Our school uses the School Wide Positive Behaviour Support (SWPBS) framework to create a safe, calm and predictable learning environment. The framework assumes that, children (and adults) will develop the necessary behaviours if they are described well against a set of values, then taught, modelled acknowledged and corrected.
In 2017, as a community we agreed on our values through an extensive process. Our staff delivered two weeks of role plays to our students at the beginning of each day. The role plays were short narratives, based on behavioural problems and solutions. Teachers then had students recount the stories in class, looking for words that described the values in their own words. From theses recounts a long list of values were collected. Each class then debated, discussed and agreed on their top three.
At our annual school concert, we polled our families, asking then to vote on the same list of words. Finally we went to our staff and asked them to vote too.
We started 2018 with the launch of our new values.
We are Kind. We are Creative. We are Proud.
These values have been used daily in every classroom, in the yard, in staff meetings and with families every day. They are used to establish the expectations in every situation, to acknowledge students who demonstrate them, and they are used to have conversations when behaviours need to be corrected.
We constantly prepare for new situations by having discussions on how we will be kind, creative and proud. For example:
- How will we be welcoming to new students?
- How should we behave on an excursion to make the most of it?
- How do we move between different spaces in the school?
- How do we seek help in the classroom?
We are Kind: We think about others when choosing our words and actions. We make sure we let others learn, enjoy their time at school and fell safe.
We are Creative: When we meet a challenge, whether it is with our work, with play, or with others, we think about the best way to solve it. We try different strategies and we seek help from an adult when we need to. We approach our learning with a curious mind.
We are Proud: We always try hard to do our best. We celebrate achievements; our own, our classmates, and our schools. We behave in a way we know our families would want us too.