Positive Behaviour Support Policy
A MacIntyre School policy
At MacIntyre School, children and young people have a range of significant needs, such as Autism Spectrum Disorder, Severe Learning Disabilities, Attachment Disorders and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders. These difficulties significantly affect how a young person perceives and is able to interact with the world. Children and young people with learning disabilities are likely to have difficulties with communication, social interactions, processing and managing sensory information. They are likely to develop low self-esteem and other mental health needs.
In order to communicate their needs our children and young people may behave in a way that challenges. This can have a negative impact upon the child or young person, upon others, their environment, their relationships and their quality of life.
We believe that all behaviours serve a function. Behaviours that challenge may be used to express and communicate a wide variety of things, for example: a dislike for something; a want or need; anxiety or stress, illness or pain; and emotions such as anger or frustration
This policy has been written with due care and respect to the rights and individual needs of our children and young people; with a positive and caring attitude to working with them, to overcome their challenges, learn more effective ways of expressing themselves and to build a happy and purposeful life.
We are committed to understanding the function of the behaviours our children and young people present in order to support them to learn alternative, functionally equivalent and more socially acceptable ways of expressing themselves.
This policy sets out the positive behaviour support policy and procedures for MacIntyre School. Where this policy refers to MacIntyre School this includes the area of the School and on-site Children’s Home and Hillside, the off-site Children’s Home in Leighton Buzzard.
