Session 4: Kerikeri High School - no wonder they were school of the year

Nice to be hearing about a larger secondary school - 

Wonderful to hear another Kotahitanga story

http://vimeo.com/103203458

Kotahitanga well embedded before PB4L

Progress slow due to size of initial team. Had reduced to a small team - and jobs 'contracted out' 

Key slide!!!!!

Perfect student vs perfect teacher

We've done the ideal RHS student - but have we ever done the ideal teacher????

Student Handbook

- interesting pages 'what to do if....'

Team - meetings optional - but small team kept momentum going

Align all paperwork with values

Eg student referral forms 

After school detentions became learning opportunities - rather than punitive 

At Yr12 replaced by after school parent meetings. No more afterschool detentions. 

Trial and error interventions

Eg Yr 12 truancy - rewards for no ? 

This morphed into students taking ownership

 

Positive phone calls home 

Getting the message out 

Third year funding spent on visual representation of the values.

Classroom competitions - the classroom that best displayed the school values.

Differentiated values for Yr levels

Students teaching students very valuable tool.

Aligned report attitude matrix - values 

This became the first lesson - with a range of activities for staff to choose from.

Second lesson was around exams and study leave.

Tackling Litter

Involved the property manager!!

Build an installation from school rubbish!!

Using students to create the visuals - video 

- after seniors go

- use juniors still at school

- teacher release time

When there's no funding????

- student team - expanded

- they judge classrooms

- feedback on matrix and activities

- shoulder tapped or took volunteers 

- classroom competitions increased - mark sheets aligned to values 

- staff prizes included a week in the principal's carpark; some afternoon release time !!!!

Rewards system 

- certificate system revamped

- no answer yet to the whole school rewards system 

- staff need to promote

- admin person offers the data 

- levels of awards - from form teacher up to Principal

- data shared - class data 

'Stop the bus' lessons

-1 per term - based on bubbling issues

- Cybersafety / Manners / Litter 

- different lessons for different levels 

Summary

- huge reductions in discipline and suspension data

- increase in class attendance

- importance of acknowledgment over reward 

Positive Behaviour for Learning - New Zealand a Connections Conference 2014 - Hamilton

About to kick off two days of 'positive behaviour for learning' - looking forward to hearing Dr George Sugai 

People are what makes the programme grow - we make it happen! 

We are all interested in improving our teaching and learning environments.

What does it actually mean to support all of our children, all of our communities.

Remember to check out the website - www.pbis.org 

Challenges for us to think about -

- bullying

- violence in schools and communities is a main worry - in NZ lucky with our law and out community of elders (nice comment)

'The smallest things have the biggest effects' 

and 

'Leaders pay attention to the basics and the fundamentals' Jim Rohn

If we get the basics right the big ideas will follow!

We need to get the kids out of the corner - academic and behaviour inextricably linked.

(Insert cartoon) 

The answers are simple - but they are not easy to implement.

What are the smallest things that we do that have the biggest effect? We need to work on having a sound theory. If we have a theory of action we can see a solution - that is evidence based. We do not have a lot if time to try a lot of interventions (* ask yourself would you bet your salary on this ???) 

What is a positive school climate?

- can we see it?

- can we feel it?

- how do we  know it? 

Insert gate slide 

For example - we know how to decrease violence in our schools and communities. 

School climate, classroom climate and what the teachers do is what makes the difference. 

Difficult to get out of a negative coercive cycle once it is established. Need to switch this to a responsive cycle. Prevent classroom climates becoming negative. 

NZs investment in training and funding this shift to a positive classroom environment. NZers are well along the well of establishing communities that have a common language and vision and experience. 

Our most successful classrooms and schools are ones where all the students and staff know why they are there - they all share a common vision. 

Do all out students have this? Vertical forms / pastoral teams would help build this!! 

PB4L - an approach for building a community for success - a framework- not a curriculum. We need to create an environment for this to happen. 

Sometimes the intervention is a mismatch to the what we actually want to happen (ie copying out school rules)

All children are exposed to a successful environment - sone need different supports to be able to engage I that positive climate. These students do not fall into one category, they may have a range if needs that vary and need different interactions. What are their strengths and what are their challenges?

Therefore what strategies do we need to use? 

The more strategies needed, the more specific they become - at Tier 3 these become individualised. These are not instead of Tier 1 and 2 but on top of.

Assess yourself 

What are the things that you have committed to at Tier 1, 2 and 3 to ensure student success.

Using Data 

We have to have information that tells us that we are using the right intervention; that tells that we are using the correct data to monitor progress - do we have implementation fidelity

Effective strategies maximise benefits.

Good question - can we contextualise the framework for NZ culture and communities ? Lots of US evidence and data to prove what works - but we want it to work here?

Capacity building 

Organisations are complex places often involved in many initiatives - how can they be implemented well? 

How can we bring all if these initiatives together? 

The value and importance of culture 

- need to support culturally knowledgeable staff

- support culturally responsive value making?

- how do we know that we have culturally valid data ? 

Summary - simple messages travel faster