Our ethos encourages children to treat others with respect and to celebrate our diversity and differences.  The skills of being a good friend and taking responsibility for our actions are reinforced through our curriculum and positive relationships, however, incidents of bullying and discrimination are taken seriously at St Bernadette’s. Children are taught to identify bullying behaviour and are encouraged to immediately report it to an adult.

When issues arise, the school has adopted a restorative justice approach which helps children explore concerns and issues in a safe environment and recognise that each of us needs to play our part in helping to maintain a happy, friendly and co-operative environment. Children are taught that everyone has the responsibility to ensure and that everyone has the right to:

• Feel safe
• Be respected
• Learn

As a school we aim to reward and celebrate positive behaviour choices and achievements. Each week, a child from each class is awarded a Headteacher’s Award for actively living out the school's mission to "have Jesus in our hearts".

Adult Behaviour

We believe it is important to create a safe, respectful and inclusive environment for pupils, staff and parents in our school. We encourage clear, open communication links with parents as we believe it has a positive impact on pupils’ learning. It provides parents with the information they need to support their child’s education and helps to build a partnership between home and school. Such communication can be entirely positive and practical for example to seek information, ask a question, clear up a misunderstanding or to draw attention to a matter. Sometimes there is a need to resolve an issue or misunderstanding.

We acknowledge that sometimes there can be situations that can be emotional and challenging for parents and staff to work through. Nonetheless, we expect all our community to show mutual respect. We have clear expectations and guidelines on behaviour for all members of our community. This includes staff (through the staff code of conduct) and pupils (through our behaviour policy). We also expect parents to engage constructively with school staff and to work together with them in the best interests of our children.