From the Principal...

Annual Improvement Plan

Throughout last year we worked on our 2019 Annual Development Plan and each term we worked with staff to evaluate where we had progressed to in the process. Then in the middle of Term 4 using our evaluations, feedback from the parent surveys, our Strategic Plan for 2019-2021, the Catholic Schools Office Strategic Plan for 2019-2021 and the CSO Annual Improvement Plan for 2020 we developed our Annual Improvement Plan for 2020. I have attached a copy of the plan below for your information and copies of them will be going up in the classrooms and the foyer in the next week.

Each fortnight in the newsletter I would like to talk about one of the areas that we are working on in an our Annual Plan and explain  in more detail what we are aiming to do. The first area I would like to highlight is our review of School Pastoral Care and Wellbeing programs as it is important for students to feel confident and safe at school in order to learn.

We have been looking carefully at the Pastoral Care Programs in our School and making sure that we have clear links between each of them. The main programs we use are Zones of Regulation, Restorative Practice, Peaceful Kids and our Peace Patrol.

The Zones of Regulation (or Zones for short) is a systematic, cognitive behavioral approach used to teach self-regulation by categorizing all the different ways we feel and states of alertness we experience into four concrete colored zones.  The Zones framework provides strategies to teach students to become more aware of and independent in controlling their emotions and impulses, manage their sensory needs, and improve their ability to problem solve conflicts.  

Self-regulation is something everyone continually works on whether or not we are cognizant of it.  We all encounter trying circumstances that test our limits from time to time.  If we are able to recognize when we are becoming less regulated, we are able to do something about it to manage our feelings and get ourselves to a healthy place.  This comes naturally for some, but for others it is a skill that needs to be taught and practiced. This is the goal of The Zones .  

Restorative Practices offer an alternative to punitive behavioural management approaches. It is 

 inspired by the philosophy and practices of restorative justice, which prioritises repairing harm done to people and their relationships over assigning blame and dispensing punishment. The philosophy and practice of restorative justice promotes resilience in both the one who is harmed and the one who causes harm. It is about helping young people become aware of the impact of their behaviour on others through personal accountability and being open to learning from conflict situations. Marist Youth Care, Sydney (2004).

The 'Peaceful Kids' program is a Mindfulness and Positive Psychology based program to lessen anxiety and stress and increase resilience in children from Kindergarten through to Year 12. The program helps children to build their emotional resilience so they are better equipped to deal with the day to day stresses that life brings them. Peaceful Kids can be run as a whole class or in a small group situation.

Peace Patrol is a peer support program that allows younger students to access trained Year 6 students in the playground to help them problem solve issues.

Throughout the year Mrs Flynn (Leader of Wellbeing), Mrs Reinke (Assistant Principal Pastoral Care and Wellbeing) and Ms Dowse (Student Support Teacher) will work with staff and students to build understanding of these programs and facilitate them being utilised in classrooms, small group situations and in our playground.