Thinking Deeply about Primary Education Calm, Consistent, and Certain: Building Better Behaviour in Primary
Aug 23, 2025
Liv Dempsey, a headteacher navigating behavior management in her first year, Tom Oakley, a deputy head with innovative systems, and Charles Bankovitz, a daily classroom teacher, share their insights. They discuss why certainty in behavior expectations is crucial, the benefits of de-escalation language, and the routines that preempt issues. The trio unpacks trauma-informed practices versus traditional methods, the importance of strong staff relationships, and the supportive culture needed to alleviate teacher stress, offering practical solutions for primary classrooms.
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Behaviour Is Emotionally Exhausting
- Managing a calm, attentive classroom is mentally and emotionally exhausting for teachers.
- Consistency becomes harder as fatigue and term length increase, so systems must account for teacher capacity.
School Policy Meets Home Realities
- Much behaviour stems from factors outside school like parenting, trauma, or deprivation.
- Even the best school policy can't fully control those external influences, so responses must be nuanced.
Make Consequences Certain, Not Severe
- Prioritise certainty of consequence over severity and ensure SLT will back teachers when escalation is needed.
- Provide predictable adult support (e.g., radios, staff swaps) so consequences remain certain.
