Discipline Policy
A positive learning
environment is an essential element for children to experience school
success. Without discipline, there is a compromised climate for learning
that can eventually resemble chaos and present safety hazards. All children have the potential to learn to
behave appropriately at school and benefit from a discipline system that
comprises potential for student progress through consistent recognition of
positive behavior and deterrence of negative behavior. Research
shows that the most effective discipline systems use proactive strategies to
prevent discipline problems. Before consequences are given, students must
first be supported in learning the skills necessary to enhance a positive
school climate and avoid negative behavior. In the event of misconduct, it is
essential to the student’s future that consequences are appropriate and
sequential.
Parents, teachers, and students need to work
together to ensure a safe and productive environment at school. Parents and teachers
attempt to guide the student and help him/her to understand the expectations of
the school and to work towards them.
They also help the student to accept the responsibility and the
consequences of his/her actions; a necessary prerequisite for behavior
modification.
To encourage a consistent, firm, and fair
culture that affirms positive behavior, GBS adopts a discipline policy that
includes the rights and responsibilities of students, a student code of
conduct, intervention for specific disruptive behaviors, and appropriate
consequences. The GBS discipline policy can be summarized as
follows:
1. All members of the school community have the
right to a safe school environment: unsafe behavior anywhere around the campus
or on the school buses will not be tolerated.
2. All members of the school community have the
right to respect. The GBS philosophy
upholds the values of tolerance and respect of others.
3. All students have the right to learn: any
behavior causing the disruption of the learning process is inappropriate and
will not be tolerated.
4. Integrity, honesty, and respect of others’
property are values that support self and mutual respect. Cheating, lying,
forging signatures, stealing, violating data privacy and vandalism, and cyber
bullying are all serious offenses that will result in corrective measures.
5. Punishment should fit the offense; it is the
behavior that is targeted, not the person.
6. All adults in the school must be role models
for responsible behavior and self-control.
A. Encouraged
and Expected Student Behavior
All GBS
students are required to adopt the following:
1.
Believe that they can and will learn
2.
Attend school daily, on time, and actively participate
in all classes
3.
Produce quality work that meets the highest
classroom standards
4.
Come prepared to class: bring all necessary
materials, including homework, completed assignments, and signed letters and
complete required reading and study
5.
Know and follow all school and class rules
6.
Respect themselves, the school, classmates,
staff, family, and the community
7.
Use appropriate language at all times when
communicating with others
8.
Avoid negative peer pressure and activities
9.
Regularly communicate with parents and teachers
about their progress in school.
10. Embrace
and model the traits of a digital citizen.
11. Model
the behavior of a global citizen.
B. List of
Unproductive and Inappropriate Behavior
Unproductive
behavior is defined as any behavior that interferes with the student’s own or
another student’s academic progress and/or well-being. The following list identifies behaviors
considered unproductive and inappropriate, thus requiring corrective measures:
1.
Disrespect
to Others:
a.
Acting
inappropriately toward or causing another student or adult to physically,
emotionally or socially be hurt;
b.
Failure
to follow directions: disrupting class, disorderly behavior in the hallway or
the playground;
c.
Being
tardy, unprepared for class, leaving the classroom without permission;
d.
Failure
to comply with the GBS dress code (including hair length).
2.
Inappropriate
Language/Words: (Teasing, swearing, name calling, use of offensive language).
3.
Damage/Theft:
(Destroying notebooks/tests/school letters/devices; Damage made to or the theft
of school or others’ property; Littering or other untidy behavior)
4.
Lying/Cheating/Plagiarism:
Being untruthful when telling the facts of an incident, telling lies about
others, hiding notes from parents or teachers, copying the work of others and
claiming as your own, etc.
5.
Breaching
any of the terms listed in “GBS Technology Code of Ethics”.
6.
Physical
Aggression: (Pushing, shoving, kicking, hitting, slapping, scratching, etc., or
any physical contact with the intent to intimidate/harass)
7.
Possession
of Prohibited Items: Any item that might disrupt classes or represent a hazard
to the health and safety of anyone is not allowed on school premises. Such items include but are not restricted to:
laser pointers, fireworks, aerosol cans, trading cards, alarms, buzzers,
electronic games, radios, Walkman’s, skateboards, roller blades, knives, blades
or any sharp/pointed objects, toy guns, mobile phones, make-up kits, magazines,
cigarettes, reptiles, and insects. These items will be immediately confiscated
by any adult in the school to be returned only to parents. Such items will be kept in the Principal’s
office until picked up by parents.
Possession and/or use of unauthorized items that will endanger the
safety of others will result in serious disciplinary action, including possible
expulsion for serious cases.
All these behaviors are handled initially by
the Teacher; however, the intensity, the severity or of the incident may
warrant the intervention of the Vice Principal and/or the Principal. Requesting
administrative intervention for every incident undermines the teacher’s
effective classroom management and encourages further infractions.
C. Role of the Teacher
Teachers
have the right to teach and the right to expect students to behave. They must
establish classroom rules and routines that provide for optimal learning.
He/she must determine appropriate behavior that is conducive to learning,
request the students to adopt such behavior, and encourage them to help create
and maintain a positive social and educational environment. Successful teachers
clearly and firmly communicate their expectations to their students, and are
prepared to reinforce their words with appropriate actions. Students clearly
know the parameters of acceptable and unacceptable behavior. Students learn to
trust and respect their teacher, because they know he/she is “fair” and
consistent. Research has shown that a non-threatening learning environment with
clear expectations develops a sense of belonging among students, makes them
self-initiated and self-confident, and thus increases their desire for
learning. Teachers who “care” are considered to be among the most important
environmental factors that can help learners to develop positive attitudes
towards learning and promote students’ effort or engagement in learning tasks.
Conversely, if teachers act coercively by adopting punitive discipline
strategies, learning is negatively affected and more psychological and somatic
complaints are heard in the classroom.
Teachers
should:
·
Accept responsibility for maintaining
discipline and order within the classroom and throughout the school.
·
Adhere to the spirit of the School Guiding
Statements.
·
Implement the GBS discipline policy and
procedures.
·
Implement class, and school rules and
regulations in an assertive, consistent, and prompt manner.
·
Use a preventive strategy through proper
organization and communication of clear expectations.
·
Include character education, Global Citizenship
traits/aspects, and life skills in the regular instructional program.
·
Respond to learners in a caring and respectful
manner.
·
Display impartial behavior to all students,
especially in the use of rewards and punishment.
·
Keep accurate misdemeanor records and promptly
inform the division administration of more serious discipline problems.
·
Elicit support from parents in the
implementation of disciplinary strategies by keeping them informed.
·
Model and spotlight desirable/acceptable social
and productive behaviors.
D. Role of the
School Counselor
The counselor
helps parents, teachers, and students establish and promote a positive learning
environment. She/He plays a proactive role in relation to disciplinary issues that
has a preventive aspect as well as crisis counseling. The Counselor’s
main task is to help students
balance the demands of school, family and friends by providing personal,
social, educational and developmental counseling for individuals and groups.
The School Counselor works with students on:
·
Finding ways to get along with one another.
·
Dealing with problems outside the classroom,
in school and at home.
·
Character development and looking for new and
creative ways to keep practicing good citizenship at school and beyond.
As part of preventive strategies, the SC
conducts ‘Life Skills’ classes on different topics such as, anger management,
good study skills and respect. The SC meets with students alone or in
small groups during break times to discuss positive behavior; She/He provides
teachers and parents with suggestions and handouts to use with difficult
students in the classroom or at
home; she also leads students in various community-based service projects.
When a child has a more challenging, complex
psychological or behavioral issue that requires outside services, the SC can
provide the parents with a list of professional places in Kuwait that may prove
helpful, including confidential testing/evaluation and treatment sites.
E. The Conduct Sheet
Teachers may keep a conduct sheet to register violations for
students whose behavior needs consistent monitoring. This sheet is conceived as a self-monitoring tool that allows
the student to identify his/her own inappropriate behavior and acknowledge the
consequence of such behavior. It is used as a warning that the student needs to
abstain from further inappropriate behavior to avoid more severe consequences.
It also helps them to manage their own behavior and thus acquire
self-discipline. This sheet helps the student and the parents to continuously
monitor behavior and to engage in discussions on ways to improve. It helps
teachers and the SC to identify recurrent behavior that requires a strategy for
modification. It also and provides evidence of behavioral progress or
lack thereof.
Rewards for good behavior can range from very
simple to more complex. A word of praise, a sticker, a simple note or phone
call to the parents, points for the group, and special privileges like first in
line or teacher helper can all be very effective instantaneous reinforcement
for good behavior at the discretion of the teacher. These do not require
intricate planning or expense.
Students
who demonstrate exemplary behavior by maintaining a record clean of any
behavioral reprimand or who make a marked improvement in behavior may receive certificates
from the teacher at the end of the semester. Other rewards can be granted by
the Principal, such as special free dress day or a food party.
In the
case of minor misconduct, the teacher talks to the student to help him understand
the inappropriateness of his actions. For serious offenses or the recurrence of
misbehavior, the parents are invited to share in the responsibility of
intervention with the goal of behavioral modification.
Misbehavior will result in one or more of the
following corrective measures:
1. Creation of Conduct Sheet for the student
2. Detention with the teacher/Principal/Vice Principal
3. Parent meeting with teacher and Principal
4. Behavior Contract + Counseling
5. Suspension
6. Disciplinary probation
7. Expulsion
Warning
For a relatively minor
infraction, the teacher will verbally warn the student that his/her behavior
has been deemed inappropriate. If the
misbehavior is repeated, the teacher will create a Conduct Sheet and call the
parents.
Parents Notice
Verbal
or written communication with the parent or guardian must be initiated first by
the teacher when any misbehavior is noticed in the classroom.
Behavior
Contract/ Written Apologies
A behavior contract is a tool for behavior
modification used by teachers and counselors.
It should be non-threatening and comprehensive. Within the context of
the discipline policy, the teacher can ask the student to sign a simple promise
not to repeat an inappropriate behavior. Students who break classroom rules for
minor offenses or repeatedly fail to bring homework can be issued a contract by
the teacher. However, repeat offenders
who disrupt the learning of others must be handled through contracts issued by
the administration.
Once misbehavior reaches a more serious level,
the Principal may ask the student and the parents to sign a Behavior
Contract. The student is referred to the
SC for counseling. The counselor works with teachers, administrators, parents,
and the student to develop a plan of action to correct the student’s
behavior. The plan would possibly require monitoring by all adults who
deal with the student on a daily basis. A Weekly Monitoring Form is used to
give the student feedback from teachers and to be shared with the parents and
the counselor. A meeting with the student is held periodically to review
progress. If no progress is achieved, the parents are called again to try to
prevent further misbehavior and harsher measures will be introduced.
The purpose of creating a contract is to get a
student to realize there is a problem, allow him/her to take responsibility to
resolve the problem by helping him/her to connect specific behaviors with
specific consequences, and by making him/her agree to the terms of the contract
and put his/her signature to it.
A Behavior Contract must outline the full
demands placed on all students. It must
identify a particular behavior detailing the severity and the frequency of
occurrences. It must outline a list of consequences that correlate in severity
with this behavior in accordance with the Discipline policy. Finally, it must
include a section that states willingness to adhere to school regulations. The
student and parent(s) sign the contract.
The school has different form of behavior
contracts depending on the severity of the behavior.
Suspension is a form of discipline that
requires the removal of the student from classes, or other school activities,
or school all together for a set length of time that can vary from a few days
to many weeks, depending on the severity of the behavior. The number of days of
suspension is decided by the Principal. The parents are called for a conference
with the Principal and required to sign the approval note for suspension.
Suspension
days will be recorded as absent days on the student’s attendance record.
Students, however, must complete and hand in all work covered by classmates
during the suspension period. They will earn a maximum of 75% credit for this
work. They are not, however, entitled to
extended time for completion of assigned work or to any guidance on newly
introduced material. Students who fail
to hand in the assigned work will receive a zero. Students will receive a grade
of “0” on all formative and summative assessments.
In-School Suspension (ISS)
The Ministry
of Education regulations prohibit suspending students from classes and
detaining them in school.
Out-of-School Suspension (OSS)
Out-of-school suspension is the removal of a
student from the school environment for a period not to exceed five days. OSS is administered when a student has
committed a major infraction such as fighting or threatening the safety of the
students or others. When fighting or inappropriate physical contact occurs, the
student will not be eligible to reenter the class and will be sent home for the
remainder of the school day. Parents
will be required to come to school to pick up their child immediately. A “Suspension Letter” will be sent home describing the
incident and specifying the suspension period. This letter should be signed by
the parents and returned back to the division office the first day the student
resumes school. It will be kept in the student file.
Disciplinary
Probation
Probation is a course of action that offers the
student the opportunity to improve his/her behavior within a time frame. When a
student is placed on disciplinary probation, his/her behavior is monitored daily by teachers and parents.
Expulsion
If counseling and corrective measures fail to
modify the student’s behavior, the Discipline Committee will meet to decide on
the student’s status in the school.
Students may be asked to leave the school immediately in severe cases or
may be denied re-enrollment for the following academic school year, based on
the Committee’s recommendation.
When children have trouble
in school, many parents feel disappointed and worried about what this means for
their children’s future. Some parents also feel angry with their child or feel
guilty or think that others blame them for not instilling good conduct in their
child. Others get angry with the school and try to blame the school, administration
and teachers, for their child’s lack of discipline.
Working with the school
When working with staff at
your child’s school, it may be helpful to:
1.
Try not to take it as a
criticism of you or your parenting methods, when you are told that your child is
misbehaving. Be calm and cooperative rather than angry.
2.
Listen to the school’s
point of view. Remember, children often leave bits out and
bend the truth because they want to avoid getting into trouble!
3.
Avoid challenging school
rules in front of your child. If you strongly disagree with any of the rules,
discuss this with the appropriate Principal in a private meeting without having
your child or other staff present.
4.
Be realistic about what you
expect from the administration, Counselor, or teachers.
Possible Reasons for
Misbehavior
1.
Discuss any possible
reasons why your child might have developed behavior problems at school. This
may explain your child’s behavior and may convince the school to deal with the
situation differently.
2.
There may be problems that
are happening outside school.
3.
Check your child engagement
and interaction on social media. Check for cyber bullying or digital abuse.
4.
Your child may have a
health problem, be on medication, have hearing or vision problems.
5.
Behavior problems may be occurring
because the level of school work that the child is expected to do is too easy
(he might be bored) or too hard making him anxious and scared.
6.
If you think your child may
be misbehaving for one of these reasons, talk to the school about having a diagnostic
assessment by a child psychologist or developmental psychologist.
7.
It may also be useful to
ask the school about other resources such as special workshops for children
with behavior difficulties, for children with learning difficulties, or for
whatever you, and they, think the problem might be.
8. Discuss the possibility of an assessment by the School Counselor
if you think your child may be misbehaving because of a problem with a teacher,
and then speak to the Director.
9. If you are concerned that your child's behavior is being
influenced by his/her friends (peer group) and that he/she is ‘hanging out with
the wrong crowd', ask the SC to talk to your child.
10. Remember, you do not have to always handle your child’s
misbehavior on your own. If you do not know how to handle the situation, speak
to the School Counselor or seek outside professional help and advice.
Conclusion
A
pro-active approach to prevent discipline problems is the best policy. Parents and school must work together to help
the child stay out of trouble at school.
Teachers need to keep parents informed of their child’s academic
progress and behavior and to notify the SC of any changes in the student’s
behavior or academic progress. Timely behavior sanctions (awards and
punishments) are very important in developing self-discipline. Teachers'
cooperation and consistent implementation of the discipline policy and
management strategies help the students to accept the consequences of their own
actions and for them to make a conscious effort to conduct themselves in a
school-approved, socially accepted manner.
The goal of the GBS Discipline Policy is to
help students reach a heightened sense of awareness of what makes good citizens
able to succeed in life. We hope, with the support of parents, that our student
management policy will help make our children independent, lifelong learners,
and active participants in the development of their community.