Behaviour Expectations
Accountable -
Being accountable means taking responsibility for your actions and your learning. We are accountable when we have a go, receive feedback, own mistakes, and seize the opportunity to try again. At Mayfield West, we are accountable in the classroom, with our friends and family, and on the playground.
Respectful -
Respectful conduct shows care for ourselves and others. We know that our choices have consequences and we want those consequences to be positive. We respect each other, property, culture, the need for flexibility, the environment, and aim to act in a way that shows this care in new situations too.
Engaged -
Being engaged means that you are called to action. Instead of being a consumer of knowledge or a passive bystander, you are active in making choices about your learning, your relationships, and your future. Engagement is a choice that each of us makes every day.
Order
At Mayfield West Demonstration School, we expect that students are accountable, respectful, and engaged. This expectation is consistent from Kindergarten to Year 6, regardless of whether students are with their classroom teacher, one of our specialist teachers, a preservice teacher, or playing at a break. We use a traffic light system in every classroom to show students if their behaviour has escalated beyond what is appropriate and give them the opportunity to have coaching conversations about it.
Structure
Creating structure for a student requires that they have regular attendance. This means that they can really understand the routines and rhythms of their class. It also requires students to develop their executive function skills (working memory, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility) and it a sense of ownership, through an internal locus of control.
Discipline
Discipline is about setting boundaries and then keeping them. We encourage all students and families to discuss boundaries, as we do at school, so that they feel confident setting expectations for themselves and others and maintaining accountability.
This is ultimately achieved with order and structure. Where we are consistent and understand what we need to do, we can be disciplined and consequences are not generally needed. This is what we see at Mayfield West Demonstration School; students fit in and find social cohesion when they are accountable, respectful, and engaged. This means that maintaining discipline come from peers as well as from the self and supportive adults.
Of course, if students choose to use violence or any other behaviour that poses unacceptable risks to the safety, learning, or wellbeing of themselves or others, there will be consequences that reflect the severity of their behaviour and the time and resources that we require to put new supports in place. This means that students may receive a suspension, a warning of suspension, time away from their classroom/the playground, or the use of a playground or classroom check-in card. Ultimately, our goal is for all students to learn and play in a way that is safe and consistent with the NSW Department of Education Behaviour code for students.
School behaviour support and management plan (SBSMP)
All schools in NSW have developed a school behaviour support and management plan (SBSMP) for implementation in 2025. Please contact us for our SBSMP.
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