The notes are available below to download
Those of you who are familiar with the Needs-focused Approach™ will know that we don’t advocate relying heavily on rewards to change behaviour as they often end up being used as bribes. When rewards are promised in advance of a change in behaviour they provide, at best, only a temporary improvement – once the treats have all gone, the behaviour resumes. At worst they sustain and help build a society of young people who will only do as they are asked as long as they are given something of value in return. Our aim must be to TEACH appropriate behaviour and encourage students to behave appropriately for the right reasons and for the intrinsic rewards such behaviour brings - not just because they have been promised a treat or reward for doing so.
That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t give kids rewards now and again though – we just have to get the timing right. Remember – when rewards are promised in advance (“Do this and I’ll give you this”) they are nothing more than BRIBES. When they are spontaneous, unexpected and given AFTER an increased effort or positive change in behaviour they can ‘mark the moment’ very well and reinforce the behaviour we want to see.
The Million Pound Note is a cool reward you might want to give out now and again when your students surprise you for the right reasons. Like any reward their novelty and appeal will wear out over time but you might just find, for a while at least, that these little slips of paper will make youvery popular and give you a new lease of power in the classroom! 
Notes about your ‘note’:
- It would be best to copy and paste the note so that you have several notes on one piece of paper before printing – much cheaper and kinder to trees. You should get 3 on an A4 sheet.
- Some staff put their signatures or a tick on the notes next to the behaviour trait the pupil has shown.
A few words of warning…
Try not to give out too many too freely – you can stimulate demand for these special awards by limiting the supply. These have to be EARNED.
When one of my pupils found out the note wasn’t real he was incredibly disappointed!! It might pay you to explain carefully that they can’t actually spend them!
