At Avondale School, we believe that every child is a unique and special child of God, with innate worth and value. It is our desire to see every child flourish and succeed. An important contributor to a child’s success at Avondale is our Positive Behaviour Support Plan. This plan is founded on the premise that children succeed if they are equipped with the necessary skills. If a child doesn’t know how to tie their shoe laces, we teach them. If a child doesn’t know how to read, we teach them. If a child doesn’t know how to behave, we punish them? Traditionally, this has been the approach to behaviour management. But at Avondale, we have changed it to: If a child doesn’t know how to behave, we teach them. When a child exhibits challenging behaviour, it is often a signal that the expectations being placed on that child outstrip their skills. Traditionally, school behaviour management has been reactive, responding with a punishment, hoping that a child will learn from their mistakes. Our Positive Behaviour Support Plan takes a proactive stance in supporting positive behaviours and equipping students with the skills and attributes needed to behave appropriately.
We endeavour to create a culture of empathy and responsibility by using a Restorative Justice approach in responding to challenging student behaviour. This approach recognises that the best way to help students learn from a mistake is not to get rid of them, berate them, or put them in detention, but to have them make it right. Restorative practices take incidents that would otherwise result in punishment and create recognition of behaviours, an obligation to repair the harm they caused, and action steps in making the wrong right. Restorative practices are effective because they turn every conflict into a learning opportunity. It helps students develop empathy and take responsibility for their actions.
Our staff invest time in growing students through coaching conversations that help them develop empathy and take responsibility for their behaviour. They are intentional about teaching students the skills they need to be successful, but even more so, redirecting them when they make a mistake so they know what they should have done to be successful.
Click below to download the full Positive Behaviour Plan document.
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