NSW Department of Education
Dundurrabin Public School Behaviour Support and Management Plan
Overview
Dundurrabin Public School is committed to explicitly teaching and modelling positive behaviour and to supporting all students to be engaged with their learning.
Our goal is to inspire every child to participate positively in society. We focus on promoting excellence, opportunity and success for every student, every day. We value and strive to develop safe, respectful learners in a caring learning community.
Principles of positive behaviour support, trauma-informed practice, inclusive practice and social emotional learning underpin our daily practice. High expectations for student behaviour are established and maintained through effective role modelling, explicit teaching, and planned responses.
To achieve our vision, key programs prioritised and valued by the school community are:
Second Step- Social Emotional Learning Curriculum
Dundurrabin Public School rejects all forms of bullying behaviours, including cyberbullying by maintaining a commitment to providing a safe, inclusive, and respectful learning community that promotes student wellbeing. Staff are committed to establishing evidence-based approaches and strategies that promote a positive climate where bullying is less likely to occur.
All members of the school community are active participants in building a welcoming school culture that values diversity and fosters positive relationships. A key component of a supportive school culture is building respectful relationships and an ethos that bullying is not accepted, in both online and offline environments. School staff actively respond to student bullying behaviour.
Partnership with parents and carers
Dundurrabin Public School will partner with parents/carers in establishing expectations for engagement in developing and implementing student behaviour management and bullying strategies, by:
inviting parent/carer and student feedback through formal and informal means such as school surveys and consulting with the P & C.
Dundurrabin Public School will communicate these expectations to parents/carers through the school newsletter and at school assemblies. Our school proactively builds collaborative relationships with families and communities to create a shared understanding of how to support student learning, safety and wellbeing.
School-wide expectations and rules
Dundurrabin Public School has the following school-wide rules and expectations:
To be safe, respectful learners.
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.
Dundurrabin Public School takes strong action in response to behaviour that is detrimental to self or others or to the achievement of high-quality teaching and learning. See the Behaviour Code for Students for more details.
Whole school approach across the care continuum
Our school embeds student wellbeing and positive behaviour approaches and strategies in practices across the care continuum to promote positive behaviour and respond to behaviours of concern, including bullying and cyberbullying behaviour.
These approaches and strategies are built on a foundation of evidence-based effective classroom practices that set the tone for engagement with learning and respectful relationships. These practices include:
stating and explicitly teaching classroom expectations
establishing predictable routines and procedures that are communicated clearly to students
encouraging expected behaviour with positive feedback and reinforcement
discouraging inappropriate behaviour
providing active supervision of students
maximising opportunities for active engagement with learning
providing carefully sequenced engaging lessons that provide options for student choice
differentiating learning content and tasks to meet the needs of all students.
Care Continuum
Strategy or Program
Details
Audience
Prevention
Daily Breakfast
School led breakfast club program that provides access to a free healthy breakfast and builds strong student-teacher connections.
Staff, students K - 6
Prevention
National Day of Action Against Bullying and Violence (NDA)
Our school participates in the annual National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence (NDA) - in August each year.
Staff & students
Prevention / Early intervention / Targeted / Individual
Australian eSafety Commissioner Toolkit for Schools to prevent and respond to cyberbullying
The toolkit supports our school to prepare, engage and educate the school community about creating and maintaining safe online environments to prevent cyberbullying incidents.
All students, individual students K - 6, families, staff
Prevention
Second Step Education Program
Second Step programs help students build social-emotional skills—like nurturing positive relationships, managing emotions, and meeting goals—so they can thrive in school and in life.
Students K-6
Prevention
Second Step Bullying Prevention Program
Second Step Bullying Prevention Unit teaches students how to recognise, report, and refuse bullying.
Students K-6
Prevention
Rock and Water
Rock and Water teaches young people how to develop self-awareness, self-confidence and social skills through physical and emotional exercises.
Students K-6
Targeted intervention
Attendance support
The principal will convene a planning meeting with students, families and teachers to address barriers to improved attendance and set growth goals.
Individual students, principal
Targeted / individual intervention
School learning and support
Provides support for students who need personalised learning and support.
Principal, individual students K - 6, families
Individual intervention
Individual Behaviour Support Planning
Planning is done in collaboration with the student and their family with support from Team Around a School where needed. This can include individual behaviour support and risk management plans.
Individual students, staff
Planned responses to positive appropriate behaviour, inappropriate behaviour and behaviours of concern, including bullying and cyber-bullying
Identifying behaviour of concern, including bullying and cyberbullying
A behaviour of concern is challenging, complex or unsafe behaviour that requires more persistent and intensive interventions. A behaviour of concern does not include low-level inappropriate or developmentally appropriate behaviour. Bullying behaviour involves the intentional misuse of power in a relationship, is ongoing and repeated and involves behaviour that can cause harm.
Dundurrabin Public School staff will identify inappropriate behaviour and behaviours of concern, including bullying and cyber-bullying through a range of channels, for example:
directly observing a child or young person’s behaviours, interactions, verbal communications, or work produced (such as written materials, performances or artworks)
a person disclosing information that is not previously known, either because it is new information or because it has been kept a secret
concerns raised by a parent, community member or agency.
Students or parents can report bullying to any staff member. NSW public school principals have the authority to take disciplinary action to address student behaviours that occur outside of school hours or school grounds, including cyberbullying. Students who have been bullied will be offered appropriate support, for example through their year advisor or school counselling service.
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.
Preventing and responding to behaviours of concern
Dundurrabin Public School uses the following strategies to recognise and reinforce positive student behaviour and behavioural expectations:
The use of verbal and non-verbal specific positive feedback is the most powerful way to:
help adults and learners to focus on positive social behaviour
increase the likelihood that students will use the expected behaviours and skills in the future
decrease unexpected behaviour and reduce the need for corrective responses
enhance self-esteem and build an internal focus of control.
Specific positive feedback may not be sufficiently reinforcing for some students, so the school-wide continuum provides the opportunity to pair verbal or non-verbal feedback with a positive, tangible consequence.
The school-wide continuum for acknowledging expected behaviour includes:
free and frequent – for everyday use by all staff in all settings
moderate and intermittent – awarded occasionally
significant and infrequent –semester or annual types of recognition.
Prevention
Responses to recognise and reinforce positive, inclusive and safe behaviour
Early Intervention
Responses to minor inappropriate behaviour.
Targeted/Individualised
Responses to behaviours of concern.
Behaviour expectations are taught and referred to regularly.
Staff model behaviours and provide opportunities for practice.
Students are acknowledged for meeting school-wide expectations and rules.
Refer to school-wide expectations and/or emotional regulation visuals and/or supports so that the student can self-regulate.
Seek help from principal or other staff member if there is a risk to safety. Otherwise notify principal ASAP.
Verbal and non-verbal specific positive feedback is regularly provided and can be paired with a positive, tangible reinforcer in a school-wide continuum for acknowledging expected behaviour.
Use indirect responses including proximity, signals, non-verbal cues, ignore, attend, praise, redirect with specific corrective feedback
2. Principal/CT to take immediate steps to restore safety and return the situation to calm by using appropriate strategies such as: redirecting to another area or activity, providing reassurance or offering choices.
Incident review and planning is scheduled for a later time determined by the context and nature of the incident.
3. Tangible reinforcers include those that are:
free and frequent
moderate and intermittent
significant and infrequent
Intermittent and infrequent reinforcers are recorded on the centralised recording system.
Use direct responses e.g. Rule reminder, re-teach, provide choice, scripted interventions, student conference. Students have an opportunity to meet the classroom/playground behaviour expectation before a low-level consequence is applied.
3. Principal collects information and review the incident from multiple perspectives and determine next steps. Principal records the incident on the centralised recording system and contact parent/carer by email or phone. Principal may consider further action eg: formal caution/suspension.
4. All social-emotional learning programs (Second Step) are taught weekly.
4. Teacher records on the centralised recording system by the end of the school day. Monitor and inform family if repeated.
4. Refer to the school’s Learning and Support Team or APLaS considering current and previous behaviour data. Other actions may include developing a behaviour support/response plan and/or completing a risk assessment.
Teacher/parent contact
Teacher/parent contact
Teacher/parent contact
Teacher contact through the parent portal or phone calls home are used to communicate student effort to meet expectations.
Teacher contacts parents by phone or email when a range of corrective responses have not been successful.
In some cases, individual planning and referral to LST may be discussed.
Principal contacts parent/carer to discuss any support and behaviour responses, including referral to the LST, outside agencies or Team Around a School.
Responses to serious behaviours of concern
Responses, including students who display serious behaviours of concern, are recorded in the centralised recording system. These may include:
review and document incident
determine appropriate response/s, including supports for staff or other students impacted
refer/monitor the student through the school learning and support team
develop or review individual student support planning, including teaching positive replacement behaviour and making learning and environmental adjustments
reflection and restorative practices (listed below)
liaise with Team Around a School for additional support or advice
communication and collaboration with parents/carers (phone, email, parent portal, meeting)
formal caution to suspend, suspension or expulsion.
The NSW Department of Education Student Behaviour policy and Suspension and Expulsion Procedures apply to all NSW public schools.
Reporting and recording behaviours of concern
Staff will comply with reporting and responding processes outlined in the:
Incident Notification and Response policy and Incident Notification and Response Procedures
Student Behaviour policy and procedures
If a behaviour of concern is also a child protection matter use the Mandatory Reporting Guideline Tool.
Students and/or parents/carers can report cyberbullying to the eSafety Commissioner and reporting links for most sites, games and apps can be found at the eSafety Guide.
Reflection practices
Toilet and food breaks are always included when withdrawal from free choice play at either break is planned as a response to behaviour.
Action
When and how long?
Who coordinates?
How are these recorded?
Reflection conversation (problem-solving) – What happened, what did you do, and what could you do instead next time.
Class time and break times as required
Teacher/ principal
Documented in school record system
Review dates
Last review date: 20 November 2024
Next review date: November 2025