Papatoetoe Intermediate School

A major goal of our school is to offer everyone who comes into it - whether adult or child -  a supportive, friendly and safe environment.

We believe that teachers should be able to carry out their programmes without disruption so that all students can make optimum progress in their learning. Therefore, all students have the right to participate in classroom and out-of-classroom situations without being disrupted by others. Ill-disciplined students deny other people their rights to a safe working and learning environment. Students choose how they behave and must ultimately take responsibility for their actions. We believe that if people want rights they must also accept responsibilities.

The School’s Approach.

The school operates a number of positive incentive schemes to guide students towards responsible citizenship. These are being improved constantly. The emphasis is on rewarding and reinforcing positive behaviour as opposed to simply punishing negative behaviour.

The school has developed a comprehensive pastoral care programme that includes life skills courses for students as well as courses for families [Positive Parenting, GAIN]. The school also engages in major recognised programmes to assist with specific student needs such as DARE, Reaching Out, Keeping Ourselves Safe, and Pubertal Change. The school also enskills students to use mediation skills through Peer Mediation. The school continues to search for new ways of helping students and their families.

Teachers continue to develop a number of different management strategies to help students become more responsible. Teachers may refer students who repeatedly offend to a syndicate leader, a syndicate leader or to a person on the management team for counselling. This school uses “time out” as a “cooling off” tactic.

Outside agencies may be used to assist with areas beyond the expertise of the school. These include Specialist Education Service, Children and Young Persons Service, Police Youth Aid and the RTLB.

The use of corporal punishment against students is absolutely forbidden.

Student’s Rights.

A right is something which belongs to you and cannot be taken away by anyone. Your classmates and teachers have the same rights. A right is not the same thing as a privilege which is discretionary. Here are your important rights.

1. You have the right to be an individual at school.
   This means you should not be treated unfairly because you are tall or short, boy or girl, or because it takes you a little longer to get the right answer. You have the right to enjoy your own cultural, family and religious heritage. Courtesy, or politeness, is something we value as a part of fairness.
2. You have the right to opportunities that enable you to gain the respect of staff and peers.
   All students deserve the right to opportunities that enable them to gain the respect of others. This implies that all individuals will treat others in a fair and supportive way at all times to enable them to gain respect and self-esteem. It means that people can make good choices about their education and their present and future life. It also means that “tall poppies” can develop without “put downs”.
3. You have a right to express yourselves.
   This means that you have the right to talk freely about your ideas and feelings when appropriate.
4. You have the right to a safe school.
   This means that your school should provide safe classrooms, equipment and rules to ensure your safety at school [as well as when you are travelling to and from school].
5. You have the right to tell your side of the story.
   This means that you may tell your side of the story when accused of breaking a rule.
   Naturally, you have a responsibility to tell the truth.

Students’ Responsibilities.

Here are some things you should do without being told. Some of these things you do for others and some of these things you do for yourself. Here are your important responsibilities.

1. You have a responsibility to allow others to work without being bothered.
2. You have a responsibility to complete your class and homework assignments.
3. You have a responsibility to help make the school a good place to be in.
   This means being thoughtful, respectful and courteous to others.
4. You have a responsibility to take care of property.
   This means that you take care of your own property, school property and to respect the property of others.
5. You have a responsibility to come to school every day, on time unless you are sick or have a special reason to be absent or late.
6. You have a responsibility to obey school rules.
   This means observing all safety, bus, playground and classroom rules. Staff have the right to set and obtain standards of behaviour appropriate to everyone’s needs.
7. You have a responsibility to take school messages  home.
   These include newsletters or letters to your parents.
8. You have a responsibility to practise good personal cleanliness.
   This means that you come to school clean and practise good health habits at school.
9. You have a responsibility to keep your school environment clean and free of litter.

Fundamental School Rules.

This school upholds the laws of New Zealand - whatever is considered a crime in New Zealand is also considered against the rules of this school. The school also expects students to take account of the “Golden Rule”. That is, “treat others the way you expect to be treated yourself”. We ask students to speak and act in ways they would be happy for their parents to observe and be told about.

1. Be considerate and kind to others at all times.
2. Be in the right place, at the right time, doing the right thing.
3. Look after, and respect, all property at all times. This includes keeping the school litter-free.
4. Students are expected to keep prohibited things away from school.

There are many implications in these few rules. The first one, for example, not only means that no-one should experience violence or any form of abuse but also that everyone is expected to go out of their way to help and support other people. “At all times” means on the way to and from school as well as on school outdoor experiences and out-of-school events- not just while at school.

The school not only aims to have a safe environment but also one that appears safe - students who play in a manner that cases others to feel insecure or unsafe  - such as vigorous play fighting - are putting the peaceful atmosphere we are developing at risk.

As a safety measure, students may only leave the grounds during the day with the permission of the principal, deputy principal, second deputy principal or senior woman [the Management Team]. Students usually take a note of explanation from a parent to the Deputy Principal

Certain areas are deemed “out of bounds” to students. This is another safety measure as only certain areas can be directly supervised by adults.

Prohibited Items.

Some items are widely regarded as being unsuitable to bring to school - usually for safety reasons. These include such items as: chewing gum, sweets, fireworks, matches, tobacco products, drugs, alcohol, chemicals, skateboards, skates, roller blades, solvents, weapons, knives [including pocket knives], razor blades, electronic products [including games, pets etc], cameras, valuables, jewellery and cosmetics. Materials used by “taggers” are strictly forbidden in the school. This list is indicative rather than exhaustive as new products enter the market regularly.

Travelling by Bicycle.

Naturally, students who ride bicycles to school are expected to obey the road code. This includes riding a safe bicycle in a safe manner while wearing a correctly-fastened helmet. Doubling on a bicycle is, of course, against the law. Students found to be unsafe on a bicycle may be forbidden to ride to school until the school is assured that the student has acquired skills, knowledge and a safety sense.

Travelling by Bus.

The buses that service our students are not controlled by the school. If the behaviour on any bus is consistently of an unacceptable standard then it is an option for the bus company to stop that service at any time. It is as much a responsibility of parents and caregivers as it is of the school that their child’s behaviour is always of a satisfactory standard.

A prime consideration of any rule concerning bus travel is the important one of safety. A bus driver who is distracted by poor behaviour may have an accident that puts the lives and well-being of many people at risk.

1. All bus students must conduct themselves in a sensible way. This means each student must respect the rights of others who use the buses. The fundamental School Rules still apply while on the bus.
2. If seats are available then students will sit down. Otherwise, stand in one place using the hand railings to support themselves.
3. The bus company and the school reserves the right to suspend any student for a period of time, or indefinitely, who does not maintain standards of behaviour deemed acceptable by bus company or school.
4. Unacceptable behaviour includes anti-social, unruly or unsafe behaviour, bullying, vandalism including graffiti. Anti-social behaviour includes such things as: littering the bus,  using obscene language and using obscene gestures.
5. Students are expected to co-operate fully with Bus Monitors. This includes giving them their correct name and room number if caught misbehaving.

Consequences of Misbehaviour.

Explanation.

Students may be talked to about their behaviour. That is, they have the rule they broke explained to them and the consequences of a repeated offence. Their name and their offence may be recorded.

The staff discuss rules with students in class, at syndicated assemblies and at school assemblies. Posters and leaflets are sometimes distributed to raise student awareness of issues.

Detention.

Students may have a lunchtime detention in the Fabric Technology room supervised by a duty teacher. We do not have detentions of any sort after school. Students complete a form where they explain their offence and complete a simple checklist. They may perform a variety of tasks during this time. Written tasks may include writing letters of apology and such-like. Other tasks may include community service to the school such as litter parade and similar cleaning tasks. Students who miss detention without a good reason may be penalised with an extra detention.  Students are expected to take part in detention activities with a good attitude. Parents are informed in writing when their child has received five detentions. They will then be invited to a meeting at school.

Contracts and Family Meetings.

Parents/caregivers may be called to the school to discuss a student’s behaviour or attitude. Options and support will be discussed. A contract will probably be negotiated by staff, parents and student [and sometimes representatives from outside agencies]. In serious cases where the student is heading for a suspension a Family  Conference may be called. A trustee from the Board of Trustees  may join the staff in meeting with the family.

Loss of Privileges.

Some students may lose their privileges such as attending Discos, Graduation Dances, outings, special assemblies and the like. Students who put other students at risk may be barred from outdoor education pursuits where safety is a major factor [eg trips]. Students who breech reasonable standards of fair play in sport may be banned from representing our school.

Stand Down and Suspensions.

The school may exercise its rights to stand down or to suspend a child in accordance with the Education Amendment Act, Number 2, 1998.

Papatoetoe Intermediate acknowledges that some of the material introduced into this publication is by Kawerau South School [found in Educational Management and the Law by Patrick Walsh. Longman. 1997].