Rewards and Sanctions

School Points System

Southborough runs a rewards and sanctions (Zehr) system based on the positive and negative points students receive for their behaviour, attitude and Commitment to Learning (CtL). These behaviour points, both positive and negative, are displayed and communicated on Class Charts for students and parents/carers to see.

Parents and carers are informed immediately when any positive or negative behaviour points are issued on Class Charts.

Once students accumulate a certain amount of positive points they are able to ‘cash in' these points in our rewards store, where students can purchase exciting rewards for all their hard-earned positive points.

School Sanctions

What is commonly known in schools as detention, is referred to as a ‘Zehr’ here at Southborough.

They are named ‘Zehrs’ after the American professor, Howard Zehr, who in the 1920s created the concept of restorative justice. This concept proves that a respectful, constructive and restorative conversation is the most effective way to improve the mistakes a young person makes in life.

This is a whole-school approach to maintaining high standards of behaviour by implementing our Southborough Standards, which are clear levels of expectation within and outside the classroom, all based on our school values: 

Respect

Responsibility

Resilience

Relationships (in this order)

When a pupil’s behaviour falls below the Southborough Standards (guidance and expectations in below graphic) that can reasonably be expected of them, staff will respond in order to restore a calm and safe learning environment, and to prevent recurrence of misbehaviour.

Personal circumstances of the pupil will be taken into account when choosing sanctions and decisions will be made on a case-by-case basis but with regard to the impact on perceived fairness.

All staff will follow the whole school sanction policy, however, and in some incidents, it may require the staff member to escalate the process (for example, a quite severe incident may require an immediate sanction of a removal without any pre-warnings or zehr being issued). 

Teachers will issues students with a 1st warning (0 negative points) and then a second warning (-1 pt) and if improvements are still not made a Zehr  (-2 pts).

A ‘Zehr’ means that the teacher will give the student a precise time, day and location to meet and have a Zehr conversation. This places the responsibility on the student to attend their Zehr and have this restorative conversation. This conversation will usually last for approximately 15 minutes.

If a student fails to attend their Zehr Own Time then the following will happen:

Failure to attend a Zehr Own Time will automatically upscale the very next day to an after-school Zehr  & -3 pts)

Failure to attend Zehr Upscale will automatically upscale to a Head of Faculty Friday Detention.

Failure to attend Head of Faculty Friday Detention will automatically upscale to a Saturday Detention.

The sanction procedures outlined above are embedded in our Behaviour Policy and each stage is clearly communicated to parents/carers on Class Charts.