A local primary school that hasn't suspended a single student in four years credits daily meditation, a sensory garden and smaller class sizes for the remarkable result.
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As the NSW Department of Education rolls out a new behaviour policy designed to reduce the number of suspensions being handed out to vulnerable students, Tarrawanna Public School is helping show the way.
In 2018, 31 suspensions were issued at the small, leafy school in Tarrawanna that caters for a number of disadvantaged students in the area.
New principal Bronwyn Jeffree's top priority at the time was to turn that figure around, and her first step was getting every teacher trained up in the Berry Street Education Model, which centres on trauma-informed practices.
Next, Ms Jeffree and her team looked at what was causing the incidents that were leading to suspensions and what they could do to stop them from happening.
"We've moved from a more reactive approach, which is suspensions for poor behaviour, to a proactive, preventative approach to student wellbeing, so trying to identify those behaviours and why they're happening prior to them happening," assistant principal Sarah Martin said.
"We want to help children learn to regulate their behaviours, and we're really giving them positive strategies to use when those behaviours happen.
"And they do happen at Tarrawanna, challenging behaviour will happen in all schools, but when they do our teachers are really equipped to deal with it.
"If we have a child who's unsettled, maybe a little bit aggressive, we have a beautiful new living classroom, so that child might take a walk in the sensory garden."
"We have a lemon myrtle tree, so often we'll go to that - they're sensory, the child will calm down and they'll have support staff with them."
We have students here that were being suspended who are in classrooms learning, there are enrichment programs, we're running extension programs.
- Tarrawanna PS assistant principal Sarah Martin
One of the most successful behaviour strategies introduced after their deep dive into suspension data has been twice-daily mediation sessions for all students.
"We identified that most of our negative incidents were occurring in the playground as the children came and transitioned back into the classroom, so obviously learning can't happen if you haven't managed those behaviours," she said.
"So the students meditate twice a day, post-break time, and all our teachers are able to deliver that initiative across kindergarten to Year 6."
As the children practice mindfulness, the teacher is freed up to move around the class for "wellbeing morning check-ins" with individual children.
"You might discover a student's come without breakfast so we need to organise that for them so they're not upset, or they may have had a disruptive weekend so we know we're going to have to focus on that student today.
"So it's building those relationships while they're in the classroom and it's minimising behaviours prior to school starting."
Tarrawanna also brought class sizes down to 20 and made some years single stream, which has given teachers more time to get to know their students and their individual needs.
Ms Martin said the results speak for themselves.
"Having been here from start to now, the changes are just indescribable on every level," she said.
"We have students here that were being suspended who are in classrooms learning, there are enrichment programs, we're running extension programs.
"Our community noticed the changes, our families are noticing the changes, their children are more engaged and connected to the teachers, and our learning results have significantly improved."
Further south, Cringila Public School principal Amanda Giles is achieving similar results, recording zero suspensions in more than three years.
While her methods differ in some ways to Tarrawanna's, both schools place the same value on relationships.
"The key to having happy children at school is connecting with children," Mrs Giles said.
"We ensure every child in our school is known, valued and cared for, and the connections that teachers make with students is key to that happening.
"If you don't have those strong connections with kids and their families, it's very hard to have anything happen in a positive way."
Using the Positive Behaviour for Learning framework, the school places a strong emphasis on students behaving in a way that's safe, responsible and respectful.
Mrs Giles believes that communicating these expectations clearly, consistently and constantly has given staff, students and families a deep understanding of them.
"The whole system goes from teaching the children the right behaviour, constantly having that expectation that children will demonstrate that appropriate behaviour, then reinforcing it through the PBL lessons and using the constant language," she said.
When negative incidents do happen, the child is always given time to calm down before joining a teacher for something called Reflection at the next break.
Students need to understand that the behaviour wasn't appropriate ... but you don't want them to feel like they are not valued, respected or liked by anybody.
- Cringila PS principal Amanda Giles
"Its not a detention, it's not a punishment, it's purely an opportunity to talk about what happened and to move forward from whatever mistakes were made," Mrs Giles said.
"There might be a consequence, but it's all about identifying what triggered a behaviour so you sort out how to fix that trigger so it doesn't keep happening."
As an additional buffer against student suspensions, the school funds a Wellbeing teacher, who is there to support the needs of small groups, individuals and the whole school, as well as morning check-ins with individual students who may need extra support to ensure they're on the right track for the day.
Cringila also has a highly popular reward system in the form of a shop.
Every time a student does something great, they are rewarded with a "Gotcha", a little ticket they save up to buy a prize.
Ten gotchas will get them a wristband, 200 will score them a book club voucher and somewhere in between they can hand over their tickets to become the principal's assistant for the day or even sit at the teacher's desk.
"It's about acknowledging the positive behaviour of students, so everything revolves around positive reinforcement - nothing negative," Mrs Giles said.
"Students need to understand that the behaviour wasn't appropriate and they need to make a better choice next time, but you don't want them to feel like they are not valued, respected or liked by anybody."
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