Behaviour Matrix

At St Joseph’s, we believe that positive behaviour is the key to creating safe, happy and productive learning and play environments. The children and staff work hard to create a positive culture that encourages respect, responsibility and kindness, both in and out of the classroom. We believe that by promoting positive behaviour, we can help our students to become happy, confident, and successful members of our community.

To promote positive behaviour, we have established a set of clear and consistent expectations that all students are expected to follow. These Learning Behaviours are displayed in all of our classrooms and shared areas. These expectations include things like being respectful to others, moving safely, and taking responsibility for our actions. By adhering to these expectations, students are able to create a positive and safe environment for themselves and others.

We also believe in the power of positive reinforcement. That's why we regularly recognize and reward positive behaviour at our school. Whether it's a simple "good job" from a teacher or a classroom award, we believe that positive reinforcement is a great way to encourage students to continue making good choices.

We all acknowledge that at times things don’t always go to plan and that children may deliberately or accidentally infringe on other children’s right to be safe, to be happy and to learn. To this end the staff and students have worked together to identify behaviours that fall below our expectations.  These behaviours have been categorised as Minor and Major. Minor behaviours would be dealt with in class and/or the yard. Major behaviours would involve school leadership and parents being informed. Basically, the difference between the two categories is that Majors have some intention to hurt someone physically or emotionally or deliberately cause interruption to lessons or games.

We had 20 parents at the PSA meeting last Tuesday provide feedback on this document and gain clarifications. I am sharing it with you now for your consideration and invite your feedback on the form below.

Finally, we know that promoting positive behaviour is a team effort. That's why we encourage parents and caregivers to support our efforts by reinforcing positive behaviour at home. By working together, we can help our students to become the best they can be.

School Arrival and Before School Care

Many children are arriving at school well before 8:30 am when our school gates open. Some of these children are being dropped off in the loop and others are making their way into the school grounds via the Russells Creek path.  Please ensure that your child does not arrive before 8:30 am so that we can be confident that everyone is safe and supervised.

We are making enquiries with our After School Care provider about the provision of Before School Care to support families for whom an 8:30 am drop off is difficult.  We will survey families to garner interest in Before School Care in a subsequent newsletter when we have some details.

Staff Professional Development Day

Yesterday our staff worked with Danielle Buzaglo (Educational Psychologist), Rebecca Free (Speech Pathologist) and Kate Sadler Learning Diversity Officer to further our shared understanding of the strengths and needs of children with specific learning disorders and/or developmental language disorders. We examined strategies to support these children in the classroom and explored interventions beyond the classroom. One of the take away messages from the day is that the strategies that support children with particular needs actually support all students.

Invitation to Friday Liturgy

This Friday 24th February we will be officially launching our new school prayer. Everyone is invited to this liturgy which takes place at our usual assembly time of 2:45 pm.

Regards
Matthew O'Brien, Principal