Leadership & Engagement

Leadership

A feature of our shared leadership structure is “student voice” and developing student leadership, which is an integral part in our School’s Business Plan.

We measure our success in this area by looking at the number of Year 6 students that aspire to be a student councillor. To become a student councillor is no mean feat with the process of nomination, presentation of credentials, public speaking and voting. Student councillors are voted in each semester and have multiple roles in our school, which include: presenting awards and reports at ‘Gatherings’, making announcements over the intercom, organising activities during recess and lunchtime for all students to participate in, fundraising, organising and monitoring sports equipment, assisting with athletics, meeting with the Principal regularly and often attending School Board meetings.

Our Year 6 students are always very enthusiastic about their final year in primary school and enjoy being involved in various activities including ‘Faction Captains or Vice-Captains’.

Throughout the year, all students are involved in a variety of fundraising activities to raise money towards their Year 6 Camp and Graduation Lunch. With their fantastic fundraising efforts the cohort are often able to pay for part of their camp fees and also subsidise their Graduation Lunch.

The Year 6 Leadership Camp comprises of a two night stay at Bickley Recreation Camp aimed to develop leadership skills. At this three day camp, students participate in raft making, wall climbing, team building activities, crate climbing, search and rescue, canoeing and the flying fox. We continue to be a minority in schools offering overnight camps, where the students create and cook the meals.

Positive Behaviour Support

Our Positive Behaviour Support approach is based on creating a common understanding of expected behaviours in our school and the community through the implementation of a PBS committee, which meets regularly to review and discuss ‘best practice’ in our school. The PBS approach we utilise is underpinned by our beliefs about developing a safe, supportive and positive learning environment, which caters to diversity and promotes inclusivity.

The school has defined expected behaviour through committee meetings, staff surveys, parent and community surveys and the implementation of whole school and classroom matrixes. All staff model ‘expected behaviour’ daily and explicitly teach behaviour skills through our four areas of foci; ‘Be Responsible, Be Respectful, Be Caring and Be Your Best’.

The school encourages ‘expected behaviour’ through positive reinforcement regularly e.g. instant praise, individual behaviour plans, faction points, honour certificates, Aussie of the Month awards, gold slips, gold slip draws each assembly for five student winners, midterm whole-school rewards/ incursions and end of term second chance draws for thirty winners.

Staff build positive relationships in the classroom and promote active participation through accountability, positive cohesiveness, active supervision, acknowledgement of expected behaviour through classroom routine and procedures. The school responds to misbehaviour using a calm, consistent, immediate, respectful approach and encourages parent and community support where ever possible.