Deptford Park Primary is a comprehensive primary school located in south-east London, serving a large estate with a high number of deprivation indicators and challenging circumstances.

 

Before utilising relational practice, the school used an approach which centred heavily around things like praise assemblies, pupil of the week, green slips and stickers. Whilst this was the positive side, it also incorporated yellow and red slips, yellow being a time out in a different class and red being a phone call home and usually a time out at lunch time. Students (and teachers) were becoming reliant on the use of stickers. Some members of staff raised their voices to the children.

 

The Headteacher at Deptford Park read ‘When The Adults Change, Everything Changes’ in 2017 and found that it really resonated. All of SLT then read the book over the summer holidays and changes were then implemented upon return to school. Since September 2018 the school’s behaviour policy has been centred around relational practice, with everything hung on three core values; Respect, Kindness and Integrity (supplemented by Leadership, Sustainability and Resilience). The hope was to see positive changes in behaviour, fewer conflicts and happy, thriving children, and it has been a ‘roaring success’.

 

Deptford Park Primary work in close partnership with the Mental Health Support Team and are proud to be an inclusive school. Staff training has focused on the importance of relationships and trauma informed practice. Recognition Boards are utilised in classrooms, meet and greet happens at each door, and micro-scripts are used to help manage behaviour. Relational practice feels embedded in the school, with behaviour, in general, on an upward trajectory. There has been a reduced number of suspensions overall and in this academic year there have been none!

 

The shift in practice has taken time, but getting buy-in from staff was generally easy once they could see that it worked. In theory, everyone agreed with a relational approach and could see the value in it. To begin with, teachers and support staff found moving to a model without a coloured slip system difficult. Some felt that the school had moved to a no sanctions model, which was definitely not the case! Some more ‘old school’ members of staff found it difficult that children weren’t getting an ‘amateur dramatics style telling off’ when they had done something wrong. However, once the mindset had shifted and staff saw the positive outcomes from private, calm conversations, things began to move forward quickly. 

 

Children also initially found it hard when something had happened and they reported it yet didn’t see a red slip, or children being visibly ‘told off’. This led to some parents enquiring about incidents not being addressed. Once the whole school community understood and saw the value in the new way of working, things became much easier. 

 

The new approach encourages and nurtures intrinsic motivations, so each child wants to behave for themselves, rather than an over reliance on stickers. There is a focus on the behaviours that the school wants to grow. This might include verbal praise, being celebrated on the recognition board, awarded a positive postcard, celebrated in achievement assemblies or a phone call home/communication to the parent/carer. Above and beyond behaviours are acknowledged and celebrated, whilst drawing attention to poor conduct is avoided. The school seeks to avoid creating situations in which children receive adult attention only in return for inconsiderate behaviour. 

 

With the recent update to the school’s Behaviour Policy, the entire school community were consulted and involved and the feedback has been positive. Staff are well versed in the use of micro-scripts, and children feel that they are respected and cared about. Children all the way up to Year 6 have only ever known the relational approach, and staff are well versed, confident and have belief in the strategies used. Staff have a professional responsibility to build good relationship with students and connections are made which help to grow positive behaviours.

 

Reading ‘When The Adults Change, Everything Changes’ has transformed practice at Deptford Park Primary School. The school say “We have found that a relational approach to behaviour management works for all of our children, including those with complex needs”. We are delighted that the approach has helped and are pleased to welcome Deptford Park Primary School to our Partner School network and to continue the journey with them.