Cherry Kids� Club
Behaviour Policy
Cherry Kids� Club strives to provide good quality child care in a warm, friendly, happy and supportive environment.� It requires a safe environment in which the physical and emotional health of children and workers is assured.�� The goal of this policy is to promote behaviour consistent with the former aim and prescribe procedures to follow when behaviour occurs that threatens the latter.
Cherry Kids� Club operates the following behavioural contract with children in its care.
� Children are expected to respect the each other, staff and visitors.
� In return playworkers are expected to provide a caring, safe and hygienic environment respecting the children and other workers.
Naturally �respect� includes respect for race and sex.
In striving to achieve desirable behaviour, workers will encourage an atmosphere of care and consideration between all members of the scheme including children, staff and visitors.
Cherry Kids� Club aims to encourage appropriate behaviour through:
� praise for good behaviour;
� emphasis on co-operative play and sharing;
� talking to children with the courtesy that we expect from them; and,
� engaging children in activities (since unwanted behaviour is often a consequence of boredom).
Cherry Kids� Club will not tolerate from any member (child, playworker or visitor):
� bullying � verbal or physical;
� aggressive, confrontational or threatening behaviour; or,
� behaviour intended to result in conflict.
The primary aim of these procedures is to keep the disruptive child within the club but behaving in an acceptable manner.� Should this prove impossible, if the safety of (the other) children cannot be guaranteed, then, as an ultimate sanction, the child must be excluded from the club.� In the case of violence or behaviour that poses an immediate danger a temporary sanction is reserved in which a child is required to be collected directly.
Cherry Kids� Club recognises that poor behaviour can occur from time to time for reasons that are not always evident or as a result of special needs.� It will strive to be flexible in order to accommodate such cases.
Procedures at a number of different stages apply.
� Unacceptable behaviour will be challenged by staff, as soon as possible, in a non-violent, non-confrontational and fair manner.
� Serious or persistently recurring unacceptable behaviour must be recorded in an Incident Book and a note made on the child�s file. This is for the benefit of workers� awareness and to assist in dealing with such behaviour consistently, fairly and fully.
� Incidents will also be reported to parents or guardians as part of the routine exchange of information about their children.
� A record of persistent unacceptable behaviour will be visible in the child�s file. It and this policy should be made available.
� The parents or guardians of the child should be informed by the co-ordinator and a co-operative plan for behavioural improvement sought.� This plan should be documented in the child�s file.
� The execution of this plan should be monitored and reviewed if the co-ordinator considers a change both productive and necessary.
� Should lack of progress impede the effective running of the Club the temporary sanction requiring immediate collection of the child may be used.
� Persistent unacceptable behaviour that has not been resolved or changed by the above procedures, and which affects the safety of other children must be referred to the Management Committee.
� The Management Committee is expected to consider the exclusion of children thus referred. Their parents will be invited to participate.
It is hoped that most incidents can be worked through and resolved with all parties quickly and fairly.
Ratified in committee: 1998