Glenn Groves:
St. Albans Heights Primary School is a small primary school in the western suburbs of Melbourne. The majority of our families are from English as an additional language background, and we are in a low socio-economic area of Melbourne.
Effie Sultana:
When I arrived at the school, we had some behaviours amongst the students that were causing some concern and the staff needed support in how to manage with some of those behaviours.
Glenn Groves:
Students were getting into trouble but not knowing what was expected of them or how to act so they wouldn't be getting into trouble.
Effie Sultana:
So we looked at School-wide Positive Behaviour Support as a way that we could address these issues.
Glenn Groves:
And SWPBS is a way that you can teach students to show positive behaviours in a school and focus on rewarding those positive behaviours instead of focusing on punitive measures.
Laura Phillips:
If the student doesn't know how to read, we teach them. If they don’t know how to answer a maths problem, we teach them. But so often we just punish a student when they don't know how to behave. So, I think SWPBS has really taught us to teach the students and reteach the behaviour that we expect of them at school.
Harper:
At the start of each year, the teachers take all classes around the school and teach them the expectations for that area. If a student forgets that expectation, they are re-taught their expectation.
Laura Phillips:
Our values underpin SWPBS and our expectations are derived from our values.
Harper:
Our school values is honesty, excellence, respect and belonging.
Effie Sultana:
We are consistent with staff, students and our families in the language that we use when we communicate with our students and setting the same expectations across the school.
Harper:
If you are doing the right thing, you get rewarded with MVP cards, which you can spend at the MVP shop.
Effie Sultana:
Initially, staff were a little bit sceptical.
Glenn Groves:
But we made sure that the team became experts in whatever the implementation cycle was happening at the time. We were able to then show all the staff the data and say “This is working” and staff pretty much got on board with it from the start.
Effie Sultana:
People saw the benefits in their classroom. Staff felt more empowered.
Glenn Groves:
And we run meetings looking at data and making decisions on what needs to be changed to make positive outcomes for our students.
Effie Sultana:
So in our students attitudes to school data, we noticed a huge improvement in many of the areas.
Glenn Groves:
We had low 60% of students saying that they weren't bullied in the school four years ago, and last year the result was 92% of our students said they weren't being bullied in the school.
Effie Sultana:
One of the key features of that is actually including students in those discussions.
Laura Phillips:
I think the biggest thing is that teachers are able to understand the function of behaviours. So, identifying why a behaviour is occurring and potentially redirecting that behaviour before it escalates, and supporting that student to deal with that behaviour.
Glenn Groves:
I think the students are really showing more belonging in the school. They've got greater connections with staff. They are engaged in their learning.
Laura Phillips:
The difference that we're seeing in students’ behaviours and also teachers’ confidence to deal with undesired behaviours has grown substantially.
Glenn Groves:
Before SWPBS there wasn't a lot of consistency amongst staff of how to deal with different behaviours in the classroom.
Laura Phillips:
SWPBS has allowed more time to be focused on learning.
Glenn Groves:
It does work quickly.
Effie Sultana:
It’s been relatively easy to implement and once our students are safe and we have an orderly environment, then we know that learning can take place.
Laura Phillips:
We know that when students’ basic needs are met, they're able to excel in their learning and have greater opportunities for success.
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