Positive Behaviour for Learning

PBL at Killara High School has begun

On Thursday of week 6 we held a whole school assembly to mark the Grand Opening of PBL at our school. It was a wonderful event run by the PBL Teacher Team and the Prefects. 

At this assembly students were given a refresher of what PBL is all about, the new school values were revealed, our first focus area 'The Canteen' was launched and the prefects showed an entertaining and informative video that they made to model positive behaviours that are expected of students in the canteen. 

Over the coming weeks positive behaviours in the canteen area will be rewarded with Zooper Doopers and we have already seen a positive shift in how students are behaving in this area. 

We are also excited to announce the chosen PBL school values. These values were selected after whole community consultation in the form of student, staff and parent surveys. It was great to see consistent themes emerge among our different stakeholders and the PBL team used this data to come up with our values, based around the acronym ROLE. Being a good learner and building a positive culture at Killara High School is dependent on each individual playing their ROLE.​ 

Here is what values ROLE will represent at Killara High School

R for showing Respect

O for having Ownership

L for being a Learner

E for caring for your Environment

How did we land on each value and what do they mean?

R is for Respect

This was without a doubt the highest voted value from everyone in the survey, which was excellent to see. It means most of us acknowledge that being respected is an important part of life, something we are all after in some way or another. It is important that this is an expectation of you showing respect for all people equally as a priority. If everyone is accountable for their behaviour being unconditionally respectful then all people can expect to be treated respectfully by others … but it starts with you.

O for having Ownership

Ownership comes from the focus the surveys showed on responsibility, accountability, resilience. Parents also thought that integrity and honesty were important values students should display.

So ownership will really be seen by showing:

• You are in charge of your actions. No one can or should make you do anything. You are responsible for what you do or do not do.
• You accept the consequences AND rewards of your actions. You take responsibility for your mistakes and also actively seek to reward yourself for positive things you do. You do not blame others for things you control.
• You are aware of your actions and their effect on others. You are responsible for the way your actions affect others. Sometimes your actions may have unintended consequences or impact others differently or more extremely than you had thought. You are responsible for considering the impact of your actions and should take ownership of any reasonable consequences that you did not foresee.
• You take chances to be responsible in your community. See opportunities to lead responsible behaviour. A lot of our PBL values want you all to be active members of the community and take any opportunity to improve the world around you. Ignoring irresponsible activity is just as negative as engaging in irresponsible activity.

L for being a Learner

We are so glad to see that most students agreed that you are at school to learn. Importantly, learning is a continuous process that happens through experiences. Learners don’t have to be perfect but need to demonstrate that they are taking opportunities to learn, improve or grow whenever they present themselves. This may entail being ready to learn, having an attitude focused on improvement and being able to accept failure as a step in success. It also means acknowledging that others are here to learn and ensuring you don’t harm their ability to do so. It can even be taking opportunities in your school career to help others learn by sharing your knowledge and skills or modelling the right things. 

E for caring for your Environment

We work and learn in an environment shared by us all. You need to be aware that even in the school there are a range of environments from different learning spaces, different sports spaces and different occasions with unique atmospheres. Caring for the environment is more than just making sure the environment is clean and safe. It is ensuring that you are playing your part and caring for the physical space, people and reputation of wherever you are. This value expects you to consider the physical and mental safety of others, show pride and keep the school clean and presentable. Mostly though, it asks you to acknowledge that different environments and situations may have different expectations and your ROLE is to be aware of this. 

PBL is a framework that the school will methodically work through over the coming years. We will move through different whole school areas (known as universal areas) based on data identified need and over time will move to the classroom.  The PBL team will keep the school community updated on our progress through regular newsletter updates.

Duncan Smith

Deputy Principal