It’s a grey afternoon after a wet playtime and you’re walking down a primary school corridor. You pause outside a classroom to listen to Sandra, the Year 5 teacher. She’s leaning over a red-faced boy and prodding her forefinger angrily in his face. “Stop being so stupid! If you don’t, you’ll be in serious trouble, do you understand?”

The boy swears at her, knocks over a display and bursts out of the room. Sandra turns to you wearily. “That’s the sort of behaviour I put up with every day,” she says. “That child needs to be excluded so the rest of us can get on. I blame the parents.”

You walk further down the corridor and pause outside Peter’s classroom. He teaches Year 3. The class is supposed to be doing science investigations, but it’s in chaos. Pupils are wandering around, messing about with equipment and annoying each other. Most are engaged in off-task chats about TV programmes and football. Few are working.

Peter calls across the classroom: “Well done for working, Ellie. You can be first out at home time.” The noise level drops for a moment, but soon swells again. Peter tries to move from group to group to engage the children in their investigation. But as soon as he moves to a new group, the children start to chat again.

These are grim scenarios. Unfortunately, it’s too easy to fall into negative ways of managing children’s behaviour. Sandra is aggressive and confrontational; Peter tries to be positive, but is not assertive enough. Without good behaviour management, no teacher can function effectively. If the children don’t behave well enough to engage with their work, they learn nothing.

Every new teacher should make it a priority to ask about the school’s behaviour policy. Not only does this tell you a great deal about the ethos of the school, but it will also give you a good idea about the procedures to follow in your classroom, on playground duty, and so on. It’s better to be prepared for an incident than find out while you’re in the thick of one. The school behaviour policy should explain the system for rewards and praise as well as any sanctions. It should also detail the school rules.

Schools spend a great deal of time form-ulating and writing behaviour policies; this whole-school approach to ethos and behaviour management is the best way to communicate expectations to children and parents. But the paper policy has to be translated into classroom practice, and this is where inconsistencies lie.

In your classroom, you are the most important factor in controlling behaviour. You are in charge. Your attitude and behaviour will influence and affect how your pupils behave. Children behave differently for different teachers, so remember your own time as a pupil and think about the ways children reacted to your teachers. Reflect on the reasons. Why were certain teachers more effective than others? You may think the strictest teachers were the most effective, but shouting and nagging don’t work, and gradually become a mere “backing tape” in the classroom.

It’s likely that the teachers who were the most effective had high expectations, and were human and engaging. If you believed they were interested in you, you responded accordingly. Remember that the next time you feel a shout coming on.

How to stay on top

* Make sure pupils are clear about what behaviour you expect. Be assertive, but not aggressive. Set up clear routines - where to put finished work or how to tidy away. At the start of the year, formulate class rules with pupils. Be sure to phrase these positively and display them clearly.

* Make it clear that you expect quiet before addressing the class. Develop a signal to let pupils know they need to stop what they are doing and listen. It could be a sound or a visual signal such as raising your hand.

* Be firm but fair in dealing with all matters. And be friendly. Shouting and being sarcastic only shows you’ve lost control.

* CTBG - catch them being good. Praise and reward appropriate behaviour and good work. Create an atmosphere in which pupils feel they are important. Disruptions can often be attempts to get the teacher’s attention. Circle time and inclusive activities give all pupils a voice and make them feel valued.

* Be flexible and aware of the emotional temperature. Strategies that work early on a Tuesday may not work after a windy playtime. But be consistent. Don’t laugh at cheekiness one day because you’re in a good mood but condemn it the next because you’re tired.

* Be aware of pupils with special needs. You may need other strategies for persistently disruptive pupils. Talk to your Senco.

* Greet pupils with a smile as they enter the room, and make them feel you’re pleased to see them. This way, they will also see that you are ready to begin the next session.

* “Lighthouse” the room - in other words, scan it regularly with your eyes.

* Make sure your instructions are clear to all the children. Disruption often happens when pupils aren’t sure what to do. Have high but obtainable targets. Differentiate: work that is too difficult or too easy will lead to frustration and disruption in your classroom.

* Make sure the class is friendly and has a busy buzz. Pupils must believe the classroom is a place for work. Keep clutter to a minimum and have regular clear-outs.