Rainbow believe that children and adults flourish best in an ordered environment in which everyone knows what is expected of them and children are free to develop their play and learning without fear of being hurt or hindered by anyone else.  Rainbow aim to work towards a situation in which children can develop self-discipline and self-esteem in an atmosphere of mutual respect and encouragement.

 In order to achieve this:

·        Rules governing the conduct of the group and the behaviour of the children will be discussed and agreed within Rainbow and explained to all newcomers, both children and adults.

·        All adults in Rainbow will ensure that the rules are applied consistently, so that children have the security of knowing what to expect and can build up useful habits of behaviour.

·        All adults will try to provide a positive model for the children with regards to friendliness, care and courtesy.

·        Adults in Rainbow will praise and endorse desirable behaviour such as kindness and willingness to share.

·        Rainbow will take positive steps to avoid a situation in which children receive adult attention only in return for undesirable behaviour .

·        Where appropriate this might be achieved by a period of “time out” with an adult.

·        In cases of serious misbehaviour, such as racial or other abuse, the unacceptability of the behaviour and attitudes will be made clear immediately, but by means of explanations rather than personal blame.

·        In any cases of misbehaviour, it will always be made clear to the child or children in question that it is the behaviour and not the child that is unwelcome.

·        Adults will not shout or raise their voices in a threatening way.

·        Adults in Rainbow Pre-School will make themselves aware of, and respect, a range of cultural expectations regarding interactions between people.

 When children behave in unacceptable ways:

·        Any behaviour problems will be handed in a developmentally appropriate fashion, respecting individual children’s level of understanding and maturity.

·        Physical punishment, such as smacking or shaking, will be neither used nor threatened.

·        Children will never be sent out of the room by themselves.

·        Techniques intended to single out and humiliate individual children such as the “naughty chair” will not be used.

·        Children who misbehave will be given one-to-one adult support in seeing what was wrong and working towards a better pattern.

·        Recurring problems will be tackled by the whole pre-school, in partnership with the child’s parents, using objective observation records to establish an understanding of the cause.

·        Adults will be aware that some kinds of behaviour may arise from a child’s special needs.

‘Bullying’ of any kind whether racial, verbal or physical is unacceptable in Rainbow Pre-School.  The unacceptability of such behaviour and attitudes will be made clear immediately, by means of explanations rather than personal blame.