Developing positive behaviours

A grade 6 teacher, who is also the co-ordinator of pastoral care at her school, accesses expert knowledge and research in order to develop and implement a school-wide approach to positive behaviours. Her approach has been to identify the most appropriate programs for her school, to assemble a team to receive training, and then to take what has been learned back to her school to provide collegiate training for the remainder of the staff. The provision of such training is only one part of the implementation at the school level, because the teacher is also concerned to ensure that what has been learned is consistently applied across the school for the benefit of students.

Dominic College is a Catholic, kindergarten to year 10, co-educational, independent school in Hobart. Within the school, the co-ordinator of pastoral care accesses programs at a state level that can be implemented to improve student behaviour and engagement locally. These local programs conform to the National Safe School Framework (2010) that has been endorsed by all ministers of education, and the KidsMatter Primary framework, which is an Australian primary schools mental health initiative.