Positive behaviour guidance policy.
How we guide children's behaviour with respect, consistency, and an understanding of their developmental needs.
Aim: To ensure that the children's behaviour is supported and guided in a positive and consistent way which respects the rights and needs of individual children and staff.
Purpose: To foster an environment that:
encourages co-operation with each other and develops problem solving skills to assist with conflict resolution.
promotes positive self-esteem and self-concept - develops independence.
understands child development and age-appropriate behaviour by staff encouraging and guiding children independently.
provides children with positive role models.
Strategies
Allow children to have control over a situation and be guided by and not be controlled by an adult.
Interactions should convey respect for the child and help the child understand why certain behaviours or actions are inappropriate.
Behaviour management actions should always immediately follow the behaviour and be matched to the child and the behaviour.
Behaviour management actions should be regularly evaluated to ensure they are effective and appropriate.
Positive guidance strategies should always follow the inappropriate behaviour or action.
Positive guidance strategies should be developmentally appropriate and reflect the individual child.
The behaviour guidance we provide children with will be guided by the following practices:
Our centre will encourage children to engage in cooperative and pro-social behaviour and express their feelings and responses to others’ behaviour confidently and constructively, including challenging the behaviour of other children when it is disrespectful or unfair.
Our educators will support children to explore different identities and points of view and to communicate effectively when resolving disagreements with others.
Our educators will discuss emotions, feelings and issues of inclusion and fairness, bias and prejudice and the consequences of their actions and the reasons for this, as well appropriate guidelines.
Our educators will encourage children to listen to other children’s ideas, consider alternate behaviour and cooperate in problem solving situations.
Our educators will listen empathetically to children when they express their emotions, reassure them that it is normal to experience positive and negative emotions and
guide children to remove themselves from situations where they are experiencing frustration, anger, or fear.
Our educators will support children to negotiate their rights and rights of others and intervene sensitively when children experience difficulty in resolving a disagreement.
Our educators will learn about children’s relationships with others and the relationship preferences they have and use this knowledge to support children to manage their own behaviour and develop empathy.
Our educators will work with each child’s family and, where applicable, their school, to ensure that a consistent approach is used to support children with diagnosed behavioural or social difficulties.
Our centre will gather information from families about their children’s social skills and relationship preferences and record this information in the child’s file. Our educators will use this information to engage children in experiences that support children to develop and practice their social and shared decision-making skills.
Our centre will collaborate with schools and other professionals or support agencies that work with children who have diagnosed behavioural or social difficulties to develop plans for the inclusion of these specific children. These will be kept in the individual child’s file.
Our centre will ensure that children are being allowed to make choices and experience the consequences of these choices when there is no risk of physical or emotional harm to the child or anyone else.
Our centre will ensure that children are being acknowledged when they make positive choices in managing their behaviour.
Our educators will use positive language, gestures, facial expressions, and tone of voice when redirecting or discussing children’s behaviour with them. They will also remain calm, gentle, patient and reassuring even when children strongly express distress, frustration, or anger.
Our educators will guide all children’s behaviour in ways that are focused on preserving and promoting children’s self-esteem as well as supporting children to develop skills to self-regulate their behaviour.
Our educators will speak in comforting tones and hold babies to soothe them when they are distressed.
Our educators will also respond positively to babies’ and toddlers’ exploratory behaviour.
Our centre will have in place strategies to enable educators and co-ordinators to encourage positive behaviour in children while minimising negative behaviour. We will also have strategies in place to involve children in developing behaviour limits and the consequences of inappropriate behaviour. Strategies will also be put in place for the nominated supervisor, educators, and co-ordinators to manage situations when a child’s behaviour is particularly challenging and when families have different expectations from the service in relation to guiding children’s behaviour.
Our centre will support educators and co-ordinators to enhance their skills and knowledge in relation to guiding children’s behaviour.
Examples of General Behaviour Management Strategies
Logical consequences - e.g., if a child tips out the Lego, then that child will be encouraged to help to pack it away.
Redirection of behaviour to a more appropriate outlet - e.g., a child that is banging blocks on the table can be redirected to the clay or playdough.
Offering positive reinforcement to children to encourage appropriate behaviour.
Giving children the opportunity to use problem solving skills with the help of an adult and having the chance to identify their own needs and feelings as well as responding to the needs and feelings of others. Experimenting with alternatives, ideas, and reasoning to help make choices.
Ignoring attention seeking behaviour that it is not harming or interfering with other children.
Redirecting a child from a situation where potential problems could occur or a situation the child may not have the skills to handle.
Staff will give children the time and opportunity to sit with them and talk about their behaviour. This time gives a child who may be feeling angry or frustrated the opportunity to calm down and deal with his/her feelings. During this opportunity staff will talk with the child about how their actions have affected the other person involved and what they can do to prevent this from happening again. Always follow up by helping the child deal with the problem and feel positive about the outcome. During this time children are not excluded from the group but given time to reflect on their behaviour for a short period of time with a staff member. The child who has been upset or hurt will be attended to by another staff member and both children will have the opportunity to discuss what has happened and how the incident has affected the upset child.
Prevention Strategies
Behaviour management problems can be prevented by:
Maintaining a developmentally appropriate and varied program.
Establishing clear and consistent expectations for the children that are relevant to the children's developmental levels.
Staff modelling communication skills and appropriate behaviour.
Staff being consistent in their expectations of the children.
Staff recognising causes of behaviour e.g., anger, boredom, attention seeking, imitation of behaviour, tiredness, over excitement, changes at home, illness, and social skills.
Staff Supervision
Staff being aware of the number of children under their supervision and the environment that the children are in.
Staff being situated so they have a clear view of the environment and the children.
Staff being aware of appropriate strategies to use in behaviour management situations.
Staff using verbal and non-verbal forms of communication to convey approval or disapproval to the children.
Staff being aware of children's play through interactions with children and being prepared to redirect before problems occur.
Staff being supportive of each other's decisions.
Unacceptable behaviour may include
Behaviour which may cause harm (either physically and emotionally) to children, staff, property, themselves, and others within the centre.
Behaviour which may be persistently disruptive within the routine affecting the needs and development of other children.
(0 - 3 years)
Facts
Beginning to understand limits set.
Increasing self-control.
Increasing skills with language and communication (non verbal/verbal).
Supporting solitary play and encouraging parallel play.
Why Do Children Have Adverse Behaviour?
Anger/frustration.
Boredom.
Attention seeking.
Disruptive.
Copied/learnt behaviour.
Tiredness.
Loss of control - excited.
Jealousy.
Social skills yet to be developed.
Hyperactive.
Implementation
Acknowledging behaviour patterns.
Talk about feelings with the child.
Developing a balanced Program, rest/active periods.
Comforting both children in the incident.
Being fair and consistent.
Redirecting child.
Praise positive behaviour.
Model appropriate behaviour and language.
Pre-School (3 - 5 years)
Facts
More understanding of limits set.
Increasing self-control.
Increasing skills with language to express emotions.
Ability to play together.
Why Do Children Have Adverse Behaviour?
Anger/frustration.
Boredom.
Attention seeking.
Disruptive.
Copied/learnt behaviour.
Tiredness.
Loss of control - excited.
Jealousy.
Social skills yet to be developed.
Hyperactive.
Implementation
Acknowledging behaviour patterns.
Encouraging talk about feelings.
Understanding it is OK for feelings of anger but not to follow through with actions.
Developing a balanced Program, rest/active periods.
Comforting both children in the incident.
Being fair and consistent.
Model appropriate behaviour and language.
Praise positive behaviour.
Biting
All individuals involved in the care of a child need to recognise that at times, some children, for a variety of reasons, attempt to bite other children.
Some reasons a child may bite are:
Infants – Experimental, Sensory Pleasure, Teething
Toddlers – Frustration, fatigue, attention seeking, confined spaces.
Older Children – Aggression, deliberate.
In the event of a biting incident, educators will abide by the following procedure:
Check for broken skin.
Clean all bites, regardless of whether the skin is broken or not.
Apply a cold compress to the bitten area.
Our educators will contact the families of the child who has bitten (families will not be told who was bitten) and the child that has been bitten (families will not be told who the biter was) as soon as possible. Families are then responsible for any follow up medical treatment.
If the biter is a known infectious disease carrier or can be seen to have facial herpes and the victim’s skin is broken, the Nominated Supervisor or Authorised Supervisor will convey this information to the family.
Should the behaviour continue, our educators will work in conjunction with families and, if necessary, external agencies, to develop a Behaviour Guidance plan for the child who is biting.
Our educators will complete an incident report for any occasion where a child bites and submit to the Nominated Supervisor.
Monitor the behaviour of the child who has bitten and use distraction techniques to prevent the child reaching the point where the child feels the need to bite.
Our educators will implement the following strategies to overcome inappropriate behaviour -
Our educators will practice all-encompassing and socially inclusive care.
Daily programs will recognise, value, and reflect the social and cultural diversity of our community.
Our educators will role model and actively encourage appropriate behaviours.
Our educators will form a close relationship with family members in order to work cooperatively to overcome instances of inappropriate behaviour.
Our educators will empower children by giving them responsibilities that will make them feel valued.
Our educators will help children deal with their anger. This includes offering alternative dispute resolution techniques that are socially acceptable.
Our educators will seek the support of children’s services professionals when it is necessary.
Our educators will respond promptly to children’s aggressive or inappropriate behaviour.
Persistent unacceptable behaviour
When situations arise that the behaviour of a child is persistently unacceptable and is continually destructive or hurtful and could result in harming themselves or others, staff will need to refer to the procedure for supporting and working with children displaying challenging behaviour.
Centre Support
Sources
- National Quality StandardEducation and Care Services National RegulationsEarly Years Learning Framework V2.0 2022
*This policy is the property of Eikoh Seminar Australia Pty Limited and must not be reproduced without the consent of management.