Learning & Behaviour Management Procedures

Our Values  |  R.U.R.U

Respect

Unique

Resilience

Up to you

Class Plan

  • Discuss Ruru at beginning of each year

  • Introduce behaviour Peg Chart

  • Revisit expectations regularly

  • Use teaching unit to support this – ‘Ready to Play Unit’

  • Include Ruru values in everyday classroom language

  • Clear expectations and consequences

Peg Chart

Peg charts are to be displayed in a clearly visible and accessible part of the classroom. We expect positive behaviour and have high expectations of our students at each level. Children are to work hard at each stage and to be intrinsically motivated before they are progressed onto the next. As a guideline there should be approximately 2 or 3 children to reach outstanding each day.

Outstanding

Record students’ name (teachers discretion as to how this is to be recorded).  After being at Outstanding 5 recorded times, the student receives a certificate in assembly.

Role Model

Teacher to use specific positive praise and peg moves up.

Showing Pride

Teacher to use specific positive praise and peg moves up.

Ready to Learn

Begin each day with all pegs at this stage. Students’ peg can go below Ready to Learn when they are using disruptive and destructive behaviour. During this time students will need to reflect on their behaviour and their actions.

Teachers will use ‘Otaika Valley School Way’ before negative behaviour escalates and then to scaffold students to move back up to Green and beyond. If a students’ actions are extreme, teachers can use their discretion to move the pegs to necessary measures (logical consequences and parent contact). An example of this type of behaviour may be violence towards others (verbal or physical).

Think About It

  • Warning  |  Otaika Valley School  |  OVS way

  • Consistently Disruptive  |  Positive steps to be used before behaviour escalates

Logical Consequences

  • Warning time out  |  Loss of privilege

  • Such as continuing consistently disruptive or destructive behaviours

Parent Contact

  • Phone call home  |  Parent  |  Teacher  |  Student meeting

  • Remember to inform parents of a time to revisit the conversation and update each other

E-Tap: When and where?

  • Logical Consequences or Parental Contact depending on the situation

  • Teacher to use professional judgement and seek second opinion if unsure

  • E-Tap → Guidance → PB4L → Save

  • Issues of concern to be discussed at Friday morning meeting

Reminder

Energy flows where the attention goes

RURU Fun Day

Ruru slips (designed by the children) are kept in the duty bag and handed out by teachers during break times. This is our form of ‘Caught being good’. Children write their name on the back of these and how they were making good choices and place them into our Ruru kete. Each week at assembly these are read out and put into our school Ruru jar. When the jar is full the children are rewarded with a Ruru Fun Day (approximately once a term).

Trophies

R.U.R.U trophies – to be awarded in assembly each week. Children who are working within the expected behaviour zone (Showing Pride to Outstanding) can receive these awards. One junior (red trophy) and one senior (green trophy). A letter will be sent home to each child who has received the R.U.R.U trophy. Signed by teacher and Principal. Names and photos to be published on Skool Loop.

All staff need the confidence and strategies to deal quickly and effectively with inappropriate behaviour so it causes a minimum of disruption to the
class / school and gives the student the message that their behaviour is unacceptable and we expect positive behaviour from them (see below).

Staff school wide strategies to deal with difficult behaviours

  • Value restatement  |  ‘You know our Ruru values, follow them please. Thanks’

  • Question and Feedback  |   ‘What are you doing? No you’re not, you’re… Back to work please. Thanks’

  • Give a choice  |  ‘You can either do your work now without interrupting others or you can do it at morning tea – It’s your choice. You decide.’ Teacher turns away

  • Turn away after giving instruction, and ignore arguments and quickly move onto positive Ruru, etc. with other students

  • Positive described feedback, along with Ruru values, outweigh negatives by 4 to 1 at least

  • Give a choice to work with others or be removed from groups – isolation within the room

  • Do work within another room  |  work not completed  |  complete at morning tea/lunch for short period

  • The school can act strongly with the high end behaviours and firmly respond to parents that this is our proactive school-wide approach

  • RTLB referral to help behaviour

  • Letters for stand downs ready

Dealing with Bullying

Our aim at Otaika Valley School is to ensure that all students and staff are safe, healthy, happy and free from physical and psychological intimidation and harm. Therefore, it is the responsibility of all the school community to recognise bullying and to take action when they see it happening. Otaika Valley School will never tolerate bullying of any kind from its students or staff, whoever it is directed at. As much as it is
possible, we will ensure that all students have opportunities to develop positive social skills in order to prevent any bullying behaviour within the school.

Definition
Bullying occurs when a person or group is intimidated, humiliated, frightened, excluded, hurt or discomforted by a sustained pattern of behaviours directed at them by others.

Bullying is:

  • Physical bullying  |  When physical actions such as hitting, poking, tripping or pushing, are used to hurt and intimidate. Repeatedly and intentionally damaging someone’s belongings is also physical bullying.

  • Verbal bullying  |  Involves the use of negative words, like name calling, insults, homophobic or racist slurs, or words used to intentionally upset someone.

  • Social bullying  |  When lies, the spreading of rumours or nasty pranks are used. This includes repeated mimicking and deliberate exclusion.

  • Psychological bullying  |  Involves the repeated and intentional use of words or actions which can cause psychological harm. Examples include intimidation, manipulation and stalking. This also includes labeling students who report bullying as “Narks‟.

  • Cyber bullying  |   Is when technology is used to verbally, socially or psychologically bully. It can occur in chat rooms, on social networking sites, through emails or on mobile phones. Refer to the Digital Citizenship Policy, responsible use agreement and procedures for information on the school dealing with cyber-bullying and
    internet safety.

Bullying isn’t:

  • Mutual arguments and disagreements, or single episodes of social rejection or dislike, or acts of nastiness or spite, or random acts of aggression or intimidation.

Dealing with Incidents

  • Identify what happen

  • Allow time to hear student/parent concerns

  • Parents to allow time for school to check both or multiple versions of events and teachers observations

  • Contact parents when as full and accurate record of events is known (understand that sometimes it will not be clear)

  • Make decisions based on school wide PB4L procedures and seek input from key staff

  • Express relief that the bullying is now out in the open and can be dealt with

  • Support the victim

  • Record events in etap. Notify class teacher/DP/Principal as appropriate

  • The aim of any intervention must be to stop the immediate abuse

  • Avoid recriminations

  • Help the child who bullies change his or her behaviour

  • Make the peer group aware and ask them to help the victim if appropriate

Provide support for the victim

  • Ensure the victim has access to a bully free environment at all times

  • Use reliable peers, teacher aides, senior volunteers and others as supporters

  • Spend time with the isolated pupil if appropriate. This can only be a short-term measure, as most victims of bullying want to be with their peer group

  • Help the victim to act more decisively to increase their own confidence

Correcting bullying behaviour

Use small group or individual intervention programmes such as:

  • No Blame Approach (see Kia Kaha Programme)

  • It focuses on seeking the support of the peer group to solve the bullying problem

  • Refer to RTLB for intervention programmes

Working with students who continue to bully

  • Some pupils find it difficult to leave behind aggressive ways of relating to other pupils

  • The aggression may have been so reinforced that an ongoing programme aimed at developing social skills is necessary

  • Consider involving Youth and Families Services, Group Special Education, or other appropriate agencies

  • In cases of serious physical assault, involve your local police

Curriculum Action
All pupils in the school will need to have their awareness raised in a variety of ways. This can be:

  • Formalised within the curriculum, for example, the Police ‘Kia Kaha’ anti-bullying programme can be used at all levels of the school

  • Use in-class Social Skills resources (Alison Schroeder)

  • Use Feel Brave book series and website