Whole School Rewards/Consequences System

Dear Parents/Carers,

Apologies in advance – this is a lengthy one!

Having been Head for almost a year now (something I cannot quite believe!) one thing that stands out to me on a daily basis is the fact we have an awful lot of children who give their absolute best on a daily basis: They are kind, respectful, hard-working and articulate. Having discussed this as a team recently, we came to the conclusion that we currently lack a whole school consistently-used reward/behaviour system that both rewards excellent behaviour and discourages undesirable behaviour.

We have decided that from next term we are going to opt into the Good to Be Green system of behaviour management in classrooms. This initially begins with a contract drawn up by children of behaviours we want to see in our class and on our playground. School Council will play an active part in drawing these up. These will be displayed in each classroom prominently. Furthermore, each class will have a hanging display with a named clear section for all children which by default has a green card visible. Every child begins every day on green. Behind the green card sits a “think” card, an orange one and a red. If a child breaks the Class Contract (written and signed by the class), the “think” card is brought forward as a reminder to think about behaviour choices. If the Class Contract is broken again, this moves to orange and then red, at which point, an agreed consequence occurs – in most cases, loss of part of breaktime. Teachers will share with parents that day if a red card is obtained and for what reason. This is reset for every child, every day, so we all begin each day with a fresh start. Teachers will use this system sensitively, based on their knowledge of each child as an individual. We want children to stay green!

This brings me on to the collective reward system. We have decided to re-instate the House system and every child will soon be sorted into a House – red, blue, yellow or green. Each house will have a boy and girl house captain from Year 6. House points will be given out in the form of tokens during lessons and break for excellent behaviour, living our values, and hard work. These tokens can be brought down to the hall when children come for lunch, as the collection tubes will be located in the hall by the kitchen where children can easily deposit them. We have chosen a really visible location for the house point tubes so the children can see the amounts grow, week on week!

In terms of individual successes, our current Friday assembly “hard work” certificate will be replaced with a “Good to be Green” certificate, which is a pupil within the class who has managed to remain green for the whole week.

Furthermore, the House Captains will come around at the end of the day and calculate the number of children in each class who have remained on green all day. These figures will be added to the house point token numbers and the winning house celebrated in Friday’s assembly. The termly winning house will receive a special treat such as a movie afternoon or a picnic on the school field.

At lunchtimes, the lunch staff will operate a simple system of verbal warning, five minutes time out and finally a “red card” which will be communicated to class teachers so they can share this with you as necessary.

As a staff, we feel this connected system of rewards/consequences will both motivate children and ensure consistency in how we deal with misbehaviour. Importantly, we want all staff to be applying this system in the same way to ensure fairness.  

We also feel strongly that your support in this endeavour will lead to the most positive outcomes. When teachers share that your child has been given a red card, we would greatly appreciate you discussing this with your child and talking about better behaviour choices.

We as a staff feel positive about the impact we feel this will have within school. It goes without saying that we will continue to care for, appreciate and nurture our children, rewarding positives, but with a clear, high and consistent expectations. We aim to implement the new system at the beginning of the Summer Term.

We're definitely open to hearing your thoughts, so if you would like to discuss any of the above, please do get in contact.

Kind regards,

Miss E Wilson

Headteacher