Principal's Report
Dear Parents and Families,
I hope this newsletter finds you all well.
With recent events in Ballarat and further abroad in the country, the spotlight on Family Violence in Australia has never been more pointed. As an important part of our community, I feel it timely that our school draw attention to this societal challenge and outline the importance of the Respectful Relationships Program and how schools like ours are utilising this to educate our children and teenagers and change the story of family violence for future generations.
I understand that this can be a confronting topic of conversation, and I have included links below to some of the support agencies and resources available to you should you need to access these.
Also included in the week's newsletter, is an outline of our Restorative Practices culture in line with our Real Schools partnership, and some links to the Federal Government's eSafety Commissioner's website with guidance on ensuring a safe home environment for our young people to engage mindfully online.
Until I see you in person,
David Garner
Respectful Relationships in Primary Schools
Program background
The Royal Commission into Family Violence identified the critical role that schools and early childhood education have in creating a culture of respect to change the story of family violence for future generations.
In 2016, respectful relationships education became a core component of the Victorian Curriculum from foundation to year 12, and is being taught in all government and Catholic schools and many independent schools.
Everyone in our community deserves to be respected, valued and treated equally. We know that changes in attitudes and behaviours can be achieved when positive attitudes, behaviours and equality are embedded in our education settings.
Respectful Relationships is about embedding a culture of respect and equality across our entire community, from our classrooms to staffrooms, sporting fields, fetes and social events. This approach leads to positive impacts on student’s academic outcomes, their mental health, classroom behaviour, and relationships between teachers and students.
Together, we can lead the way in saying yes to respect and equality, and creating genuine and lasting change so that every child has the opportunity to achieve their full potential.
RESPECTFUL RELATIONSHIPS AT BNPS
The Respectful Relationships initiative teaches our children how to build healthy relationships, resilience and confidence. It also supports school leaders, educators and our school communities promote and model respect and equality. We have been implementing the Respectful Relationships initiative at BNPS since 2020, and are currently in the process of reviewing our Scope and Sequences in order to meet the changing needs of our community.
ABOUT RESPECTFUL RELATIONSHIPS
We all want our children to have an education that gives them the best start to a happy, healthy and prosperous life. Respectful Relationships supports students to develop the knowledge, understanding and skills to strengthen their sense of self, and build and manage safe and respectful relationships.
Respectful Relationships takes a whole-school approach, recognising that schools are a place of learning, a workplace and a key part of local communities. It embeds a culture of respect and equality across our entire school community, from our classrooms to staffrooms, sporting fields, fetes and social events.
This approach leads to positive change in students’ academic outcomes, their wellbeing, classroom behaviour, and relationships between teachers and students. We know that changes in attitudes and behaviours can be achieved when positive attitudes, behaviours and gender equality are lived across the school community.
Together, we can lead the way in creating genuine and lasting change so every child has the opportunity to achieve their full potential.
IN THE CLASSROOM
Respectful Relationships acknowledges that children of any age have challenges to overcome, teaching social and emotional skills appropriate to their age and level of maturity. It is being taught in all government and Catholic schools and many independent schools from Prep to Year 12, as a core component of the Victorian Curriculum.
In the primary years, Respectful Relationships focuses on treating everyone with respect and dignity. It is taught as part of the Health and Physical Education and Personal and Social Capability areas of the Victorian Curriculum.
The supporting Resilience, Rights & Respectful Relationships teaching and learning materials have been developed by world-leading experts from the University of Melbourne. These age-appropriate resources align to the Victorian Curriculum and include lesson plans and activities that help students learn and practise social skills and apply them in a positive way to learning, life and relationships.
The Resilience, Rights & Respectful Relationships resources cover eight topics for each year level.
Topic 1: Emotional Literacy
Topic 2: Personal Strengths
Topic 3: Positive Coping
Topic 4: Problem Solving
Topic 5: Stress Management
Topic 6: Help-Seeking
Topic 7: Gender and Identity
Topic 8: Positive Gender Relations
Building respectful relationships at Ballarat North Primary School
At BNPS we introduced the Respectful Relationships initiative in 2020. It is taught both as a part of regular classroom programs, integrated into our multi-age TEAMs program and also forms a part of the targetted learning in our Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) groups.
Emotional literacy is a key focus in respectful relationships education. Activities such as acting out what it looks like to be happy, sad or anxious, teaches students to recognise and better understand their emotions. Ways to deal with uncomfortable emotions and fostering positive and respectful relationships are talked through and role modelled in the classroom.
If we can teach our students to understand how to have healthy and respectful relationships now with their class mates, teachers and family, then we are hoping these things will filter through when they’re forming relationships later in life. They’ll have the skills and the strategies they need to have positive relationships and stay safe, because we’ve spent time in school learning about respecting others.
FOR MORE information
The best relationships are respectful ones. That’s why the Victorian Government is introducing Respectful Relationships in all government schools and many Catholic and independent schools are choosing to participate. To find out more about Respectful Relationships, please visit:
www.education.vic.gov.au/respectfulrelationships
Family violence support
If you are concerned for your safety or that of someone else, contact the police, and call 000 for emergency assistance.
If you have experienced violence or sexual assault and require immediate or ongoing assistance, contact 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) to talk to a counsellor from the National Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence hotline.
For confidential support and information, contact Safe Steps’ 24/7 family violence response line on 1800 015 188.