Student Engagement and Wellbeing Policy

Help for non-English speakers

If you need help to understand this policy, please contact Donald Eddington, Principal. Non-English speakers can also access Google translate at the bottom of this web page.

As valuable partners in promoting and maintaining child safety and wellbeing at William Ruthven Primary School, we welcome and encourage your feedback. If you have any suggestions, comments or questions in relation to our child safe policies and practices, please contact the Principal, Donald Eddington via email, donald.eddington@education.vic.gov.au.

Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to ensure that all members (students, staff, parents and carers) of the William Ruthven Primary School community understand:

Our commitment to providing a safe and supportive learning environment for students.
Expectations for positive student behaviour.
Support available to students and families.
Our school’s policies and procedures for responding to inappropriate student behaviour.

William Ruthven Primary School is committed to providing a safe, secure and stimulating learning environment for all students. We understand that students reach their full potential only when they are happy, healthy and safe, and that a positive school culture, where student participation is encouraged and valued, helps to engage students and support them in their learning. Our school acknowledges that student wellbeing and student learning outcomes are closely linked.

The objective of this policy is to support our school to create and maintain a safe, supportive and inclusive school environment consistent with our school’s values.

Scope

This policy applies to all school activities, including camps and excursions.

School profile
School values, philosophy and vision
Wellbeing and engagement strategies
Identifying students in need of support
Student rights and responsibilities
Student behavioural expectations and management
Engaging with families
Evaluation

Policy

1. School profile

William Ruthven Primary School was established on the Merrilands Road site in 2012. It is located 12 kilometres north of Melbourne in the suburb of Reservoir.

Our focus is on providing an engaging and differentiated curriculum to our students. In addition to a focus on literacy, numeracy and social development, the curriculum features inquiry-based learning, and specialist classes in Science/Robotics, Physical Education, Visual Arts, Music, Problem solving and Auslan. There is annual celebration/awards night, as well an annual camp at Years 5 and 6.

The four-year School Strategic Plan is on the school website.

2. School values, philosophy and vision

William Ruthven Primary School’s Statement of Values and School Philosophy is integral to the work that we do and is the foundation of our school community. Students, staff and members of our school community are encouraged to live and demonstrate our core values of respect, inclusion, curiosity and excellence (doing your best) at every opportunity.

Our school’s vision is to empower students to reach their personal best, and fully equip them to contribute positively to society as happy, healthy young adults.

Our Statement of Values and School Philosophy is on the school’s website.

Our philosophy:

Every member of the school community has a right to participate in an educational environment that is safe, supportive and inclusive.

Our purpose:

William Ruthven Primary School’s mission is to foster a community that empowers everyone to be their best.

Our values:

Respect: Caring about other people, and treating others the way you would like to be treated. It includes integrity, consideration and honesty (wellbeing value).
Inclusion: Providing a safe, supportive and welcoming environment where all students have a sense of belonging. It includes kindness and acceptance (wellbeing value)
Curiosity: Providing a stimulating learning environment where students have a sense of wonder and an openness to learning. It aligns to our school motto of creating happy, curious and confident learners, and has ties to our STAR and inquiry programs (learning value).
Excellence (Doing your best): Doing and being YOUR best (as opposed to being THE best). It is about personal achievement and putting in effort for personal reward (learning value).

Our guiding principles

The school uses the Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships (RRRR) program to provide a flexible, whole-school approach to improving children’s mental health and wellbeing. This involves undertaking a process to plan and take action to promote a positive community; one that is founded on respectful relationships and a sense of belonging and inclusion. It promotes:

Social and emotional learning
Working authentically with parents, carers and families
Support for students who may be experiencing mental health difficulties
Smart, safe and responsible use of technologies.

An outline of the RRRR program is included at Appendix 1.

3. Wellbeing and engagement strategies

William Ruthven Primary School has developed a range of strategies to promote engagement, an inclusive and safe environment, positive behaviour and respectful relationships for all students in our school. We recognise the importance of student friendships and peer support in helping students feel safe and less isolated. We acknowledge that some students may need extra social, emotional or educational support at school, and that the needs of students will change over time as they grow and learn.

A summary of the universal (whole of school), targeted (year group specific) and individual engagement strategies used by our school is included below:

Universal

High and consistent expectations of all staff, students, parents and carers.
Prioritise positive relationships between staff and students, recognising the fundamental role this plays in building and sustaining student wellbeing.
Creating a culture that is inclusive, engaging and supportive and that embraces and celebrates diversity and empowers all students to participate and feel valued.
Welcoming all parents/carers and being responsive to them as partners in learning.
Analysing and being responsive to a range of school data such as attendance, attitudes to school survey, parent survey data, student management data and school level assessment data.
Teachers at William Ruthven Primary School use an instructional model to ensure an explicit, common and shared model of instruction to ensure that evidenced-based, high yield teaching practices are incorporated into all lessons.
Teachers at William Ruthven school adopt a broad range of teaching and assessment approaches to effectively respond to the diverse learning styles, strengths and needs of our students and follow the standards set by the Victorian Institute of Teaching.
Our school’s Statement of Values and School Philosophy are incorporated into our curriculum and promoted to students, staff and parents so that they are shared and celebrated as the foundation of our school community.
Carefully planned transition programs to support students moving into different stages of their schooling.
Positive behaviour and student achievement is acknowledged in the classroom, and formally in school assemblies and communication to parents/carers.
Monitor student attendance and implement attendance improvement strategies at a whole-school, cohort and individual level.
Students have opportunities to contribute to and provide feedback on decisions about school operations through the student representative council. Students are also encouraged to speak with their teachers, Year level leaders and members of the school’s Leadership Team whenever they have any questions or concerns.
All students are welcome to self-refer to Year level leaders and members of the school’s Leadership Team if they would like to discuss a particular issue or feel as though they may need support of any kind. We are proud to have an ‘open door’ policy where students and staff are partners in learning.
We engage in school wide positive behaviour support with our staff and students, which includes programs such as the Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships (RRRR) and Safe Schools programs.
Opportunities for student inclusion (i.e., sports teams, clubs, recess and lunchtime activities).
Buddy programs, peers support programs.
Measures are in place to empower our school community to identify, report and address inappropriate and harmful behaviours such as racism, homophobia and other forms of discrimination or harassment.

Targeted

Each year group has a Year Level Leader (a teacher responsible for their year) who monitors the health and wellbeing of students in their year, and acts as a point of contact for students who may need additional support.
Koorie students are supported to engage fully in their education, in a positive learning environment that understands and appreciates the strength of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture
Our English as a second language students are supported through our EAL program, and all cultural and linguistically diverse students are supported to feel safe and included in our school
We support learning and wellbeing outcomes of students from refugee background
We provide a positive and respectful learning environment for our students who identify as LGBTIQA+ and follow the Department’s policy on LGBTIQA+ Student Support
All students in Out of Home Care are supported in accordance with the Department’s policy on Supporting Students in Out-of-Home Care including being appointed a Learning Mentor, having an Individual Learning Plan and a Student Support Group (SSG) and being referred to Student Support Services for an Educational Needs Assessment
Students with a disability are supported to be able to engage fully in their learning and school activities in accordance with the Department’s policy on Students with Disability, such as through reasonable adjustments to support access to learning programs, consultation with families and where required, student support groups and individual education plans
Wellbeing and health staff will undertake health promotion and social skills development in response to needs identified by student wellbeing data, classroom teachers or other school staff.
Staff will apply a trauma-informed approach to working with students who have experienced trauma.
students enrolled under the Department’s international student program are supported in accordance with our legal obligations and Department policy and guidelines at: International Student Program.

Individual

as well as to other Department programs and services such as:

William Ruthven Primary School implements a range of strategies that support and promote individual engagement. These include:

Building constructive relationships with students at risk or students who are vulnerable due to complex individual circumstances.
Meeting with student and their parent/carer to talk about how best to help the student engage with school.
Developing an individual learning plan and/or a behaviour support plan.
Considering, if any, environmental changes need to be made, for example, changing the classroom set up.
Referring the student to:
- School-based wellbeing supports.
- Student Support Services.
- Appropriate external supports such as council-based youth and family services, other allied health professionals, headspace, child and adolescent mental health services or ChildFirst.
- Re-engagement programs such as Navigator.
Where necessary the school will support the student’s family to engage by:
- Being responsive and sensitive to changes in the student’s circumstances and health and wellbeing
- Collaborating, where appropriate and with the support of the student and their family, with any external allied health professionals, services or agencies that are supporting the student
- Monitoring individual student attendance and developing an Attendance Improvement Plans in collaboration with the student and their family
- Engaging with our regional Koorie Education Support Officers
- Running regular Student Support Group meetings for all students:
o With a disability.
o In Out of Home Care.
o With other complex needs that require ongoing support and monitoring.

4. Identifying students in need of extra support

William Ruthven Primary School is committed to providing the necessary support to ensure our students are supported intellectually, emotionally, and socially. The Student Wellbeing/Welfare leader plays a significant role in developing and implementing strategies help identify students in need of support and enhance student wellbeing. William Ruthven Primary School will utilise the following information and tools to identify students in need of extra emotional, social, or educational support:

Personal, health and learning information gathered upon enrolment and while the student is enrolled.
Attendance records.
Academic performance.
Observations by school staff such as changes in engagement, behaviour, self-care, social connectedness and motivation.
Attendance, detention and suspension data.
Engagement with families.
Self-referrals or referrals from peers.

5. Student rights and responsibilities

All members of our school community have a right to experience a safe and supportive school environment. We expect that all students, staff, parents and carers treat each other with respect and dignity. Our school’s Statement of Values highlights the rights and responsibilities of members of our community.

Students have the right to:

Participate fully in their education
Feel safe, secure and happy at school
Learn in an environment free from bullying, harassment, violence, racism, discrimination or intimidation
Express their ideas, feelings and concerns.

Students have the responsibility to:

Participate fully in their educational program
Display positive behaviours that demonstrate respect for themselves, their peers, their teachers and members of the school community
Respect the right of others to learn.

Students who may have a complaint or concern about something that has happened at school are encouraged to speak to their parents or carers and approach a trusted teacher or a member of the school leadership team. Further information about raising a complaint or concern is available in our Complaints Policy.

6. Student behavioural expectations and management

To realise our vision, William Ruthven Primary School has in place a range of strategies to promote engagement, positive behaviour and respectful relationships for all students in the school. We recognise that some students, as a group or as individuals, may require additional social, emotional or educational support to flourish at school, and so we will put in place strategies to identify these students and provide them with the support they need.

Behavioural expectations of students are grounded in our school’s Statement of Values and School Philosophy and Child Safety Code of Conduct.

Violence, bullying, and other offensive and harmful behaviours such as racism, harassment and discrimination will not be tolerated and will be managed in accordance with this policy. Bullying will be managed in accordance with our Bullying Prevention Policy.

When a student acts in breach of the behaviour standards of our school community, William Ruthven Primary School will institute a staged response, consistent with the Department’s policies on behaviour, discipline and student wellbeing and engagement. Where appropriate, parents will be informed about the inappropriate behaviour and the disciplinary action taken by teachers and other school staff.

Our school considers, explores and implement positive and non-punitive interventions to support student behaviour before considering disciplinary measures such as detention, withdrawal of privileges or withdrawal from class.

William Ruthven Primary School employs the Developmental Management Approach to student behaviour, which provides the pre-conditions for school effectiveness by creating the order necessary to permit learning to occur in classrooms. The Developmental Management Approach strives to make students responsible for their own pro-social and learning behaviour as well as that of their peers. It does this by highlighting students’ right to learn, teachers’ right to teach and students’ and teachers’ right to feel emotionally and physically safe and the associated responsibilities shared by all in the classroom. The Developmental Management Approach will be applied in a way that is proportionate to the behaviour and upholds procedural fairness. See Appendix 2.

Developmental Management strategies will include:

Students being made aware of the expectations for appropriate behaviour and how these are based on the rights of students to do their work without disruption, and for the teacher and students to feel safe physically and emotionally
Promoting both personal and communal responsibility
Acknowledging positive behaviours
Remaining calm when dealing with misbehaviour
Using a series of increasingly severe consequences for misbehaviour when students argue or repeat the misbehaviour
Exiting students from the room that continue to act inappropriately.

Shared behaviour expectations for students, parents/carers and school staff are reflective of the school’s values and are detailed in Appendix 3.

Disciplinary measures may be used as part of a staged response to inappropriate behaviour in combination with other engagement and support strategies to ensure that factors that may have contributed to the student’s behaviour are identified and addressed. Disciplinary measures at our school will be applied fairly and consistently. Students will always be provided with an opportunity to be heard.

Other disciplinary measures that may be applied include:

warning a student that their behaviour is inappropriate
teacher controlled consequences such as moving a student in a classroom or other reasonable and proportionate responses to misbehaviour
withdrawal of privileges
referral to the Year Level Coordinator
restorative practices
reflective time inside at recess and/or lunchtime
behaviour support and intervention meetings
suspension
expulsion.

Suspension, expulsion and restrictive interventions are measures of last resort and may only be used in situations consistent with Department policy, available at:

In line with Ministerial Order 1125, no student aged 8 or younger will be expelled without the approval of the Secretary of the Department of Education and Training.

The Principal of William Ruthven Primary School is responsible for ensuring all suspensions and expulsions are recorded on CASES21.

Corporal punishment is prohibited by law and will not be used in any circumstance at our school.

7. Engaging with families

William Ruthven Primary School values the input of parents and carers, and we will strive to support families to engage in their child’s learning and build their capacity as active learners. We aim to be partners in learning with parents and carers in our school community.

We work hard to create successful partnerships with parents and carers by:

Ensuring that all parents and carers have access to our school policies and procedures, available on our school website
Maintaining an open, respectful line of communication between parents, carers and staff, supported by our Communicating with School Staff Policy.
Providing Parent/carer volunteer opportunities so that families can contribute to school activities.
Involving families with homework and other curriculum-related activities.
Involving families in school decision making.
Coordinating resources and services from the community for families.
Including families in student support groups, and developing individual plans for students.

8. Evaluation

William Ruthven Primary School will collect data each year to understand the frequency and types of wellbeing issues that are experienced by our students so that we can measure the success or otherwise of our school-based strategies and identify emerging trends or needs.

Sources of data that will be assessed on an annual basis may include:

Attitudes to School Survey data
School level report data
Parent Opinion survey data
Data from case management work with students
Student forums
Student, staff and parent reports of incidents
The school’s Behaviour Incident Register.

William Ruthven Primary School will also regularly monitor available data dashboards to ensure any wellbeing or engagement issues are acted upon in a timely manner and any intervention occurs as soon as possible.

Communication

This policy will be communicated to our school community in the following ways:

Available publicly on our school’s website
Included in staff induction processes
Included as an annual reference in the school newsletter
Made available in hard copy from school administration upon request.

Our school will also ensure it follows the mandatory parent/carer notification requirements with respect to suspensions and expulsions outlined in the Department’s policies at:

Further information and resources

The following Department of Education and Training policies are relevant to this Student Engagement and Wellbeing Policy:

The following school policies are also relevant to this Student Wellbeing and Engagement Policy:

Policy review and approval

Policy last reviewed: April 2024
Consultation: School Council (15 April 2024)
Approved by: Principal
Next scheduled review date: April 2026

Appendix 1:
Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships

The Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships program is complemented the Department of Education's Catching On Early: Sexuality education program.

The Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships scope and sequence is:

Term 1: Topic 1: Emotional Literacy and Topic 2: Personal Strengths
Term 2: Topic 3: Positive Coping and Topic 4: Problem Solving
Term 3: Topic 5: Stress Management and Topic 6: Help Seeking
Term 4: Topic 7: Gender and Identity and Topic 8: Positive Gender Relationships

Term 4's Catching on Early lessons for each year level are:

Appendix 2:
William Ruthven PS Behaviour Management charts

Also see: Our Behaviour Management model.

Appendix 3:
Shared behaviour expectations

Students

Parents/Carers

Principals, Teachers & Education Support Staff

Engagement (Participation in the classroom and other school activities)

Demonstrate:

Preparedness to engage in and take full advantage of the school program.
Effort to do their very best.
Self-discipline to ensure a cooperative learning environment and model the school values (respect, inclusion, curiosity and excellence).
Teamwork.

Parents/Carers are expected to:

Promote positive outcomes by valuing the importance of education and liaising with the school on their child’s progress/needs
Support their child in their preparedness for the school day and in the provision of a supportive home environment
Monitor their child’s school involvement and progress and communicate with the school when necessary
Be supportive of school programs and actively participate in school events/parent groups

The school will:

Comply with its duty of care obligations and have a responsibility to provide an educational environment that can effectively engage all students.
Provide appropriate, relevant and challenging curriculum that gives students the opportunity to have input into their learning and experience success.

Attendance

All students are expected to:

Attend and be punctual for all timetabled classes every day that the school is open to students.
Be prepared to participate fully in lessons.
Bring a note from their parents/carers explaining an absence/lateness.

Parents/Carers are expected to:

Ensure that their child’s enrolment details are correct.
Ensure their child attends regularly.
Advise the school as soon as possible when a child is absent.
Account for all student absences.
Keep family holidays within scheduled school holidays.
Support their child’s learning during absences and work with the school to reintegrate students after long absences.

The school will:

Proactively promote regular attendance.
Mark rolls accurately twice a day.
Follow up on any unexplained absences promptly and consistently.
Identify trends via data analysis.
Report attendance data in the school’s annual report.
Support students whose attendance is problematic by developing ‘return to school’ plans and working with families to implement individual strategies.

Behaviour

Students are expected to:

Model the schools core values of respect, inclusion, curiosity and excellence.
Always treat others with respect.
Never physically or verbally abuse others.
Take responsibility for their behaviour and its impact on others.
Follow all reasonable requests of staff.
Respect the rights of others to learn. No student has the right to impact on the learning of others.
Respect the property of others.
Bring correct equipment to all classes.
Comply with the school’s policies and work with teachers and parents in developing strategies to improve outcomes.

Parents/Carers are expected to:

Have high expectations of their child’s behaviour and an understanding of the school’s behavioural expectations.
Communicate with the school regarding their child’s circumstances.
Cooperate with the school by assisting in the development and enforcement of strategies to address individual needs.

The school will:

Deliver an inclusive and comprehensive curriculum which promotes positive behaviours and emphasizes the wellbeing of every child.
The school will employ whole school and classroom practices to establish a climate in which appropriate behaviour is the norm for all students and focus on the implementation of preventative and early intervention strategies to deal with attendance and behavioural issues.
The school will consistently apply its Student Wellbeing and Engagement policy through a shared collegiate understanding and only exclude students in extreme circumstances.
The school recognises that for some students’ additional support may be needed in the form of staged responses and is committed to working with families to reintegrate students after exclusion.