One of the many school website requirements is that you publish details of your behaviour policy. This means publishing it on your website.  The first thing to note is that your policy must comply with Section 89 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006.

Our advice would be to ensure you reference this legislation within the introduction to your policy, making sure you are fully aware of the details you need to publish from within this document. This responsibility sits with your school leaders.

What the law states

An important passage from the 2006 Act states "Headteachers, proprietors and governing bodies must ensure they have a strong behaviour policy to support staff in managing behaviour, including the use of rewards and sanctions."

This must be reflected in what you publish online. So, what are the specific details?

Maintained schools

The headteacher must set out measures in the behaviour policy which aim to:

• promote good behaviour, self-discipline and respect;
• prevent bullying;
• ensure that pupils complete assigned work; and which
• regulate the conduct of pupils.

Ref: Section 89 (1) of the Education and Inspections Act 2006

Academies and Multi-Academy Trusts

The proprietor of an Academy school is required to ensure that a written policy to promote good behaviour among pupils is drawn up and effectively implemented. The policy must set out the disciplinary sanctions to be adopted if a pupil misbehaves. The proprietor is also required to ensure that an effective anti-bullying strategy is drawn up and implemented. Information about the school’s behaviour policy must be made available to parents on request.  While Academies do not have to publish their policy on their website it is good practice to do so.  Academies must also have a written anti-bullying strategy.

Ref: Education (Independent School Standards) (England) Regulations 2014

Schools doing it right

Getting your policies on your school website doesn't have to be a hard job.  If you follow the guidelines and tips in our School Website Requirements guide you will be well on your way to getting it right! Below are a couple of examples of schools who are doing it well.

St John's CE School

Easterside Academy

Little Ilford School

Within these policies, the schools have personalised each of them to fit their setting.

We can't state strongly enough how important this is across so many areas of compliance.

This is especially important if you are an academy.  Whilst it is acceptable to publish the MAT policy it is vital that you tweak it to reflect your setting.

Remember to include any legal duties within your policy too.  For example

1. Acknowledge your legal duties under the Equality Act 2010, and in terms of safeguarding and supporting pupils with SEND
2. Some pupils require a more sensitive and differentiated approach
3. Make sure your behaviour policy doesn’t unintentionally discriminate against certain groups.

Behaviour Policies & Your School Website - Organising your policies

Consider how you display your policies on your school website.

If you're a Schudio client you have the ability to use 'Document Groups' to display your policies in a lovely, readily accessible way.  If you're not a client then give some thought and consideration as to how you display your policies.

It is best to either list them alphabetically with a consistent naming format or to display them in groups.  If you choose to display your policies in groups you could use the following headings as examples: 'Teaching & Learning', 'SEND', 'General Policies'.  I'm sure you can think of appropriate group names for your setting.

Further reading

Check out The School Website Compliance Course for the very latest step-by-step, on-demand training on how you can keep your website compliant. We talk you through every area of compliance in detail with actionable advice.