Step 6: Communicate the plan
All students must be aware of and understand the school behaviour goals for
the year. Communicating the behaviour plan is crucial to student, parent and
staff understanding. Having the behavioural expectations clearly stated in
student-friendly language and posted throughout the school will help teachers
and other adults monitor for positive behaviour. These signs also serve as
friendly reminders to students and staff.
Making a plan
One school developed the following plan to communicate what the staff would
do to support positive behaviour over a period of a few months.
As a staff, we agree to take these steps:
| Right now |
- Be in the hall five minutes before class to greet each student as he
or she enters the classroom.
- Each week, learn the names of five students you don’t know.
- Stop by areas you don’t normally visit during your hallway supervision.
- Include an inspiring quote of the day in the morning announcements.
|
| Within the next few months |
- Use the moveable display boards to post photos and captions describing
positive school behaviour.
- Each week, make three phone calls to parents to deliver a positive
message about their child.
- Adjust the supervision schedule to increase the number of staff in
the cafeteria and gymnasium at noon hour.
- Continue to make positive remarks to students in various social settings
throughout the school.
|
| In the future |
- Get as many students as possible involved in the leadership club.
- Publish the criteria for year-end awards in the school newsletter.
- Increase staff availability to talk with students and/or parents before
classes begin in the morning.
|
Developing tools
Schools can use a number of different methods of communicating behavioural
expectations. For example:
- displaying posters throughout the school
- organizing assemblies where specific behaviours are modelled and recognized
- making announcements over the public address system
- sharing information through the school newsletter and the school council
- posting information on the school Web site.
One school developed the following charter and introduced it to parents by
sending home a copy of the charter with a letter and a quiz.
Project Respect Charter
Any School is a community of learners. We are all here to learn, grow and
become good citizens.
At Any School, we:
- respect ourselves
- respect others
- respect property.
Guiding principles
Project Respect is designed to help create a climate of cooperation,
respect, safety and academic excellence at Any School. Project Respect
is based on five guiding principles. We believe these principles will
help create a positive learning environment for all students.
The guiding principles are:
- Clear expectations for student behaviour.
- Clear and consistent strategies
for
- teaching appropriate behaviour
- encouraging appropriate behaviour
- discouraging inappropriate behaviour.
- A support system and individual
behaviour interventions for students with exceptional learning
and/or behavioural needs.
- Clear methods for evaluating and revising Project Respect.
- Clear and consistent communication with students and parents about
the characteristics and philosophy of the behaviour plan.
|
Sample letter to parents
Dear Parents:
Any School has always prided itself on being a safe and caring school
with a high level of respect among staff and students. Over the past
few years the student population has doubled. As a staff, we felt the
need to be proactive in establishing a behaviour plan that takes into
account our growth.
Since September, the school staff, with assistance from the University
of Anywhere, has been developing a school-wide behaviour plan called
Project Respect. This plan is designed to foster a climate of cooperation,
academic excellence, respect and safety at Any School.
Our plan makes use of effective instructional strategies, consistent
correction procedures, logical consequences and positive reinforcement
to teach students the skills and behaviour necessary to succeed now and
in the future. This month we are working on moving around the building
in a safe and respectful manner.
For the past week students have been learning about Project Respect.
We have encouraged them to discuss the plan with you. Please spend some
family time discussing the various aspects of Any School’s Behaviour
Plan with your child.
Once you have reviewed the information with your child, please test
your knowledge by taking the Parent/Child Test Your Knowledge survey.
After you test your knowledge, please sign the form indicating that you
discussed the plan with your child and return the signed form (one per
family) to your child’s teacher. The deadline for responding is Friday,
March 7.
We are also interested in any questions or comments you have about the
plan. |
Download sample family quiz
Communicating with students at monthly assemblies
We have assemblies once a month where a new theme is introduced and discussed.
Past themes have included Sportsmanship, Determination and Respect.
At the assembly, I give students general feedback, such as how the sportsmanship
on the soccer field has been great for the past week. We also have bulletin
boards throughout the school showcasing our theme of the month.
– Principal,
senior high school
Step 7: Implement, monitor and evaluate results of the action plan
Implement
Many schools begin focusing on positive behaviour on the very first day of
school. Then throughout the year they provide refresher sessions on behavioural
expectations and celebrate successes.
Schools that have successfully implemented a positive behaviour supports system
also use these strategies:
- providing orientation for new staff who arrive during the year, including
student teachers
- using staff development opportunities to help create a positive school
culture that is student-focused and supportive, and provides an optimal learning
environment
- analyzing data to see whether interventions are being used consistently
- analyzing data to identify interventions that are not working and need
to be changed
- offering staff ongoing professional development opportunities related to
needs identified through data analysis
- providing feedback to staff about how well their efforts and interventions
are working, including feedback about small successes that might have been
overlooked
- using data to develop future goals and ensure that current progress is
monitored and sustained.
Monitor and evaluate
Once staff have identified a few key goals to address, the school can set
up systems for monitoring results. For example: Are the steps we’re taking
to reduce the noise level in the hallways producing results? If not, try revising
the approach and re-evaluating at a later date.
Targeting specific expectations and gathering data about results in those
areas makes the process more explicit and measurable, and provides clear feedback
to staff.
