Getting Started with Behaviour & Discipline
A guide to setting up, configuring, and using the Behaviour & Discipline module in ManageBac+.
The Behaviour & Discipline module allows schools to record, track, and share behaviour incidents for students. It supports Admins, Homeroom Advisors, and Classroom Teachers in logging incidents, assigning next steps, and keeping parents informed where appropriate.
This guide covers how to set up permissions, configure Behaviour options, record and manage Behaviour Notes, and involve parents and the wider school community in the process.
Overview
Before enabling Behaviour & Discipline, it is worth reviewing who can add, view, edit, and export Behaviour Notes, as access varies by user role.
| User | Can add Behaviour Notes | Can view Behaviour Notes | Can edit Behaviour Notes | Can export Behaviour Incidents | Can edit Behaviour Options |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Admins | For all students | All notes for all students | All notes for all students | For all students | Yes |
| Homeroom Advisors | Only for their assigned students | All notes of their assigned students | Only their own notes | Only with Student Directory permission | No |
| Classroom Teachers | Only for students in their classes, if Student Directory permission is enabled | Only their own notes | Only their own notes | Only with Student Directory permission | No |
| Parents | No | Only notes marked Visible to Parents for their children | No | No | No |
| Students | No | No | No | No | No |
Pre-Setup: Reviewing Permissions
1. Reviewing administrators
Administrators have full rights to view and edit all Behaviour Notes for all students. These rights are more limited for Homeroom Advisors, and further restricted for Classroom Teachers and regular Advisors. Review these user roles before enabling the Behaviour feature.
Via Settings > School Directory, you can adjust user rights by:
- Promoting Teachers & Advisors to Administrators
- Demoting Admins to an Advisor
2. Reviewing Teachers & Advisors
Via Settings > Security & Permissions > Teachers & Advisors, you can review each user's access level.
Teachers can be given access to the Behaviour Notes History page at two levels: Homeroom Only, which shows Behaviour Notes History only for students where they are the Homeroom Advisor, or Full Access, which shows all Behaviour Notes information in the history page.
3. Reviewing assigned advisors
From the ManageBac+ Dashboard, go to Year Groups and select the relevant year group.
You can manually assign students via the Members tab by selecting each category's Advisors tab, or download a CSV template to bulk assign students.
Note: you will need student and teacher email addresses in order to bulk assign.
Behaviour Settings
1. Configuring Behaviour options
Via Settings, the Behaviour tab allows Admins, Homeroom Advisors, and Classroom Teachers to add Behaviour Incidents on student profiles and share them with parents.
To enable the Behaviour tab on student profiles, navigate to Settings > Behaviour & Discipline > Enable Behaviour Notes.
Behaviour Types are added by default and can be added to or edited. They can also be marked as Positive Behaviour types and reordered.
2. Adding Next Steps
Next Steps allow a Behaviour Note to include the action to be taken regarding the incident recorded on a student profile. This option can be found further down the Behaviour settings page.
Next Steps can be:
- Created via Add Next Step
- Edited or reordered to meet your needs
- Once a Next Step has been used, it cannot be deleted from this page. Contact support@ManageBac.com to request deletion if needed
Step by Step Navigation
Recording a Behaviour incident
Via a Student Profile > Behaviour tab, Admins, and the student's Homeroom Advisor and Classroom Teachers, can add a new Behaviour Note using the Add Behaviour Note button.
The Note includes the incident time, Behaviour Type, Next Step, action date, and a text box for incident details.
Previous Behaviour Notes are listed chronologically, with any Next Steps highlighted at the bottom of each note.
A Note can be marked as "Visible to Parents" and "Shared with Parents via e-mail". An email is automatically sent to the student's Homeroom Advisor when a new note is added. The Note is not shared with the student.
Updating an advisor for a specific student
- Via Global Search, enter the student's name.
- Click Jump to Profile.
- Via Edit Profile, locate the Homeroom Advisor field.
- Select the advisor from the Homeroom Advisor dropdown and click Save Changes.
Reviewing advisors by year group
- Navigate to Year Group and select a year group.
- Click Members.
- Click Homeroom Advisors.
- Select the advisor from the Advisor dropdown. Click the down arrow to bulk apply the selection for all students, then click Save Changes.
- You can also select additional Homeroom Advisors from the dropdown menu, and bulk assign them or add them manually for each student before saving.
Reviewing advisors in bulk
Via the Students tab, click Bulk Assign Students on the right-hand side. For guidance on importing, see Assigning Homeroom Advisors.
Tracking Behaviour & Discipline
Whole-school Behaviour incidents export
Whole-school Behaviour Incidents can be exported to Excel via Settings > Behaviour & Discipline > Behaviour Notes History > Export to Excel. Exports include full details of the date and time of each incident, along with notes and next steps.
Using private groups for monitoring
A locked group is only accessible to its members. To create a group, go to Groups > Browse all Groups > Add Group.
Select the Lock Group checkbox when creating a group to make it private.
Locked groups give Admins and Advisors a private space to discuss incidents further. They can also be used for private messages, visible only to teachers via the Discussions tab, or to keep teachers involved in a student's individualised education programme in contact.
Public API
The ManageBac+ public API allows schools to connect their account to external platforms that are not directly integrated with ManageBac+. These settings can only be configured by an Admin.
Behaviour endpoints allow schools to retrieve all available Behaviour Notes.
Involving Your School Community
Parent view
Parents can view Behaviour Notes via Academic Profile > Behaviour tab.
Parents can see all Behaviour Notes that have been marked as visible to them. This is a read-only view. Parents who wish to discuss a matter further will need to contact the school office or teachers directly by email or in person.
Email to parents
Emails to parents include:
- Parent name
- Child's name
- Type of Behaviour
- Date
- The note content
- Any next steps
- Who the note was written by
Frequently Asked Questions
Are Behaviour Notes stored in ManageBac+?
Yes. All Behaviour Notes are stored chronologically within the individual student's profile, and can also be viewed together via the Behaviour Notes History section in your school's settings.
Can Behaviour Notes be exported?
Yes. Behaviour Notes can be exported to Excel for further analysis or record-keeping via Settings > Behaviour & Discipline > Behaviour Notes History > Export to Excel.
Who can see Behaviour Notes, and who is notified?
Visibility: Notes are never shared with students. A Note can be marked "Visible to Parents". Teachers can view their own notes but not those of other teachers. Homeroom Advisors can view all notes for their assigned students but can only edit their own. Admins have full view and edit rights across all notes.
Notifications: Students never receive a notification. A Note can be marked "Shared with Parents via e-mail". An email is automatically sent to the student's Homeroom Advisor whenever a new note is added. To share a record with other teachers, export a full record of Behaviour incidents via Settings > Behaviour & Discipline > Behaviour Notes History > Export to Excel.
Can Behaviour types be customised?
Yes. Behaviour Types are added by default, but additional types can be added or existing ones edited. Types can also be marked as Positive Behaviour types and reordered.
Is the Behaviour module an additional cost?
The Behaviour module is currently provided free of charge, as development of the module has been put on hold temporarily. Schools looking for a behaviour platform with enhanced functionality may wish to consider one of our partners, Class Charts.
Where can I find related guides?
In Summary
- Review Administrator, Advisor, and Teacher permissions before enabling Behaviour & Discipline.
- Configure Behaviour Types and Next Steps to match your school's processes.
- Behaviour Notes can be recorded on student profiles, exported for reporting, and optionally shared with parents by email.
With the Behaviour & Discipline module in ManageBac+, schools can consistently record, track, and communicate behaviour incidents across their community.