top of page

Our School Story:
RICHMOND METHODIST
PRIMARY SCHOOL

Richmond Methodist Primary School changed leadership in September 2019. With that came a shake-up in approach. Before this, the school had a plethora of rules and expectations, which could be inconsistent and unclear. Rewards and sanctions also varied across the school, with extrinsic rewards common practice. Poor behaviour was publicly, rather than privately, addressed. 

 

The new leadership wanted to develop relational practice and believed in the strength of it. They wanted to transform the school’s ‘Behaviour Blueprint’ to align with the school’s values and to improve behaviour and the consistency of approaches. They utilised ‘When The Adults Change’ auditing and training to build on existing strengths and identify areas for development in order to  improve practice. A systematic review cycle (involving staff, parents, pupils and data analysis) was utilised to monitor progress against goals, and findings led to targeted internal CPD for staff. The recent focus of staff CPD has been on ensuring consistency from all members of staff and making sure that new staff are trained in the relational model. Specific focus has also moved to support a small minority of pupils who have a range of additional behavioural needs, aligning this with the relational model. 

 

Some things were easy to implement. ‘Meet and greet’ came naturally to the staff. They were able to adopt this practice instantly. Similarly, posters and displays to broadcast the school rules were quick to do and helped to make a difference. Other things have proved trickier, such as introducing such a seismic shift to experienced staff who had been doing things a certain way for a long time. A mindset shift with parents and children has also been needed. They’ve needed time to understand that consequences now take place in private, and so they won’t necessarily be aware of the consequence of another child. Extrinsic rewards were also quite widespread in the school, so it took some work to replace them with verbal praise and rewards for ‘over and above’ behaviour, such as phone calls/notes home, dojo messages or recognition by the Headteacher. 

 

Staff are empowered and are supported by senior leadership to deal with behaviour incidents. They stand alongside them supporting, guiding, modelling and showing a unified consistency. Adults at the school are relentless and consistent in their approaches. The school is now in a strong position, where their relational approach is embedded and engrained within their school ethos. Staff understand and adhere to the model and can articulate the benefits and purpose. Staff who have been at the school for a long time can compare previous ‘Behaviour Blueprints’ and passionately talk about the difference and the benefits of current practice. They all follow the ‘Behaviour Blueprint’ and ‘Behaviour Pathway’. 

 

The school is now a beacon for others. Student teachers who visit share that they feel that the school is an “exemplary model of relational practice” that is being lived out holistically. They are sharing their model with local schools who are interested in developing their ‘Behaviour Blueprint’ and members of the county council’s inclusion team have also commented on the strength of the school’s behaviour model. They are also working with local secondary schools, supporting them and showing them what has worked for certain students in terms of approaches to behaviour support. The school’s 2022 OFSTED report highlighted the focus on relationships from leadership and the “warm and respectful” relationships between staff and pupils. 

 

Richmond Methodist Primary School have found the journey into a relational model “overwhelmingly transformational”. They say that “The journey into making a school relational is not a quick fix but is transformational. With careful CPD, monitoring and a passion for improvement, the school’s culture will shift and you will never look back”. ‘When The Adults Change’ have been delighted to work alongside them with this and are even more delighted to offer them Partner School status and to deepen the relationship. 

Become a Partner School.jpg
bottom of page