Our positive school culture is predicated on continually improving as a learning community, with the implementation of positive behaviour support and engagement strategies that enable improved student learning outcomes and enhance student health and wellbeing.
Opportunities that contribute to the school and effectively engage students in their learning include:
- pro-social behaviours which are promoted through programs such as: sports, art, cooking, gardening, science and music, dance and drama.
- student leadership programs such as: Junior School Council as well as other roles of responsibility for students to influence change within the school community.
- proactively engaging families to be involved in the school’s programs and community events.
- intervening early to identify and respond to student needs for social, emotional and behavioural support.
- students being engaged and feeling connected to the school community.
- recognising and responding to the diverse needs of our students.
- developing intensive literacy and numeracy improvement strategies and implementing such strategies as part of the school improvement agenda.
- attending professional learning to ensure strategies and approaches are adopted and implemented.
School agreements
Six school agreements are implemented across the school community to promote pro-social behaviour and complement the school’s values of respect, courage and empathy. The key focus is on rewarding effort, with teacher talk to develop student understanding. A visual chart that is displayed in every classroom enables students to manage their behaviour and make appropriate choices with the help of their teacher. The class tracking chart is also used in specialist programs.
In all classrooms these are linked to personal and communal responsibility within and outside the classroom. These six school agreements are underpinned by effort to learning and behavior being noticed and rewarded by staff.
- Hands, feet and objects to yourself.
- Listen and participate attentively.
- Follow directions the first time.
- Be in the right place at the right time.
- Be safe, kind and honest.
- Persist with learning tasks.
Three Step Telling
Students are actively encouraged to use this strategy to manage themselves in difficult situations. By making the situation better, students are empowered to make good choices.
- Stop it and I don’t like it (Name the person and the behavior) – Hands signed and move away.
- Stop it or I’ll tell an adult or teacher.
- I’m telling the adult or teacher now.
Restorative practice
Restorative practice in an approach to dealing with inappropriate behaviour that empowers students to take responsibility for their behaviour and take action to repair any harm. At Fitzroy Primary School, restorative practice is used as a strategy for maintaining healthy relationships and to repair relationships that may have been damaged by making the situation worse. Students are supported by teachers throughout the restorative process and over time, independently use the techniques to maintain healthy and respectful relationships.
Respectful Relationships
Respectful Relationships promotes and models respect, positive attitudes and behaviours. It teaches our children how to build healthy relationships, resilience and confidence. We use the Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships learning materials to explicitly teach social and emotional learning and positive social interactions in the classroom. This learning ties in with the Health and Physical Education, Critical and Creative Thinking and Personal and Social Capability areas of the Victorian Curriculum.