Dear Staff, Parents and Caregivers,

One of the key activities that we have been working on this year is our School Wide Positive Behaviour Support Program(SWPBS). Parents Tracey McGill and Julie Neundorf, teachers Lindsay Wells and Jenny Helmore, Deb Price and Susheela Millburn from our Students Service team, Di Frieser, critical friends Craig Rutherford (Behaviour Management Consultant, Buddina State School) and Matt Webster (Consultant from Interfuse), Brendan Wessley and myself have been reviewing the statement of expectations from our Code of School Behaviour.

The whole philosophy behind the SWPBS program is very simple:

• Ensure every student, teacher and parent are aware of the schools expectations.
• Publicise them well using simple posters etc around the school.
• Don’t assume that all children will understand what these expectations are, so teach them as part of the school‘s social skills program.
• All staff to consistently apply them everyday.

While we are very lucky at Mountain Creek State School, in that we are famous for the Caring Sharing Learning Together philosophy that permeates our school culture, we must never rest on our laurels.

Your feedback on our new draft Expectations Framework would be greatly appreciated.

Click here to view/download our latest draft of the School Expectation Matrix.

Of course the full range of programs, policies and consequences will still be available through our Code of School Behaviour.

Click here to view/download our Code of School Behaviour document.

One expectation and consequence which I must point out as non-negotiable at Mountain Creek, pertains to physical violence. Unfortunately we have issued a number of suspensions to students since returning from holidays. This is a rare occurrence in our school but I would appreciate it if you would remind your children that physical violence and bullying simply will not be tolerated and will result in suspension.

You will receive a link to an on-line survey prior to the next newsletter as part of our Triennial School Review. I ask as many people as possible to fill it out, as your input to our school’s planning for the next three years is crucial and highly valued. In addition to the survey I am holding a special parent focus group meeting to be held on Friday 7 August (9.30am – 10.45am). Everyone is welcome to attend this meeting.

Come along for a coffee and a chat about such critical issues as:

• School Communication
• Behaviour Programs and Polices
• What could we do to further improve learning for our children at our school?
• Parent Reporting / Parent-Teacher Nights / Teacher Interviews
• Facilities and Grounds Improvements

I hope you can make it. Thank you for your help and support.

Warm Regards,
Glenn.