Acton Early Childhood Centre.

 

SOCIALISATION AND

BEHAVIOUR MANAGEMENT POLICY.

 

AIMS

 

á       To give all children the opportunity to expand their experiences of life in a productive, safe environment that allows individuals the right to safety, tolerance, self-expression, cultural identity, dignity and the worth of the individual.

 

á       To begin to learn to respect the rights and needs of others by foreseeing the outcome of their behaviour and the consequences of their behaviour.

 

á       To encourage the individual social development of each child.

 

EXPLANATION

 

To allow children to develop self-discipline, a respect for others, and for property, it is important that children understand what is acceptable and unacceptable behaviour. We need to prepare children to know how to behave in an acceptable manner in everyday life situations so that they may develop self-respect and tolerance.

 

Children need to develop awareness of how their actions impact on others and on others feelings. Children should also be assisted in understanding how their own feelings are an indicator to them of the acceptability of their own behaviour.

 

ACTIONS

 

Education

 

á       There should be open communication between parents and staff on a daily basis. With the help of the parents, the staff will develop a broader understanding of the child's developmental level, the child's family, the parent's feelings, and any recent events which may be influencing the child's behaviour, such as teething. In turn, the staff should ensure that the parent is aware of the highs and lows of the child's day at the Centre.

 

á       Staff are encouraged to update their knowledge and skills regarding behaviour management techniques by reading widely, through group discussion, and through in-service training.

 

á       Exchange of information between staff and parents on the subject of behaviour management is encouraged both on an informal and more formal basis, such as parent interviews and through newsletters.

 

á       Centre resources will be used to develop childrenÕs understanding of their own feelings and those of others. Protective Behaviours material will be used to assist in this development

 

 

 

 

Socialisation

Staff encourage children to follow a few simple rules regarding the limits of acceptable behaviour. These should be explained and consistently applied and are as follows:

á       Children are encouraged to:-

~ greet others when they arrive and depart from the Centre

~ share toys and games

~ tidy up after an activity is finished 

~ say 'please' and 'thankyou'

~ say 'I'm sorry' or to act in a way that indicates a sense of empathy, for example giving a cuddle, after behaving in an unacceptable manner to another person

~ wait their turn.

 

All of the above expectations will be applied at a developmentally appropriate level for the children involved.

 

á       Aggression and the deliberate destruction of property are actively discouraged.

 

á       Children are encouraged to socialise with other children at the Centre from different cultural backgrounds as well as from different age groups and different sexes.

 

á       Children are asked to be aware of their feelings and those of others and to acknowledge how their behaviour may impact on the feelings of others and themselves.

 

Mealtime etiquette

 

á       Children are encouraged to remain seated, to learn acceptable manners, such as politely asking for food to be passed to them, not throwing food, and cleaning up after themselves.

 

Behaviour Management

 

á       Staff encourage appropriate behaviour by providing children with a role model through their own appropriate actions.

 

á       Staff will ensure that their interactions reflect qualities of consistency, fairness, warmth and sensitivity.

 

á       Staff are not to show favouritism or bias.

 

á       Children are given positive guidance. This means that encouragement and appreciation are given as recognition of appropriate behaviour.

 

á       Staff should solve problems with a child by establishing eye-contact in a non-threatening way and speaking firmly but not in a threatening way.

 

á       Children are not subject to, or threatened with, any form of corporal punishment or any humiliating or frightening techniques. Physical, verbal and emotional punishment is regarded as unacceptable and will not be permitted or justified as a behaviour management technique.

 

á       Children are not overly regimented with regard to the choice of activities.

Babies

 

á       Staff should be sensitive to baby's limitations, changing the situations according to their needs.

 

á       Staff should be ready to distract, guide, re-direct attention and interest and remove temptation.

 

á       Staff should give lots of attention when babies are happy, talkative, playful, as well as when they are crying.

 

á       The environment should be structured in such a way so that staff minimise their use of 'no'.

 

á       Staff should signal that a baby has behaved in an unacceptable manner by clearly and firmly stating what they should be doing. Their response should always be framed in a positive manner.

 

Toddlers and Pre-schoolers

 

á       Staff should encourage children to be aware of the behavioural consequences of their actions. For example, they should be gently guided by comments such as 'if you do ... then.... will occur'.

 

á       Staff should provide choices to help the child be a part of the decision-making process.

 

á       Staff should help children to solve any problems verbally. This verbal skill will empower the child and help the child to cope with difficult situations which require negotiation and problem-solving, both as a child and an adult.

 

á       The child should never be accused of being unacceptable. Rather the behaviour of the child is deemed acceptable or unacceptable. That is, staff should distinguish the action from the child - the child is always respected.

 

á       Staff should acknowledge and accept a child's feelings of anger, frustration or jealousy. The feelings should be distinguished from what the child does about the feelings. The staff should talk about feelings and encourage the child to talk about them too. Staff should encourage children to understand that there is nothing wrong with feeling angry - it is the reaction to the anger, such as hitting, that is not acceptable.

 

á       Children should be encouraged to become aware of their own physiological signs that tell them about their feelings as an indicator of what may be the right action to take in various situations, for example, conflict situations.

 

á       Staff should comfort the child who hurt as well as the child who has been hurt.

 

á       The 'time out' method is used marginally. This means that the disruptive child is excluded from an activity for a short period of time. However, children are not kept apart from other children for more than a few minutes. After this period of time, staff then ask the child to play correctly and then must be reintegrated into the group and rejoin the activity.

 

Inappropriate language

 

á       In babies and toddlers swearing is ignored a they are experimenting with words and language. Their language is redirected to other things around them.

 

á       In pre-school, if the child swears, assess the situation first as there is usually a reason why the child is swearing.

 

á       Encourage children to talk through what has happened and develop solutions to work through the problem.

 

á       Children are taught to use appropriate language to express how they feel.

 

á       Staff are encouraged to model appropriate language behaviour.

 

á       If swearing becomes an ongoing problem, staff will talk with the parents in order to devise methods of dealing with swearing that are consistent between home and the Centre.

 

A note on toy weapons:

 

The Centre aims to teach children that they are personally responsible for their actions and how it affects other people. In our society the use of guns can allow the separation of actions from their consequences. So, at our Centre guns have no place in dramatic play. However, superhero/military role play is a common form of play for preschool children and can be useful to teach them their limits and to feel powerful in their world. We believe that this is good provided that children understand that superheroes must respect other people and the environment.

Policy on weapons: Toys are generally chosen by staff. They try to purchase toys that are of interest to the children, are not single use toys, have educational value, and are non-bias. Toy guns are not permitted at the Centre. Staff actively discourage the making of guns (and to a lesser extent the making of other weapons such as swords). Staff encourage play that assists childrenÕs investigation of their abilities and limits and helps them learn about their impact on other people.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Taken from Policy documents for centre when called Parents on Campus, written approx 1997.

Reviewed staff meeting 1-5-02. Taken to Parent Meeting 12-5-02.

Policy re-named at staff meeting 7-5-03.

Reviewed and incorporated Protective Behaviours principles July 2005.