Behaviour - Conscious Discipline
At Gayton Primary School, we are committed to creating a supportive and nuturing envionment where every child feels valued, respected and empowered to reach their full potential. Central to our approach is the cultivation of positive behaviour and intrinsic motivation, instilling in our children a deep sense of responsibility, self- discipline and a passion for learning. In order to achieve this, we use conscious discipline as part of our behaviour policy. Conscious discipline teaches our children to respond and not to react and supports them with learning strategies so that they can learn to co and self-regulate.
As part of our conscious discipline approach we teach our children seven skills:
Assertiveness
Composure
Choices
Empathy
Encouragement
Consequences
Positive intent
You can read more about conscious discipline below:
Four Components of Conscious Discipline
Conscious Discipline is an evidence-based, trauma-informed approach. It is recognized by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration’s (SAMHSA’s) National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP), and received high ratings in 8 of 10 categories in a Harvard analysis of the nation’s top 25 social-emotional learning programs. The Harvard study’s authors say, “Conscious Discipline provides an array of behaviour management strategies and classroom structures that teachers can use to turn everyday situations into learning opportunities.”
Conscious Discipline encompasses these four components, which are scientifically and practically designed for success:
Safe Spaces at Gayton Primary School
Safe spaces form part of our focus on wellbeing and give the children the opportunity to sit in the safe space when something is worrying or upsetting them. It gives them the opportunity to practice self regulation and calm down techniques as well as providing a chance for teachers to discuss what is troubling them in order to support them to feel better.
The 4 strategies shown below will be regularly reinforced to our children to support them with calming and self-regulating their feelings/emotions.
At Gayton, we are passionate about working in partnership with parents. Below you can find an overview of a parent presentation on conscious discipline which outlines the main aspects of this approach.