• Our behaviour policy sets out to ensure that everyone; pupils, their families, staff and visitors to our school understands and adheres to school rules and expectations, and positively contributes towards making the school a pleasant, safe and productive place to learn. We recognise the effect a calm, organised and productive atmosphere has on a child’s learning, self- esteem and health. We are an inclusive school where we focus on the well-being and progress of every child and where all members of our community are of equal worth.
• Behaviour expectations are consistent throughout the school. The behaviour policy is implemented across all year groups and children understand what is expected of them at all points throughout the school day.
• All staff are asked to treat children fairly and sensitively, to listen to them, to hear both sides of any disagreements and help children sort problems out in a reasonable way. Staff should aim to organise life in the classroom in such a way that children always know what they should be doing and are able to work successfully at tasks appropriate to their level of ability. Within such a secure structure we are able to ensure that all children understand and can adhere to what is expected of them in terms of their behaviour.
• We have clear routines throughout the school day. These are shared with the children and support their well-being by providing a straightforward schedule to their week.

• Our PSHCE curriculum provides children with the tools to build positive relationships and respect people’s differences.
• The curriculum nurtures a supportive environment and demonstrates to children how to be a good friend to somebody if they need help.
• All children are encouraged to speak to an adult if they need support and are given descriptive praise for doing so.

• Staff create a learning environment where children are not deterred by mistakes and are confident to persevere in their learning.
• Children are told how to ask for help in their learning and how to correct mistakes.
• Teachers provide clear feedback on children’s work and model ways to up-level or correct elements of it

• This is supported by our PSHCE curriculum.
• A high quality and structured provision for PHSCE will give children knowledge, understanding, and skills and help them explore and develop attitudes and values to live healthy, safe, fulfilled and responsible lives. Our PHSCE curriculum supports children to manage feelings, learn about how to be healthy and safe and understand about relationships. It covers physical health, emotional health and well-being, drug education (including medicines, alcohol, tobacco, volatile substances and illegal drugs), sex and relationship education, citizenship, antibullying, safety (including e-safety and anti-bullying), personal finance education , careers and the environment .
• We also organise themed weeks which are mapped across the curriculum which complement and enrich our planned PSHCE teaching programme. For example, Peace week, Equalities week, Anti-bullying week, Social Justice Week, Safety Week.
• We set ground rules, particularly when teaching sensitive topics such as Relationships and Sex Education, to ensure that pupils discuss topics with respect and listen to the views of others, as well as ensuring that pupils and staff do not disclose personal information.
• We recognise the role that stigma can play in preventing understanding and awareness of mental health issues and aim to create an open and positive culture that encourages discussion and understanding of mental health issues.

• We recognise the important role parents and carers have in promoting and supporting the mental health and wellbeing of their children, and in particular supporting their children with mental health needs.
• On first entry to the school, our parent’s meeting includes a discussion on the importance of positive mental health for learning. We ask parents to inform us of any mental health needs their child has and any issues that they think might have an impact on their child’s mental health and wellbeing, based on a list of risk factors pertaining to the child or family. It is very helpful if parents and carers can share information with the school so that we can better support their child.
• We provide information and websites on mental health issues and local wellbeing and parenting programmes and have produced leaflets for parents on mental health and resilience, which can be accessed on the school website. The information includes who parents can talk to if they have concerns about their own child or a friend of their child and where parents can access support for themselves.
• We organise weekly coffee mornings for parents, during which we invite professionals from various fields to train parents on elements of their children’s learning. A large proportion of these are based on ways to promote positive mental health and what to do if a parent has any concerns.

• Our staff receive regular mental health training, including Mental Health First Aid and guidance from the Department for Education on the health element of the PSHCE curriculum.
• We believe that all staff have a responsibility to promote positive mental health, and to understand about protective and risk factors for mental health. Some children will require additional help and all staff should have the skills to look out for any early warning signs of mental health problems and ensure that pupils with mental health needs get early intervention and the support they need.
• All staff understand about possible risk factors that might make some children more likely to experience problems; such a physical long-term illness, having a parent who has a mental health problem,, death and loss, including loss of friendships, family breakdown and bullying. They also understand the factors that protect children from adversity, such as self-esteem, communication and problem-solving skills, a sense of worth and belonging and emotional literacy.

Our identification system involves a range of processes. We aim to identify children with mental health needs as early as possible to prevent things getting worse. We do this in different ways including:

• Analysing behaviour, exclusions, visits to the medical room/school nurse, attendance and sanctions.
• Staff report concerns about individual pupils to the Senior Leadership Team and the SENDCo.
• Weekly inclusion meetings for staff to raise concerns.
• Gathering information from a previous school at transfer or transition.
• Induction meetings for parents of pupils in EYFS.
• Regular meetings between SENDCo and external agencies such as the speech and language therapist or behaviour outreach team to identify potential mental health needs.
• Staff are aware that mental health needs such as anxiety might appear as noncompliant, disruptive or aggressive behaviour which could include problems with attention or hyperactivity. This may be related to home problems, difficulties with learning, peer relationships or development.
• If there is a concern that a pupil is in danger of immediate harm then the school’s child protection procedures are followed. If there is a medical emergency then the school’s procedures for medical emergencies are followed.

In some case a pupil’s mental health needs require support from a specialist service. These might include anxiety, depression, self-harm and eating disorders.

We have access to a range of specialist services. These include:

• Mental health support- CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service).
• Educational Psychologist.

School referrals to a specialist service will be made by the SENDCo following the assessment process and in consultation with the pupil and his/her parents and carers. Referrals will only go ahead with the consent of the pupil and parent/carer and when it is the most appropriate support for the pupil’s specific needs.

Once support is in place from a specialist service, school has regular contact with the external agency to review the support and regularly consider next steps. This forms part of the pupil’s support plan and this is reviewed on a termly basis with parents/carers. Persistent mental health problems may lead to pupils having significantly greater difficulty in learning, than the majority of those of the same age. In some cases, the child may benefit from being identified as having a special educational need (SEN).