Behaviour management plan

Overview

Students and staff are bound by the rules and regulations of the Department of Education. This means that there are some non-negotiable rights and responsibilities.

The staff teach, encourage, support and model responsible behaviour as a means of enjoying our rights.

The students’ rights and responsibilities:

• I have the right to be treated with understanding, respect and courtesy.
• My responsibility is to treat others politely and respect their individuality and their position in the school.
• I have the right to obtain maximum benefit from all classes.
• My responsibility is to co-operate with teachers and other students to make sure that lessons proceed; to be punctual; to keep up to date with required work; and to participate in activities that will be of benefit to me.
• I have the right to be helped to learn self-control.    
• It is my responsibility to use self-control and to accept correction when necessary.
• I have the right to be safe.
• My responsibility is to make the school safe by not threatening, hitting or hurting anyone in any way.  It is also my responsibility to observe the special safety requirements for practical subjects.
• I have the right to expect my property to be safe.
• My responsibility is not to steal, damage or destroy the property of others and to report any such acts.
• I have the right to have a clean, pleasant and well maintained school and grounds.
• It is my responsibility to care for the school environment, assist in clean-ups when required, and report any defects.

The rules at Naremburn School are established by the school community. Our rules are the means whereby limits are set to ensure that the group and individual rights can be protected and responsibility, as well as accountability, can be practised.

Strategies to promote good discipline and effective learning include:

• preventative measures
• corrective measures
• supportive measures.

The strategies in these areas relate to:

• effective teaching and learning
• positive climate and good discipline
• community participation
• a self-monitoring behaviour management system
• expectations of students
• parents code of conduct.

Strategies to promote good discipline and effective learning

Good discipline is about creating a positive, respectful, classroom environment. The principles guiding our behaviour management are:

• preventative measures
• corrective discipline
• supportive processes
• self-monitoring behaviour management system.

Preventative measures include:

• making the rights, rules and responsibilities clear to students and staff through, discussion and group decision making processes
• maximising students' choice over behaviour
• being proactive
• having structure, routine, high expectations and clear boundaries
• being consistent, focussed and organised
• being vigilant
• lesson preparation that is focussed, relevant, clear, accounts for mixed abilities and individual needs
• arriving at school and class on time with materials and resources
• allowing for different learning styles
• appropriate curriculum based on individual needs and accurate assessment
• fostering engagement in learning by delivering dynamic and interesting lessons.

Corrective disciplines

This is the way the staff address the short term disruptive behaviour at the classroom level. Staff at Naremburn School are expected to discipline in a consistent manner with due regard to the rights, rules and responsibilities of the school community.

Guidelines include:

• Maintain respect by remaining calm.
• Think ahead as to what might happen in order to put limits in place before incidents have a chance to take hold.
• Avoid confrontational or hostile dialogue.
• Remember, remind or restate classroom rules.
• Give simple choices, using simple language.
• Address the actual behaviour, such as the primary behaviour.
• Concentrate on the student's behaviour rather than the student's character.
• Allow students the time to process the request, for example, 'You have 2 minutes to make a good choice. Think about what you want in the long term and if this action will help you get there.'

Sometimes the best tactic is to ignore or do nothing so that the student has time to make a better choice.

Also note, remember that you can only control your own behaviour and you are responsible for the choices that you make.

Supportive processes include:

• aim for a 4:1 positive: negative comment ratio
• encourage students whenever possible
• develop and maintain a climate of respect
• use a negotiated reward process
• apply a team approach to solving discipline problems
• develop contracts about behaviour when necessary
• follow DET policy
• use school behaviour management policy
• regular counsellor involvement
• regular training and development for staff.

Practices to recognise and reinforce student achievement

Students are positively reinforced at all times for appropriate behaviours and this helps build self-esteem. The form of this reinforcement may vary from teacher to teacher and student to student, but the important thing is to acknowledge when students are doing the right thing.

Some positive reinforcers could includes

• the provision of ongoing positive feedback to the student for appropriate behaviour
• consistent and caring behaviour by staff
• acknowledgement of effort using merit certificates
• specific reward system.

Strategies for dealing with unacceptable behaviour

The staff will address disruptive behaviour affecting others' rights.

Some strategies may be:

• tactically ignore or give a visual prompt
• ‘caution' the student
• remind, direct or re-state the appropriate rule or behaviour
• avoid long discussions, stick to primary behaviour, and re-direct the student
• remain calm but use appropriate assertion
• negotiated outcomes.

Naremburn School operates a ‘tiered' process.

1. Warning
2. Caution
3. Time out
4. Withdrawal
5. Suspension.

These strategies may be employed where appropriate.

Warning

This is a simple reminder to get on track. It might be a choice such as, ‘Sue, do you want to get started on English or Maths?' or ‘Ok guys, time to get back to work.' A warning is verbal.

Caution

This carries no penalty for the first 2 cautions of the day but they are recorded in the monitoring system. The third caution carries a 2 point penalty. A student might get a caution for a minor issue such as not following a staff instruction or being disruptive at a very low level. A caution is verbal.

Time-out

When the student's disruptive behaviour significantly affects the teacher's right to teach, the students' rights to learn or the right to safety, school staff will employ the following procedures.

• The student is directed to take time out in the school hall area for a minimum of 10 minutes.
• The student may return to the classroom at the end of the time out period and resume normal school program, if their behaviour upon re-entry and during class time is appropriate. It is the student's responsibility to determine when their attitude and behaviour has improved enough to return to the classroom, though staff should prompt them to return when it is observed that they can behave appropriately.

Withdrawal

If a student refuses to comply with time-out directives, escalates inappropriate behaviour, displays dangerous or abusive behaviours or threatens the safety of staff and/or students, then the student will be directed to ‘withdrawal'.

• This will be with the principal or assistant principal (AP) and be for a minimum of 30 minutes. Staff should let the principal know what the student's behaviour was that earned him/her a withdrawal by verbal means, completing an incident form as soon as practicable after sending the student to withdrawal.
• If the student refuses to go to withdrawal, restate and allow time for contemplation, restate again, and if need be; call the principal/AP.
• Staff may choose to attend the withdrawal with the student.
• The result of each withdrawal is recorded on the 2 withdrawal logs, one for the student to complete and one for the staff to write on when asking questions of the student.  These will be filed in the students file. These are analysed when deemed necessary.
• If a student refuses to go to withdrawal or refuses to display appropriate behaviours during a withdrawal, suspension may be necessary.

Suspension

Suspension are carried out after an interview with the student and following the department's Suspension and Expulsion of School Students Policy, implemented in 2005. Suspension may be short (1-4 days) or long (5-20 days).

Behaviours which a student may be suspended for according to the department's Procedures for the Suspension and Expulsion of School Students document include:

• is in possession of a suspected illegal drug or drug paraphernalia
• is violent or threatens serious physical violence
• is in possession of prohibited weapon
• is persistently disobedient
• engages in criminal behaviour related to the school
• displays aggressive behaviour
• displays continued disobedience.

Time-out at home

There are times when a student needs a day at home to contemplate behaviour. This action is only used after negotiations with the parents/caregivers. It is meant to prevent having a suspension recorded and allow the student some time to cool down and focus on his/her goals.

Frequent unacceptable behaviour

If a student's behaviour continues to deteriorate and he/she is often failing to maintain themselves in school, then the principal will interview the student with a view to implementing one or several of the following strategies.

Tick sheets

Tick sheets are implemented when students need to focus on a few behaviours, are in the stages of leaving Naremburn School, or want to have some support to reduce the incidents of negative behaviours.

Contracts

After a student has had a principal's interview, he/she may be placed on a contract, which details the required behaviour and the consequences of further breaches.

Part time attendance

The decision to limit the student's attendance to ‘less than normal' hours a day is taken only after other options have failed to resolve the frequency/severity of the behaviours. This decision is made with the principal, the school counsellor and the parent/caregiver and stakeholders. It is the aim of this strategy to allow the student time to value the educational opportunity and become more skilled in displaying acceptable behaviours so that he/she can once again become a full time student. This decision is taken upon advice from the SWC/SSO at regional level and SED if needed.

Health support

There are students who, at times, need interventions that only qualified health professionals can offer. The staff at Naremburn School will ask these students to seek health care when we feel the student needs more support than education alone can provide.

Naremburn school rules

Normal rules of acceptable behaviour apply at all times, however; there are additional rules particular to Naremburn School.

• If found 'out of bounds' (which means anywhere students are not supposed to be at that time), re-entry to class or school will be at the discretion of the principal or assistant principal.
• Mobile phones must be turned into the office upon arrival.
• Failure to accept a caution will earn a time-out.  Failure to accept and do a time-out with appropriate behaviours will earn a withdrawal. Failure to accept and do a withdrawal with appropriate behaviours will earn a suspension.
• A transaction of any kind, between students, is strictly forbidden. This means any goods, foods or equipment may not pass from one student to another without permission from a staff member.
• Suspensions due to incidents of bullying, misbehaviour, verbal or physical violence will be at the discretion of the Principal.  Suspension and police involvement will be imposed in the case of weapons, extreme violence or drugs.
• No loading or downloading onto any computer, files/games or programs from home or elsewhere at all.
• Access to any computer system, hardware or the internal structure of the computer or any of its' programs will be grounds for an immediate suspension and will never be allowed in any form.
• No access to emails except in the case of DoE, employment applications or distance education will be allowed; and these will only be with staff permission.
• School uniform must be worn every day.  Other clothes must not show an unacceptable amount of skin. Clothes should be clean, acceptable in design, intention or message and in an acceptable condition. ‘Closed-in' shoes must be worn at school.
• All people have a right to feel safe. Physical contact between students is forbidden.
• Students are not allowed to eat during class or drink/chew foods which the staff judge to be ‘unhealthy'. This includes not being allowed to chew gum.
• Students are expected to treat property and people with respect at all times.