This guidance has been agreed by the Scottish Advisory Group on Relationships and Behaviour in schools, and this demonstrates a collective commitment to the principles of the guidance. As local authorities have statutory responsibility for delivering education, it will be key for the Scottish Government and COSLA to work together to support the implementation of the guidance.
At its core, this guidance is about improving outcomes for our young people. By helping children to understand boundaries and consequences we are giving them skills for life and enabling them to become successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens,
and effective contributors.
Some key messages:
- A school culture rooted in shared values, clear expectations, and consistent practice is foundational to creating a positive, inclusive and safe environment for all members of a school community.
- All approaches to behaviour should be underpinned by a commitment to upholding and promoting children’s rights, as set out in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), as well as protecting the rights of others, such as staff.
- Responses to children should always be in line with a school’s relationships and behaviour policy. This policy should promote positive relationships and behaviour, based on early intervention and prevention and set within the framework of early intervention and prevention, as set out within Curriculum for Excellence and Getting it right for every child (GIRFEC).
- A school’s relationships and behaviour policy should detail its approach to responding when a child needs support with their behaviour. Understanding the school’s context is key: approaches should reflect the unique needs and challenges of the school community and be embedded within a clear, accessible and understood relationships and behaviour policy, developed collaboratively with staff, children and young people
and families.
- Consequences’ are an essential part of a supportive learning environment. They are about reinforcing expectations and boundaries, promoting responsibility, and helping children and young people learn prosocial skills that allow them to actively contribute to and benefit from their school community.
- Engagement with children and young people, staff and parents1 is vital to ensure understanding of expectations, consistency in application, and buy-in for
implementation and developing a sense of collective responsibility. In an empowered school system, this should include the co-development of policies to ensure they are informed by the experiences and perspectives of the whole school community.
- Consistency in approach does not mean the same response should be used for every child or in every situation. There should be consistent expectations and boundaries, however, the response when expectations are not met may be different to reflect a child’s specific needs and circumstances.
- Approaches to expectations should be inclusive and reflective of the diversity of age and developmental stages across the school community and framed in such a way that ensures children and young people are able to meet them, particularly those who may be disadvantaged or face barriers linked to a protected characteristic.
- Schools have a range of consequences available to them. In line with the national policy on exclusion, ‘Included, Engaged and Involved Part 2’, this includes up to and including exclusion as a last resort, where this approach is proportionate and there is no appropriate alternative.
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