Bowker Vale Values and Behaviour Expectations
Our Values
Aiming High; Showing Integrity–
Being Respectful, Honest, Fair, Proud and Kind.
Bowker Vale Primary School seeks to become a centre of excellence for High Standards, enabling each pupil to explore their talents and achieve their full potential. This will be promoted in a welcoming environment of mutual respect ensuring each pupil feels safe, secure and valued.
School Aims
- To be a welcoming, friendly, bright, lively and happy place where learners feel secure and enjoy growing up.
- To be a place of personal responsibility, respect and good behaviour.
- To provide for learners’ individual physical, emotional, social, spiritual, moral and cultural needs.
- To promote and achieve high standards for all by providing teaching of the highest quality.
- To provide a rich and challenging curriculum based on first hand experiences, practical learning, investigation and play.
- To be an inclusive school, ensuring that all learners are given equality of opportunity.
- To encourage parental and wider community involvement in all aspects of school life.
- To be a place where individuals are encouraged, rewarded and celebrated.
Our Behaviour Expectations
We are committed to providing and maintaining a warm and friendly environment in which all our children feel secure and valued. We strive to develop the awareness of our own feelings and those of others. We celebrate and reward positive relationships and believe that this encourages children towards higher standards. This also provides reinforcement and motivation that helps to raise children’s self-esteem.
The school follows a positive behaviour policy around our Bowker Vale Standard, which the children all know and can sign using BSL –
‘Today, I will be the best version of myself. I will aim high, show integrity
and be
respectful, honest, fair, proud and kind.’
Our ‘School Rules’ are;
- Be Ready
- Be Respectful
- Be Safe
PROMOTING AND MAINTAINING GOOD BEHAVIOUR
Good standards of behaviour are promoted through simple rules, positive strategies and rewards, including:
- Our School Rules
- An inclusive curriculum, focused on learning about and celebrating difference
- An appropriate and relevant curriculum that meets the needs of each pupil with a focus on our important values – Aiming high; showing integrity. Being respectful, honest, fair, proud and kind
- Positive oral praise to share successes and reinforce expectations
- Celebration assemblies and collective worship which develop themes such as friendship, respect, Learning Powers and Growth Mindset
- Individual rewards – stickers, certificates, DoJos and reward charts
- Responsibility roles (e.g. Bowker Leaders, Eco-team)
- Class reward systems
- PSHE lessons
- Termly mentor meetings with the children - ‘Attitude’ is carefully tracked by the class teacher and discussed during these meetings. This includes attendance, punctuality, behaviour, effort, homework and uniform. Each area is colour coded: Green-excellent/very good, Yellow-acceptable/satisfactory, Red-unacceptable. Targets and support are agreed where necessary. All attitudes are shared with families at Learning Reviews, at least twice in the year.
STRATEGIES TO HELP CHILDREN WHO BEHAVE INAPPROPRIATELY
The behaviour at Bowker Vale is very good and while we believe in positive behaviour management and the celebrating of good behaviour, sometimes negative consequences are necessary to maintain our high standards.
Negative consequences need to be fair and consistent and the reason for them understood. It is impossible to describe every type of pupil misbehaviour and prescribe a negative consequence, as the appropriate consequence depends on particular circumstances and there must be flexibility.
If a child acts in anger or irresponsibly they are given time out to consider their actions calmly. This means that adults are more likely to find out exactly what has happened and be able to discuss the matter more effectively and fairly with the children involved.
Children can act in a thoughtless manner, though not necessarily deliberately, and it is important that we recognise this and help these children reflect on and change their behaviour. If a child deliberately hurts another child, speaks to an adult with disrespect, or refuses to follow an instruction, we will discuss this, and the consequence given with the child’s family.
WHAT DID OFSTED SAY ABOUT BEHAVIOUR AT BOWKER VALE (when they visited to inspect in February 2023)?
What is it like to attend this school?
'This school is a happy place to be. Pupils, and children in the early years, enjoy being part
of a warm and caring learning community where everyone is included. Pupils strive to live
up to the Bowker Vale standard, which encourages them to be respectful, honest, fair,
proud and kind. They play well together and try hard in their lessons.'
'Staff expect pupils to behave well. Pupils feel safe at school because they trust staff to
take care of them and listen to their concerns. Staff deal swiftly with any bullying or
unkindness. They endeavour to make sure that these behaviours do not continue.'
'In lessons, and at social times, pupils behave well. They are polite and follow routines
with enthusiasm. Learning is not disrupted by poor behaviour. Children in the early years
listen attentively and follow adults’ instructions. They make effective use of the different
learning spaces that leaders have designed for them.'
