Responsible Behaviour Plan for Students
based on Education Queenland's Code of School Behaviour

Mountain Creek State High School provides a supportive school environment that has, as its foundation, a whole of school student management framework.

This framework outlines the student management framework, upon which the Administration Team and Sub-School Staff develop their strategies, in order to maintain the school philosophy and expectations of the community.

The school has made a determined and very definite move away from a referral based approach for the management of students toward a highly organised proactive approach which ensures that the best quality education services are provided for the students. Teachers are provided with a range of options and support mechanisms upon which to draw to ensure a supportive learning environment.

Monitoring processes are critical to the success of a supportive system. Through the utilisation of the school’s database network and established formats for data collection, the Head’s of School (HOSSes) will be able to identify staff and student needs and provide timely and appropriate support.

The teaching staff are responsible for ensuring that they identify incongruities in the learning environment and draw upon a wide range of strategies to manage the situation. Documentation of the strategies adopted and their outcomes must be maintained if intervention requirements are to be successfully identified.

Teachers

• The teaching staff are responsible for the implementation of the Student Management Framework within the school environment.
• Teachers are expected to establish classroom protocols which uphold the requirements outlined in this document.
• Documentation is of vital importance in a strategic approach to student management and relies on a consistent approach by teachers to be effective.
• Teachers must accept responsibility for the outcomes of their interactions with students if they are to be empowered in the student management process. This will involve them in:
  • proactive management planning;
  • collegial sharing of strategies;
  • investigation of strategies; and
  • self directed professional development.

Guidance Officer

• The Guidance Officer provides strategic advice for dealing with particular students.
• Counsels students and empowers them to deal with the issues that they are confronted with, while still complying with the requirements of the school community.
• Provides career guidance for students and outlines the options available for achieving their goals.
• Can assist students in setting goals, which is often an underlying factor in their motivation and cooperation at school.

Harassment Referral Officer (HRO) – one per sub-school

• The HRO provides a confidential support service for students who feel that they are being harassed.
• The HRO listens to the student and without judgement, outlines the avenues available to the student for resolution of the situation.
• The HRO will if requested, organise mediation for the student.

Students

Students are to:

• follow protocols as outlined in the school prospectus;
• be polite and well mannered;
• follow teachers directions;
• attend school;
• apply themselves to their studies;
• be organised and attend with the correct equipment;
• report to the Sub-School as required;
• represent the school with honour, pride and enthusiasm.

Parents

Parents have the responsibility for supporting the school in the education of their children. This responsibility includes:

• ensuring students attend school on time;
• providing funds and equipment as required;
• providing, maintaining and monitoring the wearing of the school uniform.
• advising the school of absences and breaks with procedure and protocol;
• provide the school with advice on developments which may impact on the social, physical or mental well-being of the student;
• providing support for the decisions made by the school in the management of their student in the school environment.

Principal

The Principal is responsible for establishing and maintaining alternative schooling structure avenues for those students who are unable to adapt to the large school environment to continue their education process. In situations where, despite every opportunity and support mechanism being extended to the student, they are still unable to respond appropriately, the Principal reserves the right to suspend and/or exclude the student from the school.

Deputy Principal

The Deputy Principal provides a supportive role for the Principal, HODs and HOSSES. Where students are identified as being at risk, the Deputy, will in consultation with the HODs and HOSSES, determine the most effective option(s) for the student’s immediate rehabilitation. In this role they will administer the process on behalf of the Principal.

Heads of Sub-School

Heads of Sub-School are responsible for managing situations involving their Sub-School clients and personnel. They will, through access to the student management database and in consultation with their staff, track the students belonging to their Sub-School. Intervention will be in relation to evidence and support documentation and will involve students being strategically motivated to manage their individual performance.

Processes employed by the HOSSES and teachers will be entered onto the Student Management Database. Movement of the student out of the Sub-School umbrella will be determined by the students response to the strategies employed, this decision will be made in consultation with Administrative Personnel.

Heads of Department (HOD's)

HODs are responsible for issues relating to curriculum and resources. Issues that should be directed to the HOD include learning experiences, curriculum content, student results, staffing, resource loss/damage/shortage and student learning difficulties.

Student Monitoring Card

Students are placed on a Monitoring Card by the HOS as a strategy for tracking student progress, performance and attendance as an outcome of student infringements, parental requests and requests from the Principal or Deputy Principal.

The student is required to fulfil the goals outlined at initiation of the card and have parent/caregiver and HOS sign the card daily. Where the student demonstrates over the course of the week that the strategy of self monitoring and feedback has worked no further action is required. Students who do not improve or do not fully meet the goals may be placed on a Monitoring Card for a further 1 week period.

Students who are unable to attain the goals established after a second week and have had documented evidence of intervention in the form of counselling, data collection, behaviour contracts and parent consultation should be referred to the Deputy Principal for higher level intervention such as suspension or outside agency involvement.

Students who improve, but then begin to re-offend will have their case reviewed in consideration of the history and time frames involved but generally will involve:

• parental contact
• behaviour contract
• continued poor behaviour - referral to Deputy Principal

A large range of intervention strategies will be employed before suspension. However this does not apply to dangerous behaviour such as punching, fighting, possession of banned substances (automoatic suspension will occur) which jeodparises the safety of students.

Student Management in School Grounds

While at any time in the school’s grounds, students are expected to:

• maintain a clean school environment and place litter in bins;
• behave in a safe manner;
• respect school property and the property of others;
• communicate appropriately and use non-offensive language; and
• act in a non-violent way.

Students Caught Smoking

If a student is caught smoking, that student is to be referred to the appropriate Sub-School HOSS.

First Offence

• HOSS will deal with the student appropriately (litter duty, reprimand);
• HOSS is to send a letter home to parent/caregiver informing them of the event;
• HOSS will record offence in student file and Sub-school file.

Further Offences

Student is to be referred to the appropriate Deputy for suspension, along with supporting information on the students previous offence.

Truancy

Truanting Class

Students found to be truanting will be placed on a student attendance sheet by HOSS to map their lesson attendance. The HOSS may choose to use a student monitoring card if there are other concerns with the student. Students will be expected to make up time for missed lessons before school, lunch time or after school detentions by arrangement with the parents/caregiver.

HOSSes will contact parents/caregiver if check suggests a pattern of truancy. Suspension or cancellation of enrolment will result for persistently refusing to participate in the program of instruction.

Truanting School

Absences are identified through the first lesson absentee list and should be confirmed within one day of the student returning to school. Confirmation by way of a note or phone call from the parents/caregivers is required. Parents/caregivers will be contacted by HOSS or Student Liaison Officer to query the unexplained absence. This will establish whether the absence is valid and provide a gentle reminder to parents of protocol for absences.

Students found to be truanting will be placed on a student attendance sheet by HOSS to map their lesson attendance. Students will be required to make up the work missed for homework/ lunch time detentions/ or after school detentions. HOSS will maintain contact with the parents/caregivers as student attendance dictates. Persistence student truancy will be referred onto the Deputy Principal for contact with the Juvenile Aid Bureau.

Students are issued with out-of-class passes by the classroom teacher whenever the student has to leave the room. A permanent pass should be made to give to the student taking the absentee slip to the Sub-School. The out-of-class pass should indicate the students name, form class, teacher and subject. It should also display the reason for being out-of-class and the time of departure from the room. Students’ should return the out of class pass to the teacher upon returning to the room.

Teachers’ should monitor the issue of passes and query any regular patterns that seem to be developing. Staff should ask any student seen out of class for their pass and should check the date, name and time of issue to check validity. Any student found without a pass should have their name, form class and lesson recorded and sent back to their classroom. The information should then be passed onto the appropriate Sub-School HOSSES.

The HOSS should first check with the class teacher if student was allowed out of class. If they were then remind the teacher of the requirements. HOSSES should treat unexplained student movement as a truancy from class.

Late to School

Junior students arriving late to school should report to their sub-school. Senior Students arriving late to school should obtain a late slip from Administration. The student’s name is recorded and the student should read the notices.

Students must have a note explaining their absences. If the student has no note upon arrival then they must bring one the following day. Parents will be contacted if a student does not produce a note.

Persistent lateness to school will be followed up by the HOSS, who will contact the parents. Tardiness is not considered a valid excuse. The student will produce the late slip to the teacher of their first class. It is the student’s responsibility to catch up on any work missed through lateness.