PRINCIPAL MESSAGE
Dear Parent, Guardians and Carers,
At St Patrick’s we are committed to the care, safety and wellbeing of all children. Through the implementation of the Whole School Approach to Positive Support (WSAPBS), a structure and process is provided so that we can establish, action and maintain a positive social culture; teach the skills of behaviour; support wellbeing; and enhance academic outcomes. The WSAPBS facilitates a process that enables our school staff to work in collaboration to; identify agreed, consistent practices and behaviours that are lived by all, creating environments that are predictable and known, therefore providing safe learning spaces for all students and staff.
As a part of the WSAPBS we have established 3 School Wide Expectations of Safe, Respectful and Responsible, which are linked to our school vision and mission and are important for providing a common vision, language and experience for the entire school community. Our School Wide Expectations describe the general ways that all school community members (staff, students and parents) are expected to behave at all times.
Another important element of the WSAPBS is Consequences. A school wide approach to using consequences makes St Patrick’s a predictable, consistent, positive and safe environment. Consequences are outcomes that occur as a result of actions. Consequences can be used either to encourage the behaviour to occur again or to discourage the behaviour from occurring again. At St Patrick’s, consequences are logical; meaning that they directly relate to repairing the situation. It is important to note, that before using consequences, it is crucial that teaching, prompting and acknowledging expectations of behaviour has occurred. At St Patrick’s we use the T.R.E.E approach of Teach, Remind, Educate and Evaluate, when our School Wide Expectations have not been met.
If behaviour occurs that is not in line with the School Wide Expectations, then consequences may be required. . St Patrick’s utilises a ‘Consequences Framework’, which outlines the level of behaviour (reminder, minor or major), the possible consequences and the follow up teaching which is required.
The consequences framework provides consistency for staff and students when dealing with behaviour.
It is important to note that our consequences are not a punishment and our intention is to repair the relationship after an incident has occurred and teach the students a better way of dealing with this in the future.
WHAT IS BULLYING?
‘Bullying’ is a term that is often referred to by students and parents when dealing with conflict in the school setting. It is important to understand what constitutes bullying. The graphic below, take from The Kids Helpline website, explains what bullying is in quite a simple way.
At times, students at St Patrick’s may be rude or mean to your child and we are regularly teaching and reminding all students about acceptable and unacceptable behaviours at school. I understand that being treated unkindly can be a concerning time for yourself and your child, and we don’t accept these behaviours, however rest assured that we follow up on all incidents and put things in place to support your child when required. When speaking with your child at home about incidents that may have occurred at school, your response and the language you use, plays a vital role in supporting them and ensuring that they can positively move forward after an unpleasant experience.
Our priority at St Patrick’s is to ensure that all students feel safe, respected and supported at school, and the WSAPBS provides the framework for this.
Kind regards,
Joel