Georgia Hicks – Swindon Academy: Alton Close Primary
Causes, Prevention and Behaviour Management Strategies in the
Primary School Setting
This essay discusses effective behaviour management strategies in the primary
school setting. Through my experience as a trainee teacher and knowledge of
relevant literature, this essay will create a picture of behaviour in the classroom,
looking into causes, reviewing prevention methods and discussing effective
management strategies. A real struggle for a new teacher during their training year
can be understanding how to deal with undesirable classroom behaviour, quickly and
effectively (Canter & Canter, 1976). One reoccurring thing I have noticed during
observations is, no matter how knowledgeable and adept the teacher is, there are
sometimes episodes of challenging behaviour during learning time (Education
Support Helpline, 2020).
“The well-managed classroom provides pupils with the sense of security of purpose
which enables them to make progress. Classrooms without teacher-managed
behaviour tend to be chaotic places where little academic learning take place, where
teachers’ stress levels are high, and pupils’ insecurities give rise to inappropriate
behaviours.” (Visser, 2013, p. 5).
Each classroom is complex and full of different children. They are not only different
in the sense of gender and ability, but in terms of cultural capital, values, morals,
religious beliefs, needs, background and behavioural norms (Department for
Education, 2012). Nearly every class has a mixed ability, each child is unique with
their own personality. The children within the class come from a variety of different
families, this means the values cultivated from their households are often different
too. Therefore, the teacher needs to create a classroom environment that can
1|Page
Word Count: 4600
, Georgia Hicks – Swindon Academy: Alton Close Primary
manage all their behaviours and outline the teacher’s expectations. This is no easy
task; however, it is paramount for a child to have these expectations in place so they
can access effective learning. (Visser, 2013).
Within my own classroom we have a wide range of diversity, particularly in ability. I
have 3 children with very low Maths and English skills across the board, 2 of which
were placed as ‘out of year’ last year for their assessments. Pairing these children,
as well as a few other lower ability children, with children of higher ability has helped.
In these mixed ability pairings, they discuss misconceptions and questions and their
peer to peer academic conversation helps them plug gaps in their own knowledge
and strengthen their understanding. I also have a handful of very able students,
particularly in Maths. These few love a mathematical challenge but become easily
distracted if they believe the work is ‘too easy’ for them. Balancing this room can be
challenging as it can quickly descend into low-level disruptive behaviour. For
example, if the higher abilities have finished quickly and are now bored or the lower
abilities are not able to access all their task and lose focus. Having behaviour
management strategies in place is crucial to the success of a lesson in my
classroom.
There is an array of literature, focusing on behaviour management strategies, which
has been useful to review upon writing this essay. This essay will focus primarily on
the causes, prevention and management strategies to deal with problematic
behaviour. Reviewing the clear relationship between three key areas, which when
combined can assist teachers in finding the causes of misbehaviour, ideas for ways
to prevent the behaviour and identify effective and efficient methods and strategies
for dealing with the unwanted behaviour.
2|Page
Word Count: 4600
, Georgia Hicks – Swindon Academy: Alton Close Primary
To be able to manage and deal with behaviour within your own classroom you must
master the key skills you need to become a teacher. There are lots of factors that go
into creating a skilled teacher, factors including curricular development, pedagogical
innovation, study of curricular and pedagogical issues and application in the
classroom, development of teaching materials, and educational research (Rover,
2007). Once this has been achieved, the teacher needs to put in place clear rules for
behaviour that align with the school’s overall rules and guidance on behaviour. This
generally comes from a system that allows you to clarify the behaviour you expect
from students and what they can expect from you in return (Canter & Canter, 1976).
One of the main reasons I chose to address behaviour management strategies in my
essay is because my placement school sets very high expectations when it comes to
behaviour management. Alton Close is situated in a working-class area of Swindon
with higher levels of poverty than the national average. It scores 982 out of 32,844,
with a score of 1 being the most deprived, this means it is amongst the 10% most
deprived neighbourhoods in the country (Street Games, 2019). Alton Close is part of
the Swindon Academy group, this covers two primaries’ in the local area, across the
two primary schools in 2019 61.4% of children were eligible for pupil premium. This
lower level of affluence often goes hand in hand with disruptive behaviour
(Goodman, et al., 2010). To combat this, Alton Close has very clear guidance on
behaviour, I believe this is one of the many reasons this school has focused and
engaged learners in their classrooms.
The academy has a strong vision, describing themselves as “an ambitious learning
community” that offers a “rigorous and challenging curriculum”. Their “pursuit of
excellence” is “underpinned by support structures” and “quality care and guidance”
(Swindon Academy, 2020).
3|Page
Word Count: 4600
Causes, Prevention and Behaviour Management Strategies in the
Primary School Setting
This essay discusses effective behaviour management strategies in the primary
school setting. Through my experience as a trainee teacher and knowledge of
relevant literature, this essay will create a picture of behaviour in the classroom,
looking into causes, reviewing prevention methods and discussing effective
management strategies. A real struggle for a new teacher during their training year
can be understanding how to deal with undesirable classroom behaviour, quickly and
effectively (Canter & Canter, 1976). One reoccurring thing I have noticed during
observations is, no matter how knowledgeable and adept the teacher is, there are
sometimes episodes of challenging behaviour during learning time (Education
Support Helpline, 2020).
“The well-managed classroom provides pupils with the sense of security of purpose
which enables them to make progress. Classrooms without teacher-managed
behaviour tend to be chaotic places where little academic learning take place, where
teachers’ stress levels are high, and pupils’ insecurities give rise to inappropriate
behaviours.” (Visser, 2013, p. 5).
Each classroom is complex and full of different children. They are not only different
in the sense of gender and ability, but in terms of cultural capital, values, morals,
religious beliefs, needs, background and behavioural norms (Department for
Education, 2012). Nearly every class has a mixed ability, each child is unique with
their own personality. The children within the class come from a variety of different
families, this means the values cultivated from their households are often different
too. Therefore, the teacher needs to create a classroom environment that can
1|Page
Word Count: 4600
, Georgia Hicks – Swindon Academy: Alton Close Primary
manage all their behaviours and outline the teacher’s expectations. This is no easy
task; however, it is paramount for a child to have these expectations in place so they
can access effective learning. (Visser, 2013).
Within my own classroom we have a wide range of diversity, particularly in ability. I
have 3 children with very low Maths and English skills across the board, 2 of which
were placed as ‘out of year’ last year for their assessments. Pairing these children,
as well as a few other lower ability children, with children of higher ability has helped.
In these mixed ability pairings, they discuss misconceptions and questions and their
peer to peer academic conversation helps them plug gaps in their own knowledge
and strengthen their understanding. I also have a handful of very able students,
particularly in Maths. These few love a mathematical challenge but become easily
distracted if they believe the work is ‘too easy’ for them. Balancing this room can be
challenging as it can quickly descend into low-level disruptive behaviour. For
example, if the higher abilities have finished quickly and are now bored or the lower
abilities are not able to access all their task and lose focus. Having behaviour
management strategies in place is crucial to the success of a lesson in my
classroom.
There is an array of literature, focusing on behaviour management strategies, which
has been useful to review upon writing this essay. This essay will focus primarily on
the causes, prevention and management strategies to deal with problematic
behaviour. Reviewing the clear relationship between three key areas, which when
combined can assist teachers in finding the causes of misbehaviour, ideas for ways
to prevent the behaviour and identify effective and efficient methods and strategies
for dealing with the unwanted behaviour.
2|Page
Word Count: 4600
, Georgia Hicks – Swindon Academy: Alton Close Primary
To be able to manage and deal with behaviour within your own classroom you must
master the key skills you need to become a teacher. There are lots of factors that go
into creating a skilled teacher, factors including curricular development, pedagogical
innovation, study of curricular and pedagogical issues and application in the
classroom, development of teaching materials, and educational research (Rover,
2007). Once this has been achieved, the teacher needs to put in place clear rules for
behaviour that align with the school’s overall rules and guidance on behaviour. This
generally comes from a system that allows you to clarify the behaviour you expect
from students and what they can expect from you in return (Canter & Canter, 1976).
One of the main reasons I chose to address behaviour management strategies in my
essay is because my placement school sets very high expectations when it comes to
behaviour management. Alton Close is situated in a working-class area of Swindon
with higher levels of poverty than the national average. It scores 982 out of 32,844,
with a score of 1 being the most deprived, this means it is amongst the 10% most
deprived neighbourhoods in the country (Street Games, 2019). Alton Close is part of
the Swindon Academy group, this covers two primaries’ in the local area, across the
two primary schools in 2019 61.4% of children were eligible for pupil premium. This
lower level of affluence often goes hand in hand with disruptive behaviour
(Goodman, et al., 2010). To combat this, Alton Close has very clear guidance on
behaviour, I believe this is one of the many reasons this school has focused and
engaged learners in their classrooms.
The academy has a strong vision, describing themselves as “an ambitious learning
community” that offers a “rigorous and challenging curriculum”. Their “pursuit of
excellence” is “underpinned by support structures” and “quality care and guidance”
(Swindon Academy, 2020).
3|Page
Word Count: 4600
