Behaviour and Safety Survey For Children

I am writing to let you know what a sample of children have told us about behaviour and safety in school. We wanted to do the survey as we have refreshed our Anti-Bullying Policy as we promised we would back in November 2011. We have also spent a lot of time this year teaching the children the importance of being and feeling safe, as well as respecting each other and any adult. We want children to be able to get on with their learning in class and to enjoy their playtimes with their friends.

The findings in KS1 were very positive:
100% enjoy school; 100% feel safe (1 child said ‘a little bit’); 100% said that school actively discourages bullying and 100% know to speak to an adult about it; the good majority think that sanctions and rewards are fair. However, around half of the children from Y1 upwards are not happy with the standard of behaviour around school. They quote running and shouting as reasons. The good majority of children are happy with the standard of behaviour in lessons.

The findings in KS2 were also quite positive:
The good majority enjoy school; the good majority feel safe; the good majority said that school actively discourages bullying and they all know to speak to an adult about it.

Most children think that our behaviour policy is fair and clearly know what it is. The good majority think that teachers give rewards and offer sanctions fairly. The majority of children are happy about behaviour in lessons though, unless children talk when the teacher is speaking or they are messing about. This disrupts their learning.

Except- the majority of children are not happy with the standard of behaviour around school. They quote swearing and running and shouting as reasons.

There are so many positives in these findings. Our Anti-Bullying Policy is effective and we have a workable behaviour policy. But clearly, we need to do more work on making sure that children walk around our big school quietly. Also, we need to do some more work on making sure that children have happy playtimes in KS2 and show adults and other children respect at all times.

The majority of children always follow our school rules and show respect. They speak politely to others and are very caring. They also help us to spread the word about what is acceptable behaviour. They know to say sorry when they have made a poor choice or when they have hurt someone.

As parents, you are always very supportive of our work especially when some children find it more difficult to follow our policies. Thank you for also helping us to encourage your child to speak up when they are not happy or not feeling safe or respected.

As ever, please come and see one of the Learning Mentors, Mrs. Tatham or myself if you have any worries or concerns about behaviour.

Yours sincerely,
Mrs C Hindmarch