Schools - fostering a positive, inclusive and safe environment: guidance

Section 1: Introduction

Purpose

This non-statutory guidance aims to support schools to foster a positive, inclusive and safe school environment through their approaches to positive relationships and behaviour. In particular, it provides clarity to all members of a school community – staff, parents and children and young people – on the use of consequences as part of relationships and behaviour policies. This guidance aligns with the national policy on promoting positive relationships and behaviour, which is underpinned by evidence ^[2] that this is the most effective way of supporting children and young people’s wellbeing, achievement and attainment.

While this guidance is primarily aimed at public schools and education authorities, it may also be of interest to independent and grant-aided schools. This guidance does not apply to Early Learning and Childcare settings, including those that are located within schools.

Why has this guidance been developed?

The Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research (BISSR) 2023 highlighted that whilst the majority of children and young people are well behaved, there were concerns around the approaches available in school^[3] to respond constructively to children and young people’s behaviour in order to ensure positive learning environments for all.

• Staff and local authority representatives reported that they felt there were a lack of meaningful consequences available.
• A ‘one-size-fits-all’ strategy often fails to address the needs of children and young people with challenging circumstances or additional support needs.
• Staff reported the limited availability of alternative strategies when others prove ineffective. A lack of consistency in school-wide approaches, and limited opportunities for collaborative working and sharing practice, could lead to variations in approach within schools.
• Teachers’ confidence in their ability to ‘promote positive behaviour’ and ‘respond to indiscipline’ in the classroom remained high, although confidence in responding to indiscipline had decreased since the survey was last undertaken in 2016.
• There was a mismatch between the support local authority representatives identified as being available to schools, and the support schools reported receiving.
• There was inconsistent confidence in support from the senior leadership team, from both support staff and teachers’ perspectives.
• Many staff reported that with children and young people being increasingly aware of their rights, this positive shift can sometimes lead to children and young people incorrectly citing or exercising rights to the exclusion of others where rights conflict or are incompatible.

BISSR highlighted the complex picture underpinning the trends in behaviour, including the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic and other pressures such as austerity, poverty and the cost-of living crisis have had on mental health and wellbeing; and an increase in the number of children and young people identified with additional support needs.

Being out of school and early years settings during the pandemic has had a profound developmental impact on our children and young people. It has changed the type of learning we see in our settings, and it has altered relationships between settings, school and home, which are usually built over time and with consistent expectations. This guidance is therefore designed to support schools to reinforce approaches to promoting positive relationships and behaviour that take account of the wider needs of all children and young people.

Policy and legal context

This guidance is underpinned by a legal framework which includes:

• UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024
• Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974
• Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004
• Education (Scotland) Act 1980
• Standards in Scotland’s Schools etc. Act 2000
• Equality Act 2010

This guidance is set within the framework of early intervention and prevention, as set out within Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) and Getting it right for every child (GIRFEC). It should be considered in the context of Scottish education’s focus on wellbeing and relational and rights-based practice. This practice includes nurturing, attachment-based, and trauma-informed approaches. The paper Nurture, adverse childhood experiences and trauma informed practice provides evidence on the effectiveness, and benefits of using these approaches, to build social and emotional competences and confidence and to improve educational outcomes.

Where children and young people feel included, respected, safe and secure and when their achievements and contributions are valued and celebrated, they are more likely to develop self-confidence, resilience and positive views about themselves and others. This has positive impacts on behaviour.

Responses to behaviour should always be in line with a school’s relationships and behaviour policy. This policy should promote positive relationships and behaviour, based on early intervention and prevention. Responding to behaviour through the use of appropriate consequences should form an element of this policy.

This guidance should also be read in conjunction with specific policies relating to relationships and behaviour in schools, principally:

• Included, Engaged and Involved Part 2: preventing and managing school exclusions;
• Included, Engaged and Involved Part 3: A Relationships and Rights-based Approach to Physical Intervention in Schools;
• Violent, Aggressive and Dangerous Behaviour Risk Assessment Guidance;
• Respect for All – Anti-bullying guidance for adults working with children and young people; and
• The Promise.

These documents provide more detailed guidance for schools on these specific areas.

Further support

This guidance is supported by Education Scotland’s Inclusion, Wellbeing and Equalities professional learning framework, in particular the Relationships theme. Education Scotland also have a range of other resources to support schools to implement positive relationships and behaviour. A series of case studies has also been developed to accompany this guidance.

Further information can be found in the resources section.