The vision of the School Wide Positive Behaviour Support at St Helena Secondary College is to create a positive climate for learning that enhances our school culture where we maximise individual academic and social growth.
At St Helena we promote the college values of respect, responsibility and personal best through a lens of positivity and resilience.
Respect
"for self, others and the college"
Responsibility
"for our actions"
Personal Best
"in all we do"
What SWPBS looks like at St Helena
- Our clear set of positive behaviour expectations are visible on our SWPBS Matrix. These expectations have been developed around our key school values of respect, responsibility and personal best.
- The positive behaviour expectations from the matrix are explicitly taught and encouraged throughout all classes, in all settings of the college and during our Strive program.
- The positive behaviour expectations matrix is visible in all settings of St Helena Secondary College, and you can identify these expectations upon entering the college grounds.
- Students and staff can state our behavioural expectations.
- Students are acknowledged with merits for demonstrating these positive behaviour expectations.
- Students can view their positive behaviour merits and then exchange them for items from our Merit Emporium.
- A SWPBS Team is in place that includes a member of the principal team. This team meets fortnightly to implement support for our students.
- Data is collected, analysed and used by the SWPBS Team to make decisions to support our students.
- All staff members are involved in professional development around SWPBS implementation.
- Families are actively included in supporting the SWPBS framework.
Positive Behaviour Expectations Matrix
The Behaviour Expectation Matrix translates St Helena’s three college values into expected behaviours. The matrix clarifies what our behaviours should look, sound and feel like.
Our expected behaviours are explicitly taught in every classroom, every setting, within our Strive program and are consistently reinforced throughout the school.
Our matrixes are displayed and positioned in many locations around the school including every single classroom and they are referred to and discussed regularly with all students at St Helena.
Positive Behaviour Expectations
Multi-Tiered System of Support
At St Helena Secondary College, we have implemented Tier 1 Supports, which are College wide, including our responses to misbehaviours, our Positive Behaviour merit Awards, and our School wide positive behaviours matrix.
We also utilise Tier 2 supports for selected students, which include Check-In, Check-Out books, as well as Tier 3 supports that include Functional Behaviour Assessments and support from external resources.
As a College we collect data on all Tier 1, 2 and 3 supports, to identify the needs of our staff and students to continue to create a learning environment that allows our students to positively engage with their learning and continue to make positive behavioural choices.
Teaching Our Expected Behaviours
Explicitly teaching our behavioural expectations and acknowledging students for demonstrating them is key to our success. This enables us to create a positive climate for learning and it enables students to dare to be excellent.
We also understand that social competence needs to be taught just like academics.
When we teach our expected behaviours:
- At the beginning of the school year.
- Throughout all lessons where required
- Embedded in our Strive curriculum
- Before times when problem behaviours tend to increase.
- Ongoing throughout the year (all day, every day)
- Booster lessons based on data
How we teach our expected behaviours:
- We introduce the expected behaviour
- We state the rationale for the expectation and why it is important
- We demonstrate and model the expectation
- We practice – role play expected behaviours in the relevant setting.
- We monitor – by reminding students, supervising them and providing positive feedback
- We reteach if required and practice throughout the day
For our VCE students, quite often this only involves reminders, supervision and feedback.
Where we teach our expected behaviours:
- In every classroom throughout the school.
- Everywhere in the school
- It is embedded in all school activities.
Who teaches our expected behaviours:
- All staff members, not just classroom teachers.
Acknowledgement of Positive Behaviour Expectations
When our students demonstrate our school wide positive behaviour expectations, staff will verbally acknowledge this behaviour and then follow our college wide acknowledgement system. This includes the use of Compass Positive Behaviour Merits and Acknowledgement Cards.
Compass Positive Behaviour Merits
Staff at St Helena Secondary College acknowledge and recognise the positive behaviours of our students by creating a positive behaviour merit post on the student’s Compass profile. The student and family receive an email and a printout of the merit.
How it works
- The staff member catches the student demonstrating positive behaviour and explicitly identifies the behaviour, the college value demonstrated, and then acknowledgement is provided to the student.
- The staff member logs a Positive Behaviour Merit on Compass for catching the student demonstrating the positive behaviour.
- The student continues to tally up positive behaviour merits on Compass. One point is also allocated to their House and contributes towards the House System.
- Students can view their yearly positive behaviour merit total.
- At regular intervals throughout the school year the student can exchange their merits for items from the St Helena Merit Emporium.