Behaviour Policy

July 2024

This policy has been developed in order to provide children and young people with advice on the behaviour that is expected of them when participating in projects led and delivered by Theatre Royal Wakefield, so they feel safe, respected and valued. It is to be used in conjunction with our safeguarding policy. We promote positive behaviour because it enhances social opportunities and ensures that our learning environment is calm, happy and enriching for everyone.

We believe all children and young people deserve to thrive in an environment that is calm, safe, supportive and where they are treated with dignity. To achieve this, every child and young person is made aware of our behaviour standards, expectations and consequence processes. All children and young people have a duty to follow this behaviour policy.

All participants who take part in our projects and activities have the right to:

Feel valued.

Feel safe, happy and secure.

Play, create and take part fully in all activities without the threat of disruption or negative comments/ feedback.

Be respected, valued and listened to and feel confident to know who to speak to and that everyone will be treated fairly and with sensitivity.

We will always strive to:

Create a safe environment where children and young people are helped to develop their own understanding of appropriate behaviour, thrive and reach their full potential and choose ways of behaving in accordance with expectations.

To encourage children and young people to respect and value themselves and others.

To ensure that a climate of mutual respect exists for everyone.

To engage children and young people in restorative practice.

The following behaviour will not be tolerated:

use of obscene language

bullying

fighting

stealing

vandalism

We ask participants to:

Respect yourself – Be on time, join in with the best of your ability, use feedback to improve your performance, be polite to staff and participants, no swearing, do not use your mobile phone whilst in sessions, bring sensible snacks and water.

Respect others – Listen, don’t interrupt, co-operate, no shouting, no bullying, no aggressive or violent behaviour, do not disturb other classes, respect other peoples’ opinions, attend all sessions.

Respect the building – Respect staff, tidy up after yourself, no graffiti, no chewing gum, no running, wear correct footwear, follow health and safety guidelines and report any damages to staff.

Bullying:

We tackle bullying appropriately and ensure that bullying concerns are dealt with sensitively and effectively.

Defining Bullying Behaviour

Bullying behaviour deliberately causes hurt (either physically or emotionally including online)

Bullying behaviour is usually repetitive (one-off incidents, such as the posting of an image or sending of a text that is passed around a group, can quickly spiral into bullying behaviour)

Bullying behaviour involves an imbalance of power (the person or people on the receiving end feel like they can’t defend themselves)

Different Types of Bullying (this list is not exhaustive):

Physical – pushing, kicking, hitting, pinching, any form of violence, threats.

Verbal – name calling, sarcasm, spreading rumours, persistent teasing.

Emotional – tormenting, threatening ridicule, humiliation, exclusion from groups or activities.

Racist – racial abuse, graffiti, gestures

Sexual – unwanted physical contact, abusive comments.

Damage to property or theft – demanding possessions, money, deliberately damaging belongings.

Homophobic – taunts, graffiti, gestures relating to the sexual orientation of a person. Transphobic– taunts, graffiti, gestures relating to the gender identity of a person.

Cyber – sending threatening or abusive text messages, emails or images. Writing abusive or negative things about people online.

Gender - taunts, graffiti, gestures relating to the gender of a person.

Mobile phone use in rehearsals, all activities and backstage:

Theatre Royal Wakefield wants to keep participants safe, ensuring we are all focussing on the show and managing representations of the shows on social media through official photos and posts. For these reasons, we are strict about how and when we use mobile phones in rehearsals, regular sessions and backstage during production runs.

Mobile phones are prohibited during rehearsals, in any participation session, backstage and in dressing rooms at all times.

If there is an emergency, or in special circumstances, mobile phones are permitted to be used with consent from the lead chaperone or designated project lead.

With permission, mobile phones are permitted to be used at breaktimes during rehearsals and during regular sessions.

The recording, taking and sharing of images, video and audio on any mobile phone is prohibited.

No one is permitted to take photographs with any device backstage, in dressing rooms or in rehearsals at any time.

Participants can enjoy taking pictures and filming in a DESIGNATED photo and filming session but must respect the rules about not sharing these on social media.

All participants can enjoy sharing TRW official pictures on social media.

Participants may be given permission to film sections of choreography or make audio recordings for personal reference only (when instructed by the director / choreographer or lead artist) to support learning. Any such recordings are for personal reference only and should never be shared on social media and must be deleted as soon as the learning has taken place.

Heated hair appliances backstage:

We request that all participants come ‘show-ready’ with hair done before arriving at the theatre. We do not permit heated hair appliances to be used backstage at any time due to health and safety risks.

We request that spray aerosols (including hairspray) are not used in the dressing rooms or backstage area.

Four Strikes Policy:

We run a ‘four strikes’ policy for disruptive, dangerous or repeated incidents of mean behaviour as well as bullying, as follows:

1. If a participant’s behaviour has given the project leader cause for concern and is not in line with the policy’s expectations, parents will be notified and a restorative approach will be used. Restorative practice involves helping the child think through their behaviour, its consequences and what they can do to make it better using the following questions:

What happened?

What were you thinking and feeling at the time?

What have you thought about it since?

Who has been affected and in what way?

How could things have been done differently?

What do you think needs to happen to make things right

1. If, following this, a participant continues to be disruptive, dangerous or mean, parents will be notified. They will be made aware the incident is serious enough to be considered a ‘warning’ at which point a note will be made on record.
2. If following this, a participant’s behaviour continues to be challenging and/or disruptive, parents will be notified again and the project leader and parents will speak to the child/young person together, with a ‘final warning’.
3. If, following the final warning, a participant does not show they are committed towards improving their behaviour, they will be instantly dismissed, without recourse or refund.

Theatre Royal Wakefield reserves the right to remove any participant at any time without warning from its sessions if it feels that the behaviour or conduct of that participant is not conducive to the working environment or to the progress of other participants or puts the health and safety of others at risk. Minor issues will be addressed quickly and consistently.