All NSW public school students have a right to an inclusive learning environment and to feel happy and safe at school.
Our teachers use a variety of strategies to assess student learning.
Aboriginal student support
We are committed to closing the achievement gap for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. We know that we need to learn about, nurture and value the cultural identity of our Aboriginal students to help them be successful learners.
We welcome Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander family members, parents and carers, as well as community members to our school so that we can get to know each other, learn about the local Aboriginal community and develop shared goals and plans for Aboriginal students.
The Aboriginal Education Policy confirms the NSW Department of Education’s commitment to improvement in educational outcomes and wellbeing for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.
Multicultural education
Our school welcomes students, families and community members from all cultural backgrounds. We appreciate difference and diversity and aim to provide a culturally inclusive and responsive environment that benefits all students.
Our teaching and learning programs develop intercultural understanding, promote positive relationships and enable all students to participate as active Australian and global citizens. Our school fosters student wellbeing and community harmony by implementing anti-racism and anti-discrimination strategies that encourage engagement by parents and carers from all backgrounds.
The Multicultural Education Policy outlines the NSW Department of Education’s commitment to providing opportunities that enable all students to achieve equitable education and social outcomes and participate successfully in our culturally diverse society.
The Anti-Racism Policy confirms the department’s commitment to rejecting all forms of racial discrimination in NSW public schools and eliminating expressions of racism in its learning and working environments.
For more information refer to:
Supporting English language learners
Learning English is essential for success at school and effective participation in Australian society. We can provide specialist support to help students learning English as an additional language or dialect (EAL/D).
For more information refer to: EAL/D education.
Supporting refugee students
Schools offer safety, support and security to help refugee students adjust to life in Australia and participate successfully in education. Targeted support strategies are provided to assist refugee students in NSW public schools.
For more information refer to: Supporting refugee students.
Learning support
The school’s learning and support team plays a key role in ensuring we meet the specific needs of students with additional learning and support needs, including disability.
The team:
- supports teachers in identifying and responding to the additional learning needs of students
- facilitates and coordinates a whole-school approach to improving the learning outcomes of every student
- coordinates planning processes and resourcing for students with additional learning and support needs
- designs and implements the support required to build teacher capacity so that all students access quality learning
- develops collaborative partnerships with the school, parents and carers, as well as other professionals and the wider school community.
For more information on programs and services to help students with additional learning and support needs visit Disability, learning and support.
Learning Support Team (LST)
The Learning Support Team is comprised of the Principal, Deputy Principal, Head Teacher Welfare, the Learning and Support Teacher and Special Education Teacher along with the School Counsellor.
The role of the LST is to:
- Co-ordinate placement of School Learning Support Officers (SLSO)
- Organise the provision of intensive instruction for students experiencing short term disruption to their learning
- Assist with appropriate modification of class work for students with additional needs
- Apply for Board of Studies Special provisions for HSC examinations
- Plan and manage Lifeskills access and monitoring
Student Support and Welfare
Policy
The Welfare Team at Macintyre High School strives to identify priorities and implement strategies to support and encourage students within a caring and safe environment.
The Welfare team comprises the Head Teacher Welfare, Year Advisors, School Counsellor, Aboriginal Education Officer and School Chaplain. It meets regularly to plan for and address support needs required by students.
Year advisors
A Year Advisor has the responsibility of guiding each student through their years at high school. Our Year Advisors assist in welfare concerns, placement in class, preparing school reports, welfare meetings, selection of electives and year group excursions. Year Advisors work closely with families to ensure each and every student is achieving to their potential.
Written reports on student progress are sent to parents each half year, and Parent/Teacher Nights are held throughout the year.
Girls' adviser
The Girls' Adviser role is advise girls on matters such as: female issues, personal hygiene, decorum, social matters, positive behaviour and general presentation.
Aboriginal Education Officer (AEO)
The Aboriginal Education Officer is an integral part of Macintyre's Welfare Team. They oversee and implement a range of activities and programs to promote and enhance achievements of Aboriginal students at the school. This is done through the implementation of personalised learning plans (PLP's), excursions, in class support and celebration of significant events such as NAIDOC week.
The Merit System
At the heart of the welfare system is the positive rewards system designed to recognise achievements and positive behaviour by students across all school settings. Students gain merit or bronze awards in the following categories:
- Academic achievement
- School service
- Positive contribution to the school community
- Sporting achievement
- School representation in academic/sporting/cultural areas
The Discipline System
The school implements the Responsible Student Behaviour System. At the heart of the system, teachers assist students to learn to take responsibility for their own behaviour. The system aims at encouraging and rewarding students for the many positive aspects of their personal profile, while at the same time ensuring those with welfare concerns are catered for within the system.
The Responsible Behaviour System covers three main focus areas:
- The rights and responsibilities of students;
- The school's recognition of student achievement;
- The school's arrangements for responding to unacceptable behaviour.
The following principles have guided the development of the Responsible Behaviour System:
- Concern for people and property
- Tolerance, consideration and understanding of others;
- Individual self-development;
- The ability to take and accept responsibility;
- Adherence to basic guidelines to facilitate learning;
- Encouragement of students by recognising achievement;
- Consistent application of penalties appropriate to the seriousness of the misbehaviour.
Chaplaincy Program
Macintyre High has had school chaplains for over a decade. Chaplains are provided by the Sapphire City Schools Ministry Ltd (SCSM), which was formed under the Inverell Ministers' Fellowship and represents the Christian churches in the Inverell district.
The Federal Government now provides funds for chaplaincy. The SCSM sees that chaplains have regular training in areas such as first aid, child protection, internet safety, grief management and areas associated with mental health.
Chaplains work as teachers' aides in classrooms or under the supervision of teachers during literacy activities, sport and excursions. Where needed, chaplains are available for student welfare purposes in small groups or one-on-one. If a chaplain feels that a student could benefit from one-on-one assistance, a permission note will go home first.
On a typical day, a chaplain may be involved in the following:
- helping slow starters get organised and stay on task
- finding additional photocopies, books etc in staffrooms
- taking small groups of students for reading in a section of the classroom
- directly assisting students with reading or mathematics
- speaking to upset students outside the room or taking them to a welfare teacher
- befriending students in the playground, helping them to deal with social problems
- participating as part of the school welfare team in peer days and welfare meetings
- providing connections between students and outside youth groups
- providing connections between students and welfare services both in and out of school
- providing liaison between school executive staff and local pastors/churches.
- conducting small voluntary lunch-time groups.
Chaplains are part of the school's welfare system. They keep to privacy guidelines in line with all who work in this area.
Chaplains operate under the strict guidelines specified by the federal government.
Parents and caregivers may opt out of receiving chaplaincy services for their children by contacting the school's office.
Anti-bullying
Bullying of any kind is not acceptable in NSW schools.
The NSW anti-bullying website brings together information and resources for teachers, students, parents and carers. It helps to identify, prevent and respond effectively to student bullying, including online bullying. It provides information about online safety and what you can do if your child has been bullied, witnessed bullying or been involved in bullying.
For more information on anti-bullying strategies for NSW public schools refer to the department’s Bullying of Students – Prevention and Response Policy.
For information on racial bullying and anti-racism education for NSW public schools refer to:
ALARM
Junior ALARM
ALARM seeks to help students learn how to learn by making the learning process EXPLICIT. It is important to understand how to learn if we are to take on board more than just the content to be learned. Understanding how to learn, rather than just the content, is the key to becoming lifelong learners.
Another purpose of ALARM is to promote deep understanding, rather than superficial knowledge which is learned by rote. This is achieved partly by requiring us to employ higher order thinking skills, such as analysis and evaluation, but primarily by asking provocative questions, which promote inquiry and reflection.
ALARM also helps the school to build a learning community by helping us to adopt a common model and language of instruction to describe the process of learning and then responding or explaining. Together we adopt an inquiry-based approach, together we seek deep understanding and we use a common language to describe how to do this across all subject areas and year levels.
Download the matrix and steps below:
Senior ALARM
How does ALARM work?
- Provides a step by step guide to the process of learning and then responding to a question
- Makes explicit the ordering of concepts from simple to complex
- Allows students to tap into higher order concepts throughout the teaching process
- Aids students to identify gaps in their knowledge
- Allows students to communicate with a common terminology across the curriculum
- Provides templates which can be adapted to suit content area, complexity of information, level of depth required
- Provides a scaffolded plan for a response - from a paragraph to an extended response
Download the matrix and steps below:
Student leadership
Student leadership helps young people find their voices, participate in decision-making, and understand their rights and responsibilities as active citizens. It helps students have a real impact on their learning and school environment and prepares them to participate meaningfully in their community.
Students can be leaders in the classroom, through their actions in the playground, through their support for others, or their involvement in academic, sporting, cultural or local community events or projects.
For more information about opportunities in NSW public schools visit Student voice and leadership.