Safe and Supportive Schools
Canberra public schools are committed to providing positive and engaging environments where young people feel connected, respected, achieve success and are fully engaged in education. To achieve this, the policy requires the school with the support of the whole school community have a responsibility to:
- build the self awareness, self management, social awareness and social management capabilities of students to engage in respectful relationships as well as applying restorative and disciplinary measures
- support teachers to meet the social and emotional needs of students in the school environment
- foster an engaging school environment
- consult the school community in the development of school processes and procedures
- ensure schools are organised in ways that provide a duty of care
- value diversity and promote positive social behaviour
- support students requiring intensive, individualised behavioural support in an appropriate and timely manner.
The policy at a glance
School communities will create a safe and supportive environment by:
- developing processes and procedures to address bullying and other forms of harassment and violence
- applying restorative and disciplinary measures
- developing processes for the use of protective action when a significant danger is present that may cause injury or harm to individuals
- developing Positive Behaviour Support Plans for students with complex and challenging behaviour, including behaviour which may result in injury to themselves or others.
The National Safe Schools Framework (NSSF) and the Safe and Supportive Schools policy and procedures provide specific guidance to schools. This guidance includes the need for school developed processes and procedures to address bullying, harassment and violence, designating specific staff to address issues of bullying, harassment and violence, directions on the use of physical handling of students and professional learning requirements for staff. Parents and carers can access further information about the NSSF at the Student Wellbeing Hub (https://studentwellbeinghub.edu.au/ ).
Social and Emotional Learning programs develop social skills and resiliency in students to enable them to thrive and lead fulfilling, productive and responsible lives. They allow explicit teaching of interpersonal and emotional regulation skills that underpin successful engagement in schooling.
Evaluation of the school’s safe, respectful and supportive environment is linked to the following domains in the National School Improvement Tool: School-Community Partnerships, Analysing and Discussing Data, Systematic Curriculum Delivery, Differentiated Teaching and Learning,
Targeted Use of School Resources, An Expert Team and A Culture That Promotes Learning. Schools can also use the Safe Schools Audit Tool to monitor the progress of their implementation of the National Safe Schools Framework domains. These two documents form a part of the school review process which schools participate in during a five year cycle.
An important theme both in the National Safe Schools Framework and the Safe and Supportive Schools policy and procedures is involvement of the whole school community. Involving parents, students and other organisations will increase innovative strategies and procedures, as well as promote communication and ownership of processes and procedures for all school community members.
More Information
Refer to the Safe and Supportive Schools Policy and Procedures www.education.act.gov.au
For more information contact the Safe and Supportive Schools Executive Officer 6207 0457 or ETDStudentWellbeing@act.gov.au