6 Strands at St John's 

The Six Strands Learning Behaviours Curriculum was developed by a group of professionals working with Primary Behaviour Service.  The aim in introducing the Six Strands in our school was to provide children and adults with a clear, positive framework for developing the key values of Respect, Resilience, Focus, Self-Regulation, Boundaries and Independence. There are Curriculum Targets for Nursery, Year R, KS1 and KS2. At St John's,  these behaviours have become the values for our whole community alongside our Christian Values of Love, Courage and Respect. 

In each classroom the children and teachers have chosen a class target for each of the 6 strands; this is displayed on the learning behaviours recognition board. There is a visual reminder for each of the areas and these might change through the year. If a child is demonstrating a positive learning behaviour, this is celebrated in class and a parents are informed through a text message at the end of the day. Sometimes, children need to go on pause or they need a reflection to help them get back on track with their learning. 

Each week, the class teachers choose a child who has stood out in class through demonstrating one of the 6 strands. Mrs Wilkinson hands out Headteacher awards on a Friday in our celebration collective worships; their names are added to the weekly newsletter too. 

How we use the Six Strands at St John's C of E Primary School

Whole School Community Level

The Six Strands are clearly displayed in the hall and corridor where children are celebrated for demonstrating positive learning behaviours. 

As a whole school we have a huge focus on respect- each year, children who model respect consistently are chosen to visit the Town Hall to recieve an award from the Mayor. Our staff and children use the language of 6 strands in class, on the playground and around school.

Class Community Level
In every class in school teachers display the Six Strands targets along with a photo as a model and personalised targets chosen by the. The displays are used as a working wall to indicate the whole class target. 

 Adults notice children making progress against these targets and this is celebrated. As the class makes progress they move onto focusing on other targets. The focus target is changed each week. Teachers refer back to targets that the class have already developed when a reminder is needed. The child who makes the most progress in developing their learning behaviours that week is celebrated in assembly with a certificate, and names are listed on the newsletter. All staff use the language of the Six Strands daily when developing learning behaviours; the lunchtime team have also started focusing on this at lunchtimes. Each week, in class, teachers will deliver focussed lessons through PDL (personal development lessons) where they focus on strategies to develop 6 strands. 

Individual Child Level
We use the Six Strands with individual children who need some extra support to develop positive learning behaviours. We use the walls to identify strengths and areas to develop working with as many stakeholders as possible including the class teacher, support staff, parents and the child. This helps us to identify and prioritise the learning behaviours to focus on next, as well as to recognise the success for that child. 

Where children have an individual behaviour management plan often the targets are taken from the Six Strands. 

Impact
The children of St John's C of E Primary School learn about the strands, and unpick what it means to show each of the strands, in collective worship and in their classes. There is now a common language which is focused on developing children’s learning behaviours, working from a starting point of what they can do and targeting the areas for development in a positive, strategic way which children can understand.

Encouraging Positive Behaviour:

We support positive behaviour and a positive environment through;

• A consistent approach by the whole school community.
• Monitoring pupil attendance and taking swift action where necessary.
• Developing the voice of the child, through for example the School Prefects, School Councils.
• Appreciating and following the agreed Code of Conduct, Home School Agreement, School values and Class Charters.
• Encouraging our children to see themselves as part of a whole school community and recognising their responsibility within this.
• Developing the skills of co-operation and discussion.
• Encouraging everyone to take pride in the school environment.
• Having a positive and consistent approach to playtimes and lunchtimes.
• A restorative approach to behaviour through the use of reflections. 
• Creating a stimulating classroom environment.
• Providing clear and positive learning experiences fairly and consistently.
• Offering a broad and balanced curriculum that is well planned, prepared and stimulating.
• Ensuring that the curriculum issues concerning organization, methods of teaching and learning, content and differentiation are addressed.

Child on Child Abuse

At St John’s Primary School we believe that all children have a right to attend school and learn in a safe environment. Children should be free from harm by adults in the school and by other children. We recognise that children are capable of abusing their peers and this will be dealt with under our Child Protection Policy (2023) and in line with KCSiE (2023).
There is a zero-tolerance approach to child on child abuse. All concerns will be treated seriously and investigated. We are clear that child on child abuse or bullying is not acceptable, will never be tolerated and is not an inevitable part of growing up.

We will minimise the risk of child on child abuse by: -

Prevention:
• Taking a whole school approach to safeguarding and child protection
• Providing training to staff
• Providing a clear set of values and standards, underpinned by the school’s behaviour policy and pastoral support system, and by a planned programme of evidence-based content delivered through the curriculum
• Engaging with specialist support and interventions.

Zones of regulation:

The Zones of Regulation is an internationally-renowned intervention which helps children to manage difficult emotions, known as ‘self-regulation’.

Self-regulation can go by many names such as ‘self-control’, ‘impulse management’ and ‘self-management’. Self-regulation is best described as the best state of alertness for a situation. For example, when your child takes part in a sports game, they would need to have a higher state of alertness than when, for example, they were working in a library.

At St John’s C of E Primary School, we learn about the Zones of Regulation throughout the whole school. We want to teach all of our children good coping and regulation strategies so they can help themselves when they experience anxiety and stress.

In the classroom, sometimes children panic when faced with a tricky learning problem or challenge. By teaching them how to cope with these feelings, we might make them better at tackling learning challenges and build better resilience so they don’t give up so easily when faced with difficulty.

We aim to help children to:

• Recognise when they are in the different Zones and learn how to change or stay in the Zone they are in.

• Increase their emotional vocabulary so they can explain how they are feeling.

• Recognise when other people are in different Zones, thus developing better empathy.

• Develop an insight into what might make them move into the different Zones.

• Understand that emotions, sensory experiences such as lack of sleep or hunger and their environment might influence which Zone they are in.

• Develop problem-solving skills and resilience

• Identify a range of calming and alerting strategies that support them (known as their personal ‘toolkit’.)