Kia ora tatou

Where do the weeks go? It is crazy to think that we are already near the end of Term 2!

Highfield students and teachers are busy preparing for our conferencing, which takes place next Wednesday and Thursday. It is really important for our tamariki that you attend these conferences as it is the basis of our report writing. During the meeting you will see the most current data and enable you to look at the tracking and talk about progress. Your children will be a vital cog in this process and will get to listen and comment during the discussion. There will be a take home component of the report that will have a reflection on the school values, a general comment and targets from Term 1 and Term 2. Highfield feels that this personal conversation will be more valuable than a full written report, as the information is live and up to date. Please make time to book and attend.

Our house system is a major part of our school and on the last Wednesday of term all tamariki will walk up to Aorangi turf and stadium to compete in a house hockey round robin tournament. This will take place from 12.30 - 2.30pm. It will be great to get your support and please shout out if you are able to help walk 285 students!

I am pleased to announce that due to our current roll growth in our Year 1 and Year 2 numbers we have been lucky to employ Philip Barnett. Philip is currently at Upper Hutt School. He has been teaching for 5 years and for the last 4 years he has focused on Year 1 - 4. His curriculum strengths are Literacy, Numeracy, Health and Physical Education. Philip is due to start early Term 3 and will work alongside Danielle Young and Renee Leonard.

A huge thank you for your support in advance of our TOD on Friday 9th July. The morning will consist of all staff including support staff moderating school writing samples and analysing current school data. Teams will then spend the afternoon planning for Term 3. Thanks once again.

Please take time to read our ‘What is Positive Behaviour for Learning at Highfield’ below. It is full of important information and gives you guidance on how we implement it here at Highfield.

Nga mihi

Stu

What is Positive Behaviour for Learning (PB4L) at Highfield?

As parents/caregivers and teachers, we often assume that kids know what’s expected of them and how to behave. When they don’t, we notice and we react. When they do behave, we might sometimes notice, but do we say anything to them? To our children, it can all seem a bit random.

PB4L School-Wide takes the random out of it. When your students are in school, no matter who is teaching them or where they are in the school, they will know what behaviour is expected of them. They will feel supported to get it right and they will be acknowledged when they do.

What is PB4L School-wide?

PB4L helps Highfield build an environment that encourages and supports positive behaviour and discourages bullying.

So, what does Highfield do?

• Information gathering - Highfield gather information about behaviour incidents in the school and have a school wide team that work together to analyse the data and look for the common behaviours.

• Behaviour expectations - Our Highfield staff work together with the students to identify the behaviour expectations at our school and create a behaviour matrix together. This helps to show Highfield’s expectations in every part of the school. Every young person will know clearly what’s expected of them and teachers and students can refer back to it.

• Teaching behaviours - Highfield has a teacher and student PB4L Team that work together to identify common behaviours and create lessons that incorporate our school values and these are taught during class lessons.

• Recognising positive behaviour - Highfield uses a gotcha system that acknowledges when our students show our Highfield School Values. These rewards are a crucial part of our Positive Behaviour Plan. We want to reward our students when we observe our school values.

• Our current data for this term shows:

87% of school have received 20 gotchas - increase of 25% from last term

32% of school have received 40 gotchas - increase of 17% from last term

7% of school have received 60 gotchas - increase of 6% from last term

1.05% of school have received 80 gotchas - increase of 1% from last term

• Responding to unwanted behaviour - There will be consistent, fair and equitable consequences when your child doesn’t get it right and they will be re-taught the expectations. We believe in restorative rather than punitive.

If a student is still experiencing challenges with their behaviour, Highfield will look at supports at the next level. We will look at what might be behind the behaviours and provide more support such as social clubs, mentors or behaviour plans.

How can you be involved?

• Look for regular updates in the school newsletter about what is happening school-wide.

• Look at becoming a parent representative on the Home and School or the Highfield School Board

• Take any opportunity to provide your input into the values of the school

• Can you provide rewards, incentives or suggestions of how to praise the students? eg products from a local business

• Take an interest in what your child is learning at school

• Give feedback from any surveys or information the school shares with you.

What can you do at home?

• Take part in a parent workshop about PB4L and behaviour

• Talk with your family about what the school values look like at home

• Recognise praise and encourage your children when they show these behaviours at home

• Tell the teacher and school about any changes you see in your child/ren.

Basic PB4L behaviour principles:

Positive behaviour can be taught…

One of the main traps adults fall into when responding to behaviour in children and young people is that we assume they know how to behave. The truth is, they don’t. They need adults to:

• Clearly communicate what we want to see

• Recognise them when they get it right, with encouragement, praise and rewards

• Teach them how to do what is expected of them, tell, show, model, practice, be creative and have fun

• Use their getting it wrong as an opportunity to re-teach them and support them to get it right.

Please remember that behaviour is a form of communication - it is really important for us all to find the why of the behaviour.

If we understand what a child is trying to communicate, we can teach them a different, more positive way.

If we can anticipate what our children need, then we can eliminate the need for the behaviour altogether.