School Rules

Children are expected to follow the rules developed for their class - in practice, these are very similar in all classes, but obviously the wording is different in year three to that used in year six. Class rules reflect the expected standards of behaviour in the school, and in society in general.

The code for general behaviour is followed (see rewards and sanctions).

We do everything we can to stop the children fighting or quarrelling amongst themselves. Class teachers work with their groups during circle time to promote good attitudes. Assemblies are often geared to attitude and taking responsibility for our own actions. We teach the children that they must respect each other—and this includes everyone, not just the children they are actually friends with.
They do not have to like everyone, and they do not have to play with everyone—but they must always show respect.

Therefore, if an argument does start, or if someone starts a fight, we tell the children they must tell an adult, and not continue the fight themselves. If they walk away and tell an adult, who will then help them to resolve their differences, the incident is over in a matter of minutes. However, if the children then end up fighting they are both at fault, no matter who started the fight. We do not con-
done children ‘hitting back’.

Therefore, the general rules are:

It is hard to reinforce this on the playground at times, because some children will hit out without thinking about the consequences. We expect parents to support the school in this rule. Without it, we would have serious fights almost daily—and we cannot allow that.

Adults will always try very hard to resolve any problems, but of course they do not have magic powers for this, and sometimes it is very hard to determine the truth. The children are always counselled about their behaviour—they usually agree to differ in the end. We also find that children can fall out quite seriously one minute, and be the best of friends the next!

When we are told of bullying, again, we always try to resolve it. However, we do need to be clear about the words we are using—bullying is the continued intimidation of another person in some way (physically or verbally), and is usually accompanied by very nasty threats. Bullying does happen occasionally, but it is far more than a ‘falling out’ between two people. Bullying at this age can only be resolved if all parties work together—often things happen outside of school more than during the school day, and the school cannot deal with these incidents alone.

If the children stick to our general rules, good behaviour follows throughout the school.


It is so much better to be friends!!
But if you can’t be friends—
don’t be enemies!