All areas of Swayneville State School are teaching and learning environments. We consider behaviour management to be an opportunity for valuable social learning as well as a means of maximising the success of academic education programs.
Our Responsible Behaviour Plan outlines our system for facilitating positive behaviours, preventing problem behaviour and responding to unacceptable behaviours. Through our school plan shared expectations for student behaviour are plain to everyone, assisting Swayneville State School to create and maintain a positive and productive learning and teaching environment, where ALL school community members have clear and consistent expectations and understandings of their role in the educational process.
Our school fosters a warm, supportive environment where students can be happy and where optimal learning can take place. A major part of the teacher’s role is to ensure that children will learn and develop within their school environment by managing disruptive behaviour that hinders their success and enjoyment of learning. It is also expected that students will respect the teachers’ fundamental right to teach without disruptive behaviours hindering his/her success and enjoyment of teaching. We also acknowledge that if students are to become productive members of society, teachers must help them to develop responsibility for their actions by both teaching explicitly and practising problem solving skills.
The establishment of good discipline in our school depends upon both school personnel and parents working towards the same goals and insisting on acceptable standards of behaviour being maintained for the enhanced outcomes of our students and our school. Our strategy is grounded in the belief that the practices and behaviours of teachers and other adults within the school can, and do, influence student behaviours. The systems that constitute our strategy aim towards ensuring that staff practices include a range of approaches and are deliberately chosen in response to data based interpretations about the actual behaviours of students in the school.
An integral facet of Swayneville State School is the explicit teaching of expected behaviours. Our common values have been encapsulated in our school motto ‘As we grow we shall learn’. The school expectations based on these values are detailed across all school contexts within the Behaviour Expectations.
At Swayneville State School the Behaviour Expectations (rules) are:1. Be Safe2. Be Responsible3. Be Respectful4. Be a Learner
Our Positive Behaviours for Learning (PB4L) approach is also reflected in how Swayneville State School approaches recognition of individual effort and achievement.The full document - The Responsible Behaviour Plan - is available on the Forms and Document page.
Coming into a school, or moving on into High School can be a time of uncertainty for students and parents. Transition programs aim to build familiarity between the student and the school, but also the school and the student.
At Swayneville State School, we are aware that students grow up, not down - and that it takes time to get to learn each others ways, school expectations and routines. Swayneville has two transition programs.
The first program is for entry into Prep. In term four, students who are looking to enrol at Swayneville School are encouraged to bring Mum and Dad or Grandparents and spend some time with us. In term four, our future preps are invited to participate in three classroom based mornings (one morning per week), to meet their teaching team, learn where the essentials - eg. the toilets - are and join in some class based activities. Parents can meet the staff too, and join in a discussion regarding how they can participate in school life, etc. Even if only some of the mornings are accessed, it really helps to make everyone feel more comfortable with the change that is ahead. (NB: As prior to prep students are not fully enrolled, a carer needs to be on school grounds while they are. This is a Departmental requirement.)
The second program is for moving into High School. Most children from Swayneville State School choose to go to Sarina State High School, which also happens to be our nearest local secondary school. All primary schools within the area work closely with Sarina High, encouraging participation during orientation and enrolment meetings, and the three transitional days for experiencing life at High School while still supported by their primary classroom teacher / teaching team. These days are carefully constructed in conjunction with the High School so that students of our school are also meeting other students from similar sized schools, allowing connections to be made prior to the commencement of the new school year. Care is taken to share information and professional learnings between the schools.