Rooty Hill High School Behaviour Support and Management Plan
Overview
Rooty Hill High School is committed to a school culture where all adults model respectful, responsible, resilient and restorative behaviour (the 4Rs) and where all students have the opportunity to demonstrate the 4Rs and do their best (see School Plan and Purpose).
The culture and expectations of the school are underpinned by the school values – PERSIST.
The school provides universal, targeted and intensive strategies, programs, practices, and support that enable the school to have high expectations for students in their attendance, engagement, behaviour and academic progress.
Adults and students use the strategies and systems described in this plan to explicitly teach, learn, recognise and reinforce positive student behaviour and behavioural expectations through our mindsets, language, behaviour (conduct) to ensure we are:
• Respectful
• Responsible
• Restorative
• Resilient
Behaviour Code for Students
NSW public schools are committed to providing safe, supportive and responsive learning environments for everyone. We teach and model the behaviours we value in our students. The Department of Education’s Behaviour Code for Students can be found at https://education.nsw.gov.au/policylibrary/policies/pd-2006-0316-01
At this school, behavioural expectations are embedded in the following platforms:
• PERSIST values in action
• Choice Theory
• The Raising Responsibility Scheme
• Restorative Practice
• Resilience in our Teens (RIOT).
PERSIST- the school values
When students start at this school, when parents view the school’s website or Facebook page, when teachers issue reports and when students reflect on their behaviour, they do so using the school’s values. At enrolment students and parents learn about the school values and then in class students learn about the school’s values and learn how to demonstrate those values in their work, their behaviour, their relationships and their language.
In the table below please note each value has 3 parts:
1. The name of the value
2. The behavioural expectation statements
3. The evaluative question for checking behaviour
P PARTICIPATION & ENTHUSIASM
This school fosters enthusiasm and school spirit in an environment that values the participation of students, staff, parents and the wider community. Are you actively involved in the life of the school?
E EXCELLENCE
Students and adults who support them are expected to do their best to achieve excellence. Have you done your best?
R RESPECT & RESPONSIBILITY
Students are expected to respect the rights of others, themselves and the school in an environment of harmony and personal responsibility. Do you respect yourself, respect others and take responsibility for your own actions?
S SUCCESS
Students, staff and parents work towards quality, success and recognition for themselves and the school.
Can you evaluate your own performance?
I INNOVATION & CREATIVITY
Initiative and continuous improvement are expected for individuals, teams and the school. Can you find a better, smarter or more creative way?
S SAFETY
The school is committed to the safety and wellbeing of all members of the school community. Have you made sure you and others are safe?
T TEAMWORK & LEADERSHIP
Individuals work together to create a harmonious, tolerant and effective school community. Have you been an asset to the team?
Choice Theory and Raising Responsibility
The school community is committed to the development of respectful and responsible behaviour and positive relationships among students, and adults in the school and in the community.
This school’s practices integrate the application of values, procedures and behaviours using the principles and practices of Choice Theory, a system of thinking and behaving based on personal responsibility and the right of students to make choices. The key platforms used by the school are the seven key PERSIST questions, and the Raising Responsibility Scheme (see below).
This school community recognises the capacity of students to make decisions about their own lives.
In a Choice Theory school the following principles and practices are applied:
• All members of the school community are expected to be responsible for their own behaviour and everyone understands they cannot control the behaviour of others. They can only control their own behaviour by controlling what they choose to think, feel and do.
• Individuals work together to cooperate with, and operate from, an agreed set of values. At Rooty Hill High School, the school-community’s values are based on the school motto, PERSIST (see above). Respect and responsibility are expected from all students and the adults with whom they work.
• The adults working with students recognise that individuals choose to behave in ways that meet their own needs for survival, fun, freedom (choice), love & belonging or power (control & recognition). The adults in the school, and the agencies who support the school, work professionally to help students meet their needs in positive ways.
• The systems, practices and routines used in the school build on a core belief that adolescents want to have choice, influence and control in their lives. They want and need opportunities to exercise their rights, make choices and accept responsibility.
• The focus of resolution is on the future and on finding options and solutions for future action. Since 2022 this has included both a focus on “restorative practice” in resolving issues and building student resilience, where personal growth is enhanced by questioning, reflecting and acknowledging.
• Positive and negative behaviours are named as the basis for identifying opportunities for acknowledgement and change. The focus is on the application of the intrinsic values of recognition and consequence, not on external reward and punishment.
• Members of this school community are expected to acknowledge that conflict occurs. Both students and adults need to be able to manage themselves during conflicts and demonstrate respectful, resilient and restorative behaviours. Students, staff, parents and community members are expected to demonstrate positive, proactive behaviours in responding to and resolving conflict.
• Starting in Year 7 and continuing during their time at the school, students undertake a social curriculum in which they learn about key aspects of Choice Theory, resilient behaviour and restorative relationships. All new teachers undertake professional learning to be able to use Choice Theory, resilience strategies, and restorative practices with students.
The Raising Responsibility Scheme
• At Rooty Hill High School, the Raising Responsibility System (RRSdesigned by Marvin Marshall) is used to develop effective procedures and identify behaviour that is “above (or below) the line”. It is a powerful tool for implementing Choice Theory and helping students and adults to identify and make good decisions about their behaviour.
• In RRS discipline is defined as a quality held by students, staff and parents in managing their work, behaviour and lives. It is self-discipline. In RRS, it is the lack of discipline that leads to poor choices and negative consequences.
• The role of the teachers, students and adults is to develop procedures and systems to help all students demonstrate cooperative and democratic behaviour – doing the right thing. It is also the role of teachers and adults to act when students are bossing, bullying or unable to control their own behaviours (anarchy).
• Classroom procedures include the BBC (lesson outline tool), class rules, class meetings, faculty documentation and assignment rubrics. School procedures are outlined below.
Above the line behaviours include:
• Presenting quality work
• Working well in a team
• Acting co-operatively and accepting difference
• Kindness
• Respect for self and others
• Taking responsibility
Below the line behaviours include:
• Bullying, cyber-bullying
• Harming self or others
• Disrupting learning
• Not completing assignments
• Truancy
Restorative practice – the 4Rs - respect, responsibility, resilience and restoration in action
When there is conflict, this school has agreed practices to identify the problems and find solutions. Staff and students are encouraged to engage in a structured conversation that focuses on the 4Rs. This conversation is conducted to collaboratively identify the problem and then to create, agree upon and implement a behaviour plan and strategy. This conversation and behaviour support strategy is facilitated using the Reflect, Reframe and Plan template (see below).
The Reflect, Reframe and Plan template embeds core relational platforms of Rooty Hill High Schools including RRS, CT/RT questions, Restorative Practice thinking, and SALON (resilience) questioning. This template supports student agency and ownership of their current behaviour and future actions.
Resilience in Our Teens (RIOT)
Since the pandemic, a key need identified has been to develop resilience in our students and the adults with whom they work. The RIOT program is a wholeschool community approach to reduce anxiety and build resilience. The program uses evidence-based strategies to support students and teachers to identify key anxiety thought processes, such as cognitive distortions, and help students reframe unhelpful thought patterns. Resilience building activities help students develop the confidence to overcome stressful situations.
The program is based on three underlying principles:
First, by having an understanding of how anxiety develops, teachers and teacher aides can counter its progress.
Second, adults and peers can play a preventative role in stopping teenagers from worrying too much.
Third, there are practical steps to take to build resilience thinking in teenagers.
Attendance and Engagement
Regular attendance at school for every student is essential if students are to achieve their potential and increase their career and life options. Schools in partnerships with parents are responsible for promoting the regular attendance of students. While parents are legally responsible for the regular attendance of their children, school staff, as part of their duty of care, record and monitor part and whole day absences. Schools, in providing a caring teaching and learning environment, which addresses the learning and support needs of students, including those with additional learning and support needs or complex health conditions, foster students’ sense of wellbeing and belonging to the school community. For more information, please see Student Attendance in Government Schools website.
https://education.nsw.gov.au/policy-library/policies/pd-2005-0259
The school runs a number of curricula, co-curricular and extra curriculum programs that engage students. Each year group has the opportunity to participate in a range of year-based programs.
Mobile phones
At Rooty Hill High School mobile phones cannot be used on the school site in line with government policy.
While the school recognises that mobile phones have great utility, a large percentage of negative incidents reported are due to misuse of mobile phones
As a solution we have implemented a pouch program. The pouch program utilises a simple, secure pouch that stores a phone. Every Year 7 student and new enrolment will receive a pouch at no initial cost.
Students are expected to secure their phone in a personally assigned pouch when they arrive at school. Students will maintain possession of their phones and will not use them until their pouches are opened at the end of the school day. Students are required to bring their pouch to and from school each day and are responsible for their pouch at all times.
If a student misuses their phone, they know that the phone will be confiscated and will need to be collected by the student (Years 10-12) at the end of the
school day and by the parent (years 7-9) at the end of the school day or at a time negotiated with the school.
Student Agency
At this school student agency is a critical response to the demographics and characteristics of students at the school. We want students to see themselves as the drivers of their own learning progress in all aspects of their lives. We want to give students the opportunity to demonstrate skills, capabilities and dispositions beyond the traditional achievement seen in school reports.
We want students to recognise that what they know, do and understand has value in a wide range of contexts, including school, home and employment. We want to recognise progress and celebrate effort.
Parent/carer engagement and school community consultation
Rooty Hill High School partners with parents/carers in establishing expectations for parent engagement in developing and implementing student behaviour management strategies by:
• inviting parent and student feedback through formal and informal means, enrolment interviews, school surveys, parent meetings, return from suspension meetings and case conferences.
• using concerns raised through complaints procedures to review school systems, data and practices.
Rooty Hill High School communicates our values and expectations to parents/carers (see page 1) through enrolment interviews, parent teacher nights, year group handbooks, the school’s social media platforms, School Bytes, Missing Link and email.
Whole school approach using the NSW Department of Education (DoE) care continuum
The DoE care continuum includes interventions for:
• all students - creating a safe and respectful learning environment (universal).
• some students - providing early intervention and targeted support for students at risk of developing negative behaviours (targeted).
• a few students - supporting students with complex and challenging behaviour needs through intense, individual interventions (intensive).
At Rooty Hill High School, we provide this care for students through the delivery of programs, practices and services (interventions) by teachers, school staff, specialist staff and external agencies across the continuum.
Whole-school prevention (proactive) approaches establish and maintain safe, respectful learning environments for all students. These learning environments include classrooms, playgrounds, online and any other school endorsed events that encourage prosocial behaviour. These universal interventions underpin effective teaching, reinforce positive behaviours and, when applied consistently, reduce minor behaviours of concern
Audience
Prevention
The school’s cultural, instructional, behaviour and relationship platforms (outlined above on pages 1-6)
Prevention Social curriculum
Using strategies to promote positive, inclusive and safe behaviour including:
• modelling
• explicitly teaching
• recognising
• reinforcing positive behaviour Students Staff Families Community
To promote positive mental health, the social curriculum (delivered through PDHPE lessons) provides opportunities for students to learn about “Raising Responsibility,” “Choice Theory” and wellbeing. They focus on understanding their strengths; building high expectations and resilience; developing strong communication and problem-solving skills and the importance of positive relationships and strong connections to success at school.
At Rooty Hill High School each student:
All students
Prevention Personalised learning
Has a structured personalised learning program in which every student has a personal learning plan and opportunities to reflect on their goals, achievements and plans at least once per semester.
Is supported through individual monitoring of attendance, completion of work, behaviour in class and behaviour in the playground.
All students
Care Continuum Strategy or Program Details
Prevention / Early intervention Learning Centre/Senior Study
Prevention / Early intervention RIOT (Resilience in Our Teens)
Early intervention Attendance Team
Early intervention
DP/Faculty HT, Year Adviser wellbeing Monitoring card
Targeted intervention Learning Centre/Senior Study
Targeted intervention
Targeted programs: Confidence Club Volunteer program SSO
Individual intervention School-To-Work transitions and pathways programs
Individual intervention Year Based Intervention Programs
Individual intervention Senior Study
Audience
Universal support for student learning and wellbeing. All students
A school-wide program aimed at reducing anxiety and building resilience. All students
Targeted support for students with attendance concerns. Targeted students
Supporting students to take responsibility for their own choices.
Targeted support for student learning and wellbeing.
Targeted students
Targeted students
Targeting support for social-emotional wellbeing. Targeted students
Individualised support for students identified as potentially not meeting ROSA/HSC requirements
This program aims to support students in Years 8, 9 or 10 showing early signs of disengagement from school that have had between 2 to 4 suspensions. The aim is to increase stronger connections to school and learning and students are supported to build on personal and social capabilities
Senior Tutoring Sessions across KLAs, especially in Mathematics, English, Society and Culture, and Visual Arts. Year 12 major works coaching. Aims to empower students to successfully complete Preliminary and HSC
Targeted students
Targeted students
All students
Individual intervention MH1 program
Individual intervention Home School Liaison officer
courses, support student wellbeing, and prepare students for post-school pathways.
Intensive social-emotional and attendance support and through withdrawal space, dedicated teacher and SLSO, and programs addressing mental health and social wellbeing. Aims to encourage students with disrupted patterns of attendance and significant, diagnosed mental health conditions. Support for students demonstrating symptoms of significant mental health conditions. In-class support provided by SLSO to encourage full participation. Withdrawal support offered by SLSO and teacher to enable emotional regulation and satisfactory attendance.
To promote regular attendance at school.
Team Around a School is a coordinated system-wide approach that utilises the skills and expertise of specialist staff to support schools through a dedicated team.
Audience
Targetted students.
HT Learning Support, MH1 teacher, SSO, SLSO
Individual intervention Team Around a School
The Team Around a School works with the teaching and non-teaching staff within a school by:
• partnering with schools to provide additional targeted support to individual students
• assisting school teams to
Targetted students
Targetted students
Individual intervention
Learning Ground
Year Based Programs (details available from the school)
Your Town
improve student learning and wellbeing practices
• strengthening school and staff initiatives across the wellbeing continuum of care.
A behavioural change management program aimed to get students back on track.
Audience
Targetted students
Programs designed to meet the needs of each year group identified through student agency groups. All students
A transition program aimed at meeting the needs of students seeking to transition into employment or further study.
Targetted students
Planned responses to positive appropriate behaviour, inappropriate behaviour and behaviours of concern, including bullying and cyber-bullying
Prevention
Responses to recognise and reinforce positive, inclusive and safe behaviour
Structured lesson design, calm and engaged classroom
Teacher pre-corrections and re-directions
Positive teacher feedback & recognition
Quality Awards
Merit Awards
Early Intervention Responses to minor inappropriate behaviour
Structured lesson design, calm and engaged classroom
Teacher pre-corrections and re-directions
Above and below the line conversation
Restorative Practice conversation
Targeted/Individualised Responses to behaviours of concern
Structured lesson design, calm and engaged classroom
Teacher pre-corrections and redirections
Above and below the line conversation
Restorative Practice conversation
Reflection
Faculty monitoring card Parent meeting
Significant Achievement Parent meeting
Learning Support
Awards
PERSIST Awards
Student of the Term Award
Principals Award
Deputy Principal’s Most Improved Award
Attendance Certificates
RIOT
Year based wellbeing programs
Green Monitoring Card
Learning Support
Individual Learning Plan
Attendance monitoring
SLSOs
Individual Learning Plan
Risk Assessment / Behaviour Management Plan
Health Plan
Teacher Mentor
School psychologist / counsellor
Formal Caution
Suspension
Targeted wellbeing program
Team Around a School
Learning Grounds
Transition Programs
SSO
MH1 class
Responses to serious behaviours of concern
Personalised contact with caregivers and families
As part of enrolment practices and ongoing personalised learning, the school’s staff work with parents and students to identify students who are at risk of serious behaviours of concern, and, where those risks are identified puts in place support strategies that include additional classroom support, diversionary programs and personalised behaviour monitoring. These programs include contact and consultation with parents, and, where appropriate other agencies. School letter or warning
To support students at risk of repeated misbehaviour, the school, based on a decision by the senior executive staff may issue an initial letter of warning to
advise students and their families that the student is a risk of a formal caution or suspension.
Formal caution to suspend
The purpose of the formal caution to suspend is to provide a circuit breaker for the student to understand the impact of their behaviour/s of concern and engage them with positive behaviour supports. It is critical that this time is used by the school to implement any further supports or reasonable adjustments needed by the student. This may involve seeking assistance from external specialists or Delivery Support to provide further adjustments and tailor positive behaviour supports to engage the student with their learning.
Suspension
Suspension is the removal of a student from a school for a period of time. The purpose of the suspension is to allow the school to implement appropriate supports in the absence of the student to mitigate the unacceptable risks to health, safety, learning and wellbeing posed by the student’s complex and challenging behaviour. In some situations, after considering the relevant factors in this section, a principal may decide that a suspension is the most appropriate response. Suspension is not intended as a punishment. Suspension allows time for the school to plan appropriate support for the student to successfully reengage with learning at school.
Grounds for suspension
Principals may issue a suspension if they believe that a student’s behaviour of concern:
causes actual harm to any person; or
• poses an unacceptable risk to health and safety, learning, and/or the wellbeing of any person, including where such a risk is posed by:
• a student’s continuing, consistent, unproductive and disruptive behaviour that results in a detrimental impact on the educational interests of other students and all possible interventions and supports to redirect or minimise this behaviour have already been attempted.
• a student’s behaviour that causes damage to or the destruction or loss of property.
Principals can suspend a student engaging in behaviour or behaviours of concern on grounds that could include but are not limited to:
• continued/persistent disobedience and/or disruptive behaviour
• malicious damage to or theft of property
• verbal abuse
• bullying and cyberbullying
• misuse of technology
• discrimination, including that based on sex, race, religion, disability, sexual orientation or gender identity.
Due to the immediate and/or significant risk of harm to students or staff, it is important principals consider issuing an immediate suspension to any student who engages in serious behaviour or behaviours of concern that could include but are not limited to:
• being in possession of, uses or supplies tobacco, vaping devices, alcohol and e-cigarettes
• being in possession of, uses or supplies a suspected illegal/restricted substance
• being in possession of, or using weapons including knives (excluding Kirpans, in line with guidance set out in Legal Issues Bulletin 22 – Knives in schools) and firearms
• using an implement as a weapon
• seriously threatening or engaging in physically violent behaviour
• engaging in serious criminal behaviour related to the school
• engaging in sexual harassment, sexual assault or other sexualised behaviour that may pose a risk of or has caused physical, psychological or emotional harm to others. See definition.
Expulsion
Every child and young person has the right to receive an education of the highest quality. However, there may be some serious circumstances where risk management strategies and interventions, including suspensions, have not been successful in managing significant behaviours of concern, and a principal may consider expelling a student from their school. The process to expel a
student is initiated by the principal and the decision to expel must be made by both the principal and the Director, Educational Leadership.
There are 2 grounds on which to expel a student from a particular school: serious behaviour/s of concern where risk management strategies and interventions, including suspensions, have not been successful. (only for students over 17 years of age) unsatisfactory participation in learning, where:
• a student has received a minimum of 2 written ‘N’ warnings in the same course from the principal because they are at risk of receiving an ‘N’ determination (non-completion of course requirements for this course
• the unsatisfactory participation in learning has a negative impact on the learning and/or wellbeing of other students.
The NSW Department of Education Student Behaviour policy and Suspension and Expulsion procedures apply to all NSW public schools.
Responses to all behaviours of concern apply to student behaviour that occurs:
• at school
• on the way to and from school
• on school-endorsed activities that are off-site
• outside school hours and off school premises where there is a clear and close connection between the school and students’ conduct
• when using social media, mobile devices and/or other technology involving another student or staff member.
Reporting and recording behaviours of concern
Staff will comply with reporting and responding processes outlined in the:
Incident Notification and Response Policy
Incident Notification and Response Procedures
Student Behaviour policy and Suspension and Expulsion procedures
