Positive relationships, interactions and behaviour support policy

Early Learning Victoria recognises the importance of children experiencing nurturing, respectful and reciprocal relationships with educators, which helps support their understanding of themselves as competent, capable and respected individuals.

Relationships are the foundation for the construction of identity, as they help shape children’s thinking about who they are, how they belong and what influences them. Positive relationships and interactions are also important for developing executive function skills, which contribute to children’s positive learning, development and life outcomes.

1. Scope

This policy applies to children, families, staff, management and visitors of Early Learning Victoria centres. This includes volunteers, students on placement and contractors or labour hire employees of Early Learning Victoria.

2. Policy statement

The purpose of this policy is to inform and guide educators on the importance of positive, respectful and reciprocal relationships with children, including when offering behaviour support strategies. This aligns with the Early Years Learning Framework, Victorian Early Years Learning Framework, National Quality Standards, the Education and Care Services National Law Act 2010 (the National Law) and Education and Care Services National Regulations 2011 (the Regulations).

2.1 Requirements

The National Law and Regulations require all centre staff to:

give each child positive guidance and encouragement towards acceptable behaviour
consider each child’s family values, culture, age and developmental abilities.

2.2 Background and information

Research shows that relationships are central to children developing acceptance, self-esteem and executive functioning skills that contribute to positive learning and life outcomes. For relationships to be meaningful, interactions need to be warm, caring and responsive. When attention is given to building connections and maintaining them over time, children are more likely to feel a sense of security, wellbeing and belonging.

To build positive relationships with others, children need to develop social skills and the ability to interact with others with care, empathy and respect. Social skills are the foundation that allow children to understand, regulate and negotiate their interactions with others.

Child Safe Standard 3 (Children and young people are empowered about their rights, participate in decisions affecting them and are taken seriously), requires services to have strategies to promote the participation and empowerment of children. When children feel respected and valued through meaningful relationships, they are much more likely to speak up about issues of safety and wellbeing.

Guiding children’s behaviour is an important aspect of caring for and educating children. Positive strategies are developed to assist children to learn appropriate ways of interacting with educators, peers and their environment.

Educators should role-model appropriate behaviour and language and encourage children to socialise with other children, including children of diverse cultural backgrounds, genders and age groups. Behaviour support strategies implemented should be appropriate to the child’s age and developmental capacity.

Children should be encouraged to make decisions for themselves and be provided with opportunities for independence and self-regulation. They should also be encouraged to experience the consequences of their choices, when there is no risk of physical or emotional harm to the child or anyone else.

Children should be acknowledged when they make positive choices to regulate their behaviour and offered support when they show they are having challenges with behaviour and regulation.

Positive behaviour support focuses on:

children’s strengths
knowledge of the child’s learning and development
mutually respectful relationships between adults and children
understanding and addressing the underlying causes of challenging behaviours
teaching new skills
modifying learning environments
reinforcing desirable and appropriate behaviour
long-term behavioural improvements benefiting children, educators and families.

3. Actions and procedures

3.1 Responsibilities of families

Families are responsible for:

reading this policy
engaging in open communication with educators about their child
telling educators about events that may be affecting their child’s behaviour (for example, moving house, relationship issues or a new sibling)
telling educators about any concerns they have about their child’s behaviour, or about the effects other children’s behaviour is having on their child
collaborating with educators and other professionals/support agencies to develop or review an individual behaviour support plan, where appropriate.

3.2 Responsibilities of staff

All centre staff are responsible for:
- providing a welcoming, safe, inclusive environment where children’s interests and concerns are always responded to
- creating an environment that is flexible and responsive to the strengths, culture, languages, interests and capabilities of each child
- promoting children’s bodily integrity (respecting their physical space and only using touch when necessary and appropriate)
- supporting children’s consent by acknowledging and respecting a child’s right to give, withhold or withdraw consent, verbally or non-verbally (for example, by using body language)
- respecting each child’s uniqueness, displaying appreciation and respect for children as individuals
- using a positive and encouraging tone of voice when interacting with children in all situations
- ensuring mealtimes are relaxed and unhurried
- sitting with children during mealtimes, engaging in respectful conversations
- never forcing a child to do something against their request – this includes resting, eating and participating in group experiences and activities
- role-modelling respect in everyday dealings with both adults and children
- endeavouring to be aware of each child’s values, culture and feelings, and responding appropriately
- respecting and valuing diversity and not tolerating any discriminatory practices
- encouraging children to initiate conversations about their experiences at home
- encouraging children to request assistance when taking on new challenges (inspiring children’s independence and confidence)
- regularly reflecting on their relationships and interactions with children and how these can be improved to benefit each child
- inspiring, encouraging and accepting each child and encouraging them to do the same with their peers by actively:
  - fostering each child’s construction of a knowledgeable, confident self-identity
  - fostering each child’s empathetic interactions with a diverse range of people
  - fostering each child’s critical thinking about bias
  - fostering each child’s ability to stand up for themselves and others in the face of bias
  - responding respectfully and appropriately to children and engaging in sustained shared thinking about their interests
  - implementing a predictable routine for children including interest-based activities and experiences
- using a variety of communication strategies, including verbal and non-verbal cues, to support the development of relationships with children
- empowering children to speak up and raise concerns
- building secure attachments by partnering with families
- encouraging children to develop confidence in their ability to express themselves
- encouraging children to work through differences appropriately and with guidance where necessary.
In relation to behaviour support, staff are responsible for:
- implementing positive behaviour support strategies such as:
  - visual supports
  - gestural cues
  - verbal prompting
  - redirection
  - regulation techniques
  - sensory adjustments (such as providing quiet spaces, weighted blankets or ‘heavy work’)
  - developing logical consequences
  - helping children name their emotions
- setting up learning environments and supervision plans to identify triggers and/or sources of challenging behaviour and:
  - endeavouring to understanding the child in the context of the family, culture and community
  - staying calm and promoting consistency
  - using positive reinforcement and positive behaviour supports (as mentioned above)
  - communicating in clear, simple, developmentally appropriate language
  - collaborating with other staff to ensure consistency and proactive strategies
  - documenting and reflecting on behaviours and strategies
- ensuring children are only ever physically restrained in emergency situations, such as when a child is:
  - in a clearly unsafe situation, for example, attempting to scale a fence or run onto a road
  - physically threatening other children or adults
  - behaving in a way that is destructive to themselves, other people or the environment
- acknowledging that the following are examples (not exhaustive) of corporal punishment and unreasonable discipline that are considered serious breaches of the National Law and Regulations and the Child Wellbeing and Safety Act 2005:
  - hitting, slapping or pinching a child
  - force-feeding a child
  - isolating a child
  - yelling at a child
  - humiliating or belittling a child
  - physically dragging a child
  - depriving a child of food or drink
- acknowledging that when there is an immediate danger of a child being hurt or hurting others (or as part of a behaviour support plan), it may be necessary for an educator to take a child to an alternative learning environment or space, to support the child to calm down and/or self-regulate. For these situations:
  - the educator must always stay with the child, offering reassurance, comfort and support so they can have space to regulate their emotions and return to a calm state at their own pace
  - the educator can later take the opportunity to help the child explore their emotions, identify what happened and what they may have done differently (recognising that in the heat of highly emotive moments, it can be challenging for children to think or talk about what made them feel the emotion)
  - the educator can use photos, visual cues and social stories to support communication and positive interactions
- undertaking training and being aware of their role and responsibility to implement and follow the Child Safe Standards.
In addition to the responsibilities listed for all staff, nominated supervisors and the approved provider are responsible for:
- ensuring obligations under the National Law and Regulations are met
- ensuring that there are child safe environments at each centre
- ensuring that minimum staff requirements are met, including educator-to-child ratios and staff qualifications requirements
- ensuring all staff, educators and volunteers have completed child protection training, including mandatory reporting requirements
- ensuring no child is subjected to any form of corporal punishment or inappropriate discipline
- ensuring that responsibilities under the Family Violence Multi-Agency Risk Assessment and Management Framework (MARAM) are understood and actioned
- ensuring that responsibilities under the Child Safe Standards are understood and actioned
- ensuring that the Department of Education’s Conduct and Integrity Division is notified as soon as possible after becoming aware of an allegation of reportable conduct against an adult engaged by an Early Learning Victoria centre.

4. Resources

Legislation and standards

Relevant legislation and standards include:

Education and Care Services National Law Act 2010
Education and Care Services National Regulations 2011
Child Wellbeing and Safety Act 2005
Child Safe Standards
Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004
Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017
Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014
Privacy Act 1988
Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008
Public Health and Wellbeing Regulations 2019

Administering medications policy and procedure
Anti-bias approach policy
Protecting children policy
Child safety and wellbeing policy
Handling complaints and feedback policy
Educational program policy
Child and family violence information sharing policy
Management of medical conditions policy and procedure
Nappy changing and toileting policy
Electronic devices and photograph policy
Privacy policy

Definitions

Behaviour support plan: A plan that documents strategies to assist an educator in guiding a child with diagnosed behavioural difficulties or challenging behaviours to self-manage their behaviour. The plan is developed in consultation with the centre director and/or inclusion support professionals, teachers, educators and families, and other professional support agencies as applicable.

Challenging behaviour: Behaviour that:

disrupts others or causes disputes between children
infringes on the rights of others
causes harm or risk to the child, other children, adults or living things
is destructive to the environment and/or equipment
inhibits the child’s learning and relationship with others
is inappropriate relative to the child’s developmental age and background.

Child Safe Standards: The Child Safe Standards are compulsory minimum standards for all organisations that provide services to children. Their aim is to ensure organisations are well prepared to protect children from abuse and neglect.

Education

Updated 17 January 2025

On this page

1. Scope

2. Policy statement

2.1 Requirements

2.2 Background and information

3. Actions and procedures

3.1 Responsibilities of families

3.2 Responsibilities of staff

4. Resources

Legislation and standards

Links

Definitions

Positive relationships, interactions and behaviour support policy

On this page

1. Scope

2. Policy statement

2.1 Requirements

2.2 Background and information

3. Actions and procedures

3.1 Responsibilities of families

3.2 Responsibilities of staff

4. Resources

Legislation and standards

Related policies

Links

Definitions