Promoting Positive Behaviour

At Growing Up Green, we believe that children flourish best when they feel safe and secure and have their needs met by supportive practitioners who act as good role models, show them respect and value their individual personalities. Children are supported through co-regulation, where adults and children work together towards a common purpose, including finding ways to resolve upsets from stress in any domain and return to balance, leading to a path to self-regulation. The nursery actively promotes British values and encourages and praises positive, caring and polite behaviour at all times and provides an environment where children learn to respect themselves, other people and their surroundings.

At our setting, we implement the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) curriculum, supporting children to develop their personal, social, and emotional development (PSED). This includes helping children to understand their own feelings and those of others, and to begin regulating their behaviour appropriately.

We promote emotional well-being by working in close partnership with parents and carers to ensure consistent approaches between home and nursery. Through clear structure, predictable routines, and age-and stage-appropriate boundaries, we provide a secure environment in which children can thrive emotionally.

Our practitioners help to build children’s confidence and self-esteem by valuing each child as an individual and offering regular praise, encouragement, and positive reinforcement. We create an inclusive atmosphere where all children feel respected, listened to, and supported.

Emma Somenzi and Grace Corfield are the leads on the “Just Right Approach”, a model used widely in Brighton and Hove schools. This approach helps children to recognise and understand their feelings, and to communicate them effectively with adults. The Just Right Approach is embedded throughout our setting and implemented consistently across all rooms. Staff receive regular refreshers and ongoing training to ensure the approach remains part of everyday practice.

To support positive behaviour in our setting, we aim to:

Recognise the individuality of all our children.
Each child is unique, with their own experiences, needs, and temperament. We consider these when responding to behaviour, ensuring our approach is fair and appropriate to the child’s stage of development.
Provide a warm, responsive relationship.
Staff build secure attachments where children feel respected, comforted, and supported during times of stress, and confident that they are cared for at all times.
Example: offering comfort and reassurance when a child is upset rather than using time-out or isolation.
Understand that certain behaviours are a normal part of development.
Behaviours such as biting, tantrums, or frustration are part of young children learning to communicate and regulate their feelings.
Example: when biting occurs, staff calmly comfort the hurt child, support the child who bit to express their feelings appropriately (e.g. “You were cross because you wanted the toy”), and model kind hands.
Encourage self-regulation, consideration for others, and respect for our environment.
Example: using the Just Right Approach to help children recognise if they are feeling “too excited” or “too cross,” and guiding them to calm strategies like breathing, reading quietly, or asking for help.
Encourage children to participate in a wide range of group activities.
Group activities such as circle time, shared snack times, and cooperative play help develop turn-taking, listening skills, and empathy.
Ensure that all staff act as positive role models.
Staff consistently model the calm, respectful behaviour we expect from children — for example, saying “please” and “thank you,” taking turns, and speaking kindly.
Encourage parents, carers, and visitors to be positive role models.
We share our behaviour expectations and approaches with families so that children receive consistent messages about kindness and respect both at home and in the setting.
Work in partnership with parents through open communication.
Staff discuss behaviour in a positive, supportive manner, sharing strategies that work and celebrating progress.
Example: daily handovers, parent meetings, or “wow moment” slips for positive behaviour.
Praise and acknowledge positive actions and attitudes.
We use encouragement, descriptive praise, and visual rewards where appropriate to reinforce desired behaviour.
Example: “You helped your friend tidy up — that was very kind of you.”
Encourage all staff to take responsibility for implementing this policy consistently
Regular team meetings and training sessions ensure everyone follows the same approach, promoting fairness and predictability for children.
Promote non-violence and peaceful conflict resolution
Example: supporting children to use words like “stop” or “I don’t like that,” and modelling ways to share or take turns.
Provide a key person system.
Each child’s key person builds a strong, trusting relationship with them and their family. This attachment helps children feel secure and reduces anxiety-related behaviours.
Provide activities and stories to support learning about behaviour.
Example: reading books such as Hands Are Not for Hitting or The Colour Monster, using puppets or role play to explore emotions, and sharing games that encourage teamwork and empathy.
Support children’s understanding of feelings, self-regulation, and empathy.
Staff name emotions and help children find ways to manage them, such as calming jars, breathing exercises, or “quiet corners.”
Example: “I can see you’re feeling sad. Let’s take a deep breath together.”
Have a named person responsible for promoting positive behaviour
This person oversees the consistent implementation of behaviour support strategies, provides guidance to staff, and liaises with families or outside professionals if additional support is needed.

The individuals named for promoting and supporting this behaviour are Emma Somenzi and India Smith. It is their role to:

Advise and support other staff on any behaviour concerns
Liaise with the setting’s Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCo) where a child requires further support, or there are concerns about the impact of the behaviour on a child’s education and care
Along with each room leader will keep up to date with legislation and research relating to promoting positive behaviour
Support changes to policies and procedures in the nursery
Access relevant sources of expertise where required and act as a central information source for all involved
Attend regular external training events, and ensure all staff attend relevant in-house or external training for behaviour management. Keep a record of staff attendance at this training.

Children who are displaying distressed and /or behaviour which challenges, for example, by physically abusing another child or adult, e.g. biting, or through verbal bullying, are helped to talk through their feelings and actions through co-regulation before thinking about the situation and apologising if appropriate. We make sure that the child who has been upset is comforted. We always acknowledge when a child is feeling angry or upset and that it is the behaviour that is not acceptable, not the child or their feelings.

Our promoting positive behaviour procedure is:

We support all children to develop positive behaviour, and we make every effort to provide for their individual needs
We never use or threaten to use physical punishment or corporal punishment such as smacking or shaking or use or threaten any punishment that could adversely affect a child’s well being
We only use physical intervention (where practitioners may use reasonable force to prevent children from injuring themselves or others or damaging property) or to manage a child’s behaviour if necessary. We keep a record of any occasions where physical intervention is used and inform parents on the same day, or as reasonably practicable
We recognise that there may be occasions where a child is displaying distressed and /or behaviour which challenges and may need individual techniques to restrain them to prevent a child from injuring themselves or others. This will only be carried out by staff who have been appropriately trained to do so. Any restraints will only be done following recommended guidance and training and only with a signed agreement from parents on when to use it. We will complete an incident form following any restraints used and notify the parents
We do not single out children or humiliate them in any way. Where children are displaying behaviour which challenges they will, wherever possible, be distracted and re-directed to alternative activities. Discussions with children will take place as to why their behaviour was not acceptable, respecting their level of understanding and maturity
Staff do not raise their voices (other than to keep children safe)
In any case of behaviour which challenges, we always make it clear to the child or children in question, that it is the behaviour and not the child that is unwelcome
We decide on strategies to support particular types of behaviour depending on the child’s age, level of development and the circumstances surrounding the behaviour. This may involve asking the child to talk and think about what he/she has done. All staff support children in developing empathy, and children will only be asked to apologies if they have developed strong empathy skills and have a good understanding of why saying sorry is appropriate
We help staff to reflect on their own responses towards behaviours that challenge to ensure that their reactions are appropriate
We inform parents if their child’s behaviour is unkind to others or if their child has been upset. In all cases, we deal with behaviour that challenges in the nursery at the time. We may ask parents to meet with staff to discuss their child’s behaviour, so that if there are any difficulties, we can work together to ensure consistency between their home and the nursery. In some cases, we may request additional advice and support from other professionals, such as an educational psychologist
We support children in developing non-aggressive strategies to enable them to express their feelings and emotions
We keep confidential records on any behaviour that challenges that has taken place. We inform parents and ask them to read and sign any incidents concerning their child
Through partnership with parents and formal observations, we make every effort to identify any behavioural concerns and the causes of that behaviour. From these observations and discussions, we will implement an individual behaviour support plan where a child’s behaviour involves aggressive actions towards other children and staff, for example, hitting, kicking etc. The manager will complete risk assessments, identifying any potential triggers or warning signs, always ensuring other children and staff. In these instances, we may remove a child from an area until they have calmed down.

We recognise that children need their own time and space and that it is not always appropriate to expect a child to share. We believe it is important to acknowledge each child’s feelings and to help them understand how others might be feeling.

At our nursery, staff follow the procedure below to enable them to deal with behaviour that challenges:

Staff are encouraged to ensure that all children feel safe, happy and secure
Staff are encouraged to recognise that active physical aggression in the early years is part of the child’s development and that it should be channelled in a positive way
Children are helped to understand that using aggression to get things is inappropriate and they will be encouraged to resolve problems in other ways
Staff will initiate games and activities with children when they feel play has become overly boisterous or aggressive, both indoors and outdoors

We will ensure that this policy is available for staff and parents, and it will be shared at least once a year to parents and staff
Staff and parents are also welcome to review and comment on the policy and procedure
If any parent has a concern about their child, a member of staff will be available to discuss those concerns. Working together can ensure our children feel confident and secure in their environment, both at home and in the nursery
All concerns will be treated in the strictest confidence.

Anti-bullying

We encourage children to recognise that bullying, fighting, hurting and discriminatory comments are not acceptable behaviour. We want children to recognise that certain actions are right and that others are wrong.

Bullying takes many forms. It can be physical, verbal or emotional, but it is always a repeated behaviour that makes other people feel uncomfortable or threatened. We acknowledge that any form of bullying is unacceptable and will be dealt with immediately while recognising that physical aggression is part of children’s development in their early years. Staff will intervene when they think a child is being bullied, however mild or harmless it may seem and sensitively discuss any instance of bullying with the parents of all involved to look for a consistent resolution to the behaviour.

By promoting positive behaviour, valuing co-operation and a caring attitude, we hope to ensure that children will develop a positive sense of self, have confidence in their own abilities, make good friendships, co-operate and resolve conflicts peaceably. These will provide them with a secure platform for school and later life.

Policy updated in November 2025 by Emma Somenzi (Nursery Manager) to be reviewed in November 2026.