Creating a school behaviour culture: audit and action planning tools
Tools to help schools assess their behaviour culture, recognise good practice and identify areas that need attention.
Applies to England
The audit and action planning tools have been designed to support school and academy trust leaders, senior leadership teams, governing bodies and trustees to create a culture that promotes excellent behaviour.
The tools should be an integral part of a school’s continuous improvement of behaviour management.
Focus on the 6 areas for building and maintaining a good behaviour culture
Self-assessment and action planning can help to set or re-set the vision for a whole-school behaviour culture. These activities are also an opportunity to celebrate and share good practice.
The audit and action planning tools are based on 6 focus areas for schools in designing, building and maintaining a good behaviour culture.
- Leadership and management
- School systems and social norms
- Relationships
- Staff induction and development
- Pupil transition and development
- Pupil support
Use the audit tool
Schools can use the audit tool to recognise good practice and identify areas that need further attention.
Download the to start your assessment.
Once completed, the audit tool will provide an overview of the current culture. Your school’s score will indicate where practice is strong and where it should focus its attention.
To complete the self-assessment, your school will need to work on a range of activities, which could include:
- discussions with the school leadership team, teachers, staff and pupils
- using surveys to ask staff, pupils, governors, trustees and other stakeholders about their perceptions and experiences of the school behaviour
- looking at recent Ofsted reports, school performance data, school development plans, school self-evaluation and the headteacher’s report to governors or trustees
- analysing data on behaviour incidents, removal from classrooms, attendance, suspension and permanent exclusions, use of pupil support units, off-site directions and managed moves, and incidents of searching, screening and confiscation
- observations of pupil behaviour at school arrival, departure and social times, and movement between lessons
- a walk around the school to gauge classroom expectations and culture
Audit tool scores
Allocate a score to each statement within the audit tool. You can use the tool to record evidence to support your scores. You can also record information on best practice, gaps or issues, or details that need further investigation.
Score statements from 1 to 4. The scores provide a structure to identify your school’s current position in relation to its policy and practice in each area.
Score 1: identifying
Leaders are identifying a realistic picture of what is happening, and the work needed in this area.
Score 2: developing and implementing
Leaders have identified what is working well and those areas that need further development. They are in the process of building systems, routines and practices, and are beginning to implement them.
Score 3: embedding
Leaders have successfully introduced systems and practices that staff, pupils and other stakeholders are following and implementing.
Score 4: sustaining
Policies and practices are embedded. There is buy-in from the whole school community, and cohesive and consistent practice across the school.
Ask pupils and staff about the behaviour culture
Schools are encouraged to collect data from a range of sources, including surveys of all staff, pupils, governors, trustees and other stakeholders. Schools can then gauge perceptions and experiences of the school behaviour culture.
Using a survey can allow your school to develop a precise action plan and pinpoint areas to focus on. A follow-up survey can also be a useful tool to measure progress.
Download for examples of topics and questions to use in your survey.
Identify priority areas
Organise a debrief session for your school following the self-assessment activity, to reflect on findings. You can then agree priority areas for focus, based on the assessment and consideration of the available evidence.
Use the action planning tool as a framework to identify areas of focus and to implement and monitor the action needed to make progress.
Download the .
Findings from the staff and pupil surveys and self-assessment outcomes should feed directly into the development of your school’s action plans. The action planning tool has been designed to help schools implement and monitor the actions taken.
Develop a step-by-step plan
You could develop a step-by-step plan for your school. Split your plan up to include steps on:
- identifying issues
- developing a new approach, including engaging staff and delivering effective training
- launching the new approach
- monitoring and evaluation
Schools and trusts should:
- revisit the sections of the tool periodically to test the implementation and impact of the action plan
- undertake a formal review of the action plan after one year to identify progress