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In the Early Years at Cherry Orchard, we focus on positive behaviour and reward this frequently throughout the day, mostly using verbal praise. Children may also receive stickers, house points or notes home to parents as an extra incentive, but we like to encourage them to follow our classroom rules because they want to do the right thing, not only to receive an external reward.

‘Shiny green’ and ‘green’ behaviour is good behaviour that follows our 4 most important EYFS rules:

  • Kind hands
  • Kind feet
  • Kind words
  • Good listening

We use a traffic light system that works similarly to the rest of the school, however each colour traffic light has an associated face, used to discuss how children and adults are feeling when behaviours are displayed.

In Preschool & Reception, children are learning how to identify and deal with their own feelings and behaviours, so it is important for staff to help them understand them and identify ways to express them appropriately. If children are displaying amber or red behaviour, they will be given a warning and consequences appropriate to the situation, often a time out, in order to calm down and discuss the behaviour with an adult. After this time, children are supported to go back to the situation and find an appropriate way to manage it or make amends for their behaviour if necessary. We believe that just saying sorry does not support children to learn for next time, so we try to find a relevant way for the child to help, for example, checking a friend that they may have upset is ok, or helping to fix a model that they knocked down. If a child displays red behaviour, parents will be spoken to by the class teacher or EYFS lead, so that the incident can be discussed at home if appropriate.

EYFS happy, neutral and unhappy faces.