chairs and over the heads of some smaller children. As he

leaves the class the teacher takes the opportunity to tell you that ‘I won’t have him in my class

until he has apologised and completed 3 lunchtime detentions!’

It takes you and a teaching assistant 30 minutes to find Ryan who is hiding under the small

staircase by the portacabin.


It takes you a further 45 minutes to calm him down. He is very aggrieved and is making claims

that the teacher shouted at him very close to his face and that she said, ‘I can restrain you if I

want, I’ve done the course’.

You keep him out of lessons for the rest of the morning, supervised by a learning mentor and a

member of the office staff.

At lunchtime a furious teacher finds you and it takes you the full hour to calm her down.

You need to take statements from other children and the teacher, arrange a meeting with the

teacher to negotiate next steps, speak to the parents, run a restorative session, find someone to

look after Ryan until you can resolve the situation, create a timeline, log events and ask the

office staff to send letters.

Calculate how much has all of this cost? Include all staff and administrative costs.

Be ready to present your workings to another group.



Task: What would you choose if the rules were limited to 5?

Filter this chaos of rules into just 5.

No bullying

Walk on the left

Be polite to Midday supervisors

Be on time

Kind feet

Try your best

Don’t run in the PE corridor

Follow instructions

Don’t argue with teachers

Listen

Kind hands

No swearing

Be respectful

Hold doors for one another

No phones in lessons

Bring your equipment

Be ready to learn

Stay safe online

Pick up your own litter

No sandwiches or packed lunches to be

eaten outside the dining hall

Wear proper school uniform

Make sure you have a bag for your books

Never enter a classroom without a member

of staff

School starts at 8.45am

Clean your table when you have finished

lunch

Don’t push into the line say ‘please’ and

‘thank you’

One voice at a time

No knives

No trolling online

Keep hands and feet to yourself

Be polite

We are kind

Try your best

Be resilient

No chewing gum

Don’t eat in class

You cannot leave the classroom without a

hall pass

Bring all your equipment

Arrive on time every time

Don’t answer back

No make up

One voice at a time

No sitting in the corridors


Interview with the Headteacher of Fochriw Primary School, July 2016

The Pivotal programme has had a massive impact on behaviour in school. Children are

developing a more responsible, thoughtful attitude towards how they behave and conduct

themselves. We have noticed there is a much calmer atmosphere in school. There has also

been a more noticeable change in staff; there is a greater sense of solidarity as we are now all

reading from the same page.

Children respond beautifully to the positive vibes all staff wear ‘yellow smiley faces positive

behaviour badges’ on their lanyards. The children react well to the fair treatment and show a

sense of understanding of repercussions if they do misbehave. They understand and reiterate

our 3 rules only. (As Mrs. Pascoe stated, even our nursery repeat these and understand when

the vision is shared in assembly). We have noticed fewer students lose learning time as they

respond to the three warnings and the script within the classroom.

The lunchtime supervisors have also taken the Pivotal programme fully on board and are now

consistent with their approach to managing behaviour too.

We have measured impact in several ways. We have completed surveys provided by Pivotal as

staff and children have also completed a ‘learner questionnaire’ using specific behaviour

questions. We aim to rerun the questionnaires during the summer term to measure impact from

the baseline at the start of the programme. It has been on the Agenda during staff meetings

where we have reviewed the progress of Pivotal and there is a noticeable difference with the

children who struggled to concentrate and complete work within a set time who are now

completing at a much better pace. Attendance has also been monitored and there is an

improvement in figures and an increase in punctuality. We have conducted a Learning Walk

with the link governor for well-being and 2 of the school’s recently appointed Behaviour

Champions. We have also invested in training using the electronic system SIMS system of

record keeping for behaviour. We will use this data at the end of the summer term to measure

the impact of the programme.

We will continue to push Pivotal forward by embedding the routines and the behaviour

management strategies. The most significant being the development of positivity and rewarding

“good” acts consistently. We have a presentation to governors in the summer sharing our good

practice and the impact of the programme with the Change Maker and Behaviour Champions.

The behaviour policy was re-written with cluster headteachers and reviewed by staff and the


school council (and governors). This will again be reviewed in the autumn term but with our

Behaviour Champions (who were not in place at the time) taking the lead on the policy review.

The Behaviour Champions are planned to carry out a PowerPoint presentation around classes

explaining the difference between ‘bullying’ and ‘poor behaviour’ as the findings from our initial

survey highlighted this as a way forward.

The biggest challenge for us was during lunchtime. This was when we noticed a huge issue with

behaviour from the children. I prioritised the lunchtime supervisors as needing the most support.

We meet every half term to discuss behaviour and management strategies in line with Pivotal.

To date we have made huge changes during the lunchtime; we have organised a seating plan

for the canteen so that the children sit in the same seats daily and are separated from any

negative influences. The lunchtime supervisors have also developed confidence and have a

voice as they have been given the responsibility of selecting a child from each class to receive a

lunchtime supervisor’s award where they are recognised for their outstanding behaviour during

lunchtime. The ladies are invited into our ‘Celebration assembly’ on a Friday to present their

award. They also have a display board in the canteen. (This, along with other information of

positive improvements on our journey is tweeted regularly to share with parents)

We were thrilled with how well the children adapted to the changes in such a short period of

time. The staff were enthusiastic and keen to pursue the Pivotal initiatives after the Whoosh

day.

It has been completely worth all of the hard work and effort to see the positivity and the

enthusiasm from both children and staff. Initiatives like the script, the meet and greet and the

recognition board are embedded in our daily routine and used consistently throughout the

school by all staff members. Feedback from parents indicate they particularly welcome the

‘phone call’ home. Our 3 positive Pivotal behaviour rules are not as prominent on display (a

suggestion from the ‘Learning Walk’ as collectively the children are aware of them throughout

the school and have almost disappeared. We have also a staff visitor book that has positive

comments regarding the behaviour of the children and these are shared with the children to

continually reinforce positive behaviour.


T +44 (0)20 7000 1735 E [email protected] W pivotaleducation.com All content © Pivotal Education Ltd 2017

Pivotal Education Ltd is an education training consultancy working across the whole of the UK and internationally. Founded in 2001, Pivotal Education has always been committed to providing exceptional training and support for teachers, school leaders and other professionals working with young people. We are the leading specialists in Behaviour Management and Safeguarding in the UK. Our aim is simple: to train adults to inspire young people. Our acclaimed in-house training team work with a huge variety of teachers and educators in diverse settings. Our live training sends consistent ripples through your teaching teams, our online training sustains changes in practice and our licensed instructors scheme embeds lasting cultural change. From highly successful institutions to those in challenging situations, from early years to post -16 learners, Pivotal training inspires, motivates and creates profound cultural change. Our work extends to 20 countries. We are COBIS (Council of British International Schools) Approved Consultants. Learn more

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Leading Behaviour Change - 2017 - Pivotal Education · Leading Behaviour Change pivotaleducation.com 4 Learners are never passed up the hierarchy. We have innovative approaches to