Positive Behavior Policy

How we encourage positive relationships and support children’s emotional development.

Our Commitment

At Wildflowers, we are dedicated to promoting a safe, nurturing environment where every child feels valued, respected, and secure. We aim to help children develop a strong sense of right and wrong by teaching appropriate behaviour and discouraging inappropriate actions in a supportive, developmentally appropriate manner.

We believe that behaviour is part of a child’s developmental journey. Through consistent guidance, role modelling, and partnership with parents and carers, we strive to empower children to build confidence, self-esteem, and positive relationships.

Roles and Responsibilities

Designated Lead for Behaviour: Heidi Nichols Deputy Preschool Manager and Gillian Alexander The Operational SENDCo
hold the responsibility for managing behaviour support, providing advice to practitioners, and monitoring policy implementation.

All Practitioners: Model positive social interactions, teach emotional literacy, maintain consistent
routines, and co-regulate with children experiencing heightened emotions.

Partnership with Parents/Carers: We collaborate with parents to ensure consistency between
home and the setting. We inform parents on the same day if significant incidents or physical
interventions occur.

Core EYFS Curriculum Links (PSED)

Our approach directly supports the Early Learning Goals for Personal, Social and Emotional Development (PSED):

Self-Regulation: Helping children express feelings, show resilience, and adjust their responses.

Managing Self: Supporting children to understand boundaries, follow safety routines, and
manage personal care needs.

Building Relationships: Encouraging empathy, turn-taking, and cooperation.

Our Approach to behaviour

We understand that learning to regulate emotions and behave appropriately in a group setting is a gradual process. This policy outlines our principles and strategies for supporting children as they develop socially and emotionally.

We aim to promote the following five core characteristics that underpin positive behaviour:
Confidence
Communication
Co-operation
Curiosity
Concentration

Children may exhibit challenging behaviours as a response to emotions such as boredom, anxiety, frustration, or tiredness. Our approach focuses on:

Modelling kind and considerate behaviour.
Providing engaging activities that support social and emotional development (a prime area in the Early Years Foundation Stage).
Using role play, stories, and visual aids to help children express and manage emotions.

Promoting positive behaviour

To encourage positive behaviour, we focus on:

Modelling appropriate conduct by being positive role models.
Consistency in enforcing boundaries and expectations.
Positive reinforcement through praise and recognition.
Encouraging self-regulation and problem-solving.
Using positive body language and engaging at the child’s level.
Offering choices and opportunities for behavioural improvement.

We recognise that misbehavior is often a result of unmet emotional needs or developmental limitations, not deliberate disobedience.

Supporting Positive Behaviour

We create a positive learning environment through:

Predictable Routines & Clear Transitions: Visual timetables and gentle cues to lower anxiety
during transitions.

Environment & Supervision: Accessible spaces that accommodate both active play and quiet
reflection.

Mealtimes & Safety (EYFS 2025 Welfare Focus): Setting a calm atmosphere during snacks and
meals. Children are supported to sit safely while eating to ensure proper posture and reduce
choking risks.

Praise & Specific Encouragement: Highlighting positive efforts, kindness, and problem-solving
rather than using generic rewards.

Behaviour Intervention Strategies

When inappropriate behaviour occurs, staff will:

Intervene immediately and assess the situation considering safety first for the child, peers and staff.
Engage with all children involved, using a calm, respectful tone, lowered posture, age-appropriate language and gentle validation focusing on co-regulation and comfort e.g. ”I can see you’re angry that it’s time to pack away”.
Discuss feelings and support children in recognising how their actions affect others.
Redirect using distraction or alternative activities and/or offer a calm sensory space to help the child regain emotional balance.
Restorative Problem-Solving: Once calm, support the child in an age-appropriate conversation to explore what happened and how to resolve it (“How can we fix this together?”).
Use alternatives to forced apologies, such as comforting gestures, drawing a picture, or Makaton signs.

Staff will not:

Shout, intimidate, or use physical punishment.
Use punitive language such as “naughty” or “bad”. Instead, we separate the behaviour from the child.
Use exclusion strategies such as a “naughty chair” or “time out.”
Withhold food or treats.

Instead, we use reflective or calming time to help children regain composure in a supportive way.

Physical Intervention & Restraint

Physical Guidance: Everyday gentle guidance (e.g., holding a hand to cross a road or guiding a
child away from a minor hazard) is standard practice.

Restrictive Physical Restraint: Restraint is strictly a last resort, used only when a child is at immediate risk of causing serious harm to themselves, others, or severe property damage.

Recording & Notification: Any incident involving physical restraint must be logged immediately on our paper log and reported to parents on the same day.

Escalation and Support

If challenging behaviour persists despite consistent strategies:

Staff (in particularly the key worker, behaviour lead and SENCO) will work closely with the parents/carers to ensure consistency and to identify any underlying unmet needs.
Outside support (e.g. Health Visitor) may be recommended.
A behaviour plan will be put in place and incidents will be recorded to help identify triggers and patterns.

Biting policy

Biting is a common but distressing behaviour in early childhood. We handle incidents with sensitivity and aim to support both the child who bites and the child who is bitten.

Biting may occur due to:

Exploration or sensory stimulation.
Teething discomfort.
Cause-and-effect curiosity.
Attention-seeking.
Imitation of peers.
Frustration, anxiety, or stress.
Lack of language skills to express emotions.

Response and prevention:

We use the “Who, What, When, Where” method to understand each incident:
Who was involved?
What happened before and after?
When did it happen?
Where did it take place?

Prevention Strategies:

Provide teething toys or sensory items.
Adjust routines to reduce tiredness or hunger.
Closely monitor high-risk situations (e.g. sharing toys).
Reinforce positive behaviour with attention and praise.
Encourage emotional expression using language, visuals, and play.
Create calm, predictable environments to reduce stress.

We follow the NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) guidelines for managing human bites in childcare settings.

Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)

Where a child demonstrates persistent behavioural difficulties, practitioners will work closely with the setting Deputy Manager and the Operational SENDCo. Behavioural challenges will be assessed to identify underlying unmet needs, sensory differences, or communication barriers in accordance with the SEND Code of Practice.

Involving Parents and Carers

Working in partnership with families is essential. We ask parents to:

Share relevant changes in the child’s home life.
Reinforce behaviour expectations at home.
Collaborate with staff and support agreed strategies.

We promise to:

Communicate daily about your child’s behaviour and progress.
Be consistent, non-judgmental, and supportive.
Offer guidance and external support when needed.

Strategies for inconsiderate behaviour

All staff, students, and volunteers are expected to use positive guidance strategies:

Help children identify and express feelings.
Acknowledge positive behaviours like sharing and kindness.
Avoid giving attention only in response to negative behaviour.
Support children in problem-solving conflicts.
Never isolate or punish children physically or emotionally.

Where necessary, physical restraint is used only to prevent injury or serious damage and is documented thoroughly, with parents informed the same day.

Children under 3

We use developmentally appropriate strategies for very young children. We understand that tantrums, biting, and other behaviours may arise from:

Separation anxiety
Difficulty regulating emotions
Disrupted routines

Support is provided through:

Consistent attachment with a key person
Gentle, patient responses
Focus on emotional support and co-regulation

Rough and tumble play/fantasy aggression

We recognise the value of fantasy and physical play, which may include aggressive themes. While not inherently harmful, boundaries are necessary:

We engage in play to teach empathy and conflict resolution.
We set clear limits and guidelines for physical play.
We use fantasy themes as “teachable moments” to reinforce values.

Safeguarding, Intimate Care & Dignity

Intimate Care: Behaviour management strategies apply fully during personal care routines.
Children are supported with patience, dignity, and privacy if they show distress during toileting or changing.

Child Protection: Persistent or sudden changes in behaviour will be evaluated in line with our Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy to rule out underlying safeguarding concerns.

Further Guidance
EYFS Statutory Framework 2025 (PSED; Safeguarding and Welfare) and updated September 2026
Working Together to Safeguard Children
KCSIE – September 2026
SEND Code of Practice 0-25