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.
Positive Behaviour For Learning (PBL)
Macintyre is proud to be involved in the Positive Behaviour for Learning program (PBL). As a PBL school we have developed our core values through student, staff and community consultation to be RESPECT, RESPONSIBILITY, PRIDE and PARTICIPATION. These values underpin life at Macintyre High School and are taught explicitly across all school settings.
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
Community service
Improvement in behaviour/work/skills/attitude and attendance
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.
