Integrity
Our Engagement Policy
Thank you to the parents and students who have recently contributed input and feedback to the redevelopment of our Student Engagement Policy. This policy will build on our Matrix of Values (below) and will cover wellbeing, discipline, student support as well as expectations for students, staff and the school community.
School-Wide Positive Behaviours
Coburg High School is now entering its second year of the School-Wide Positive Behaviour Supports (SWPBS) initiative. This program seeks to promote positive behaviours and to minimise misbehaviour with a particular focus on teaching students the right way to interact and on rewarding positive behaviours.
In 2018 positive ‘green’ compass entries, in line with our values of Excellence, Integrity, Curiosity and Community were introduced, and made visible to students and families via Compass. Our hope was that positive reports from teachers on Compass would vastly outstrip negatives and that has certainly been the case with the 7,658 positive entries made last year, exceeding our targets. Teachers have been doing an amazing job of ‘catching students being good’, and we will continue this process in 2019 with awards for students at assemblies and reminders of where they have been doing well. Green compass entries also earn points for students’ Houses which provides recognition across the whole school.
Staged Responses
At Coburg High School, we have high expectations for students’ learning, participation and behaviours. A feature of our response to any repeat misbehaviours this year is the use of a staged response. That is, rather than a single punitive consequence which remains the same for repeat behaviours, we are trialing the use of different responses that are recorded on Compass and visible to families. All our staged responses begin with conversations and an explanation of the school’s expectations. Having students ‘in trouble’ is never a goal. By beginning with a conversation, backed up with communication with families, our aim is to foster clarity around expectations.
Mind.Body.Pedal
NEWSLETTER ARTICLE
On Wednesday 01 May, for the second year in a row, CHS participated in the Mind.Body.Pedal program facilitated by Bicycle Network, a program that aims to inspire and empower female secondary school students to get active and in doing so, strengthen their physical and mental health. Presented with a range of current statistics about their physical activity at school, and inspired by a range of presenters (including the big sister of one of our Year 10 students who rode a bike from Adelaide to Melbourne for charity!) the girls openly discussed the fun they had and plans they have to get more active.
This year, CHS also created two other programs to run alongside Mind.Body.Pedal. One was Mind.Body.Plan, which saw a committed group of students work with staff throughout the day on ways to make future CHS sporting events be more inclusive for a diverse range of students, including those who identify as non-binary, who are in a wheelchair or for any other reason might not have the same level of access to physical activities at CHS.
The other program, called Mind.Body.Pedi, targeted male students and saw them participate in activities like working with the Reach Foundation to tackle toxic masculinity that damages men's mental health, work with the Performing Arts crew on a range of trust activities that included being physically lifted up by a group or bouncing safely off of others, and lastly had the opportunity to get silly with health and beauty products and test out their own external physical health (How clean are the fingernails of teenage boys? Do they know how to floss properly? How good is their sunscreen coverage?) while also reflecting on some of the beauty expectations levelled at women that can hinder full participation in physical activity like sport.
Overall, thank you to Year 9 for getting involved and having a go!
Smartphones
Coburg High School has always prided itself on an innovative use of technology. Although nearly all schools have or are introducing one-to-one devices, our use of MacBooks, coupled with a digital learning management system, is well established and highly effective.
Either through our monitored and filtered network, or via simply closing laptops, CHS staff can control the use of technology in the classroom. Smartphones, however, have caused significant distraction for many students and with unfiltered access to the internet, have also opened the door to social media platforms, online gaming and explicit content.
Some secondary schools have successfully banned smartphones during school hours, including at recess and lunch. Many students at CHS would be opposed to such a ban; however, if in time we cannot adequately manage the use of phones at school, this may be an option. A ban would only take place after student, family and staff consultation, including working with the School Council and the Student Representative Council. To prevent distractions in class and interruptions to learning, as well to address the concerns of parents and guardians:
1. Beginning Term Two: Phones and headphones must be left in lockersduring class time (please check that your child has a lock on their locker) unless a teacher has requested that students bring a device for a lesson that incorporates it for specific learning. Students found with a phone/headphones in class will have them confiscated for the remainder of the day. They will be deposited with the relevant sub-school. No lesson will ever depend on a student owning a phone. Any phone seen or heard in class or on the way to a class will be confiscated. Students refusing to hand over phones will be exited from lessons.
2. Students caught multiple times with phones / headphones in class will have them confiscated until collection by a parent or guardian or, alternatively, the end of the week.
3. Students will continue to be allowed to use phones and headphones outside of buildings at recess, lunch and before/after school; however, as a School-Wide Positive Behaviour initiative in Term Two, all students, staff and families are strongly encouraged to participate in TECH FREE TUESDAYS. This means no phones or headphones outside at recess or lunch on Tuesdays. Clubs, sports and other non-tech based activities will be promoted throughout the week as an alternative to any screen use, with Tuesdays being a particular focal point to be off screens. Devices will only be used for essential work purposes. So on Tuesdays, no FB, Twitter, Instagram, SnapChat, Fortnight, Ebay, Donkey Kong, etc.
For More Depth on this Topic
There is a growing body of evidence that points to the detrimental effects of social media, pornography, online gaming and other screen related technologies.
After concerns from incoming parents about smartphone use at CHS, a survey was conducted which found 67% of Year 7 parents and guardians would support a ban on phone use at recess and lunch. At the end of Term Two a school-wide survey will be conducted to see where our school community sits on a range of tech related topics.
CHS students are not allowed to take computers outside at recess and lunch and the majority of students are not on their phones, with many students engaging in sport and other non-screen based activities.
Students are not required to bring smartphones to school and CHS takes no responsibility for smartphones brought to school, either in a child’s possession, or once confiscated. Reception can always find students and can also provide a phone for students to reach families on. For those who feel the need to provide their child with a phone for security on the way to and from school, basic models are available that make calls, send and receive texts and have limited web functions. For parents yearning for a simpler time, Nokia released an updated version of the 3310 recently which is available for under $70 and comes with one app: Snake.
For those who have felt the pressure of student demands around keeping up with peers to own the latest smartphone: there will always be the ‘latest something’ that students feel they must have. We do not want a school where young people are excluded based on their possessions. No family should ever feel that they have to purchase a high end smartphone for their child to ‘fit in’ and students pestering parents based on the threat of social isolation should think twice before giving in to such demands.
Parents and guardians are encouraged to look at the use of technology at home. In the spirit of modelling the behaviour we would like to see in our students, all staff and families are encouraged to participate in Tech Free Tuesday as well.
Unsupervised smartphone use is also closely linked with access to pornography. Last year the Student Support Team attended a presentation by Maree Crabbe on the ways that pornography is negatively affecting students by promoting gender based violence, unrealistic demands on partners and desensitising young people via extreme content. In Australia, more than 90% of boys and 60% of girls aged 13-16 have viewed internet pornography. It is free and easily accessible on any internet capable device. Having smartphones and other Wi-Fi enabled devices in unsupervised areas at home is thoroughly discouraged. Please see the attached fact sheet provided by Maree Crabbe. If there is sufficient interest, a parent information session on the detrimental effects of pornography on young people is also available.
At CHS we teach tech safety to all students at all year levels. This includes how to react to cyberbullying, the use of social media and how to balance screen time and other activities. In Term Two there will be an additional specialised program rolled out to Year 11 students in their Home Groups which targets online gaming, gambling and screen addiction.
For comments and feedback please email: info@coburg.vic.edu.au
Relevant Links:
Mckinnon Secondary College Phone Ban
Insight Episode: ‘Screens at Schools’
Managing screen time over the holidays