SWPBS at Laburnum Primary School

At Laburnum Primary School, we maximise student wellbeing and academic outcomes by creating an inclusive, positive and supportive environment through implementing the School Wide Positive Behaviour Support (SWPBS) framework. This is an evidence-based, tiered system of support that focuses on proactive and preventative strategies and approaches, including explicit teaching and positive reinforcement.

Benefits of SWPBS include:

• Improved mental and social-emotional wellbeing in our students
• Improved student academic outcomes
• Stronger school connectedness with peers and staff
• Resilience and empathy amongst the student body

Positive behaviour, just as any other curriculum area, is something that is taught and scaffolded to mastery.

Since implementing the SWPBS framework, staff have had professional development in understanding student behaviour, and developed whole school consistent approaches. Through these educative processes, we aim to create a consistent, safe and predictable environment that supports students in making positive behaviour choices.

Together, the staff and students of LPS collaborated to develop a Positive Behaviour matrix of agreed expectations and behaviours across all areas of the school that align with our school values. These behaviours are explicitly taught within all classrooms using the ‘Tell, Show, Practise’ instructional model.

• Tell – introduce the expected behaviour
• Show – model the expected behaviour
• Practice – role play expected behaviours in the relevant context
• Monitor – provide positive feedback or correction
• Reteach – practise and reinforce throughout the day

Ready to Learn

At the beginning of every school year, all classes spend the first few weeks of term working on the Ready to Learn program. The focus of this program is to help all students settle into their new classes. Students and teachers spend time building new relationships and learning class and year level routines, further developing their understanding of the LPS expected behaviours.

Ready to Learn is a designated ‘technology free zone’ in classes – instead students and teachers engage in a range of team building games, collaborative class activities and individual student/teacher conferences.

Ready to Learn is revisited during the first week of each subsequent term, as a proactive way to support students to settle back into school after the holiday break.

Respectful Relationships - Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships (4Rs)

The Respectful Relationships program supports schools and early childhood settings to promote and model respect, positive attitudes and behaviours. It teaches our children how to build healthy relationships, resilience and confidence. It is about embedding a culture of respect and equality across the entire school community.

The Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships (RRRR) teaching and learning materials are a core component of Respectful Relationships education. These materials cover eight topics of Social and Emotional Learning across all levels of primary and secondary education. This is a Victorian Education Department resource, based on research and developed by a team from the Youth Research Centre, Melbourne Graduate School of Education, University of Melbourne. 

Topics covered include:

Emotional Literacy, Personal Strengths, Positive Coping, Problem Solving, Stress Management, Help Seeking, Gender and Identity and Positive Gender Relations

All year levels follow this program, taught during our Wellbeing program every week.

Restorative Practice

Staff are trained in the Restorative Practice model. This approach uses consistent and scaffolded steps to support students to resolve conflict. Students can speak and be heard and, through a positive conversation, staff are able to help students to restore their relationships.

This approach focuses on students developing responsibility and reflecting upon how their actions impact others. The Restorative Practice model also underpins the work that our Year 5 Peer Mediators undertake in the playground.

Peer Mediation

Each year, a group of Year 5 students are selected to undertake Peer Mediation training. This is a full day learning opportunity for students, helping them to build communication skills and understand how to use a restorative approach to solving problems.

Following this training, Peer Mediators work in pairs in the Junior play areas during lunchtime to help support their younger peers to solve minor problems.

Student Awards

Each week, a student from each class receives a Student Award for demonstrating any of the school values of Respect, Integrity, Resilience or Curiosity. Student awards are presented to students at School Assemblies.

Play Therapy

Did you know that Laburnum was the first Australian school to include Play Therapy as one of our Wellbeing supports? 

Play therapy is a therapeutic way of connecting with a child to help process emotional issues or concerns. Various toys are used, such as puppets, arts and craft resources, a sand tray and therapeutic games and books. Playing is a natural way for children to express themselves, so children often use play therapy sessions to communicate with toys what they may have difficulty saying in words. Play therapy can help children to explore and make sense of feelings.

A play therapist is a trained mental health professional, skilled in using play to help children work through emotions and systematically address challenging issues in a safe and playful environment. The outcomes of play therapy are different for each child – it can help children to lessen anxiety, enable them to co- and/or self-regulate emotions and support the development of more positive social relationships.

Play Therapy is offered at Laburnum Primary School for individual students following an intervention selection process.

Social Skills Groups

Social skills are verbal and non-verbal communication skills used every day to interact and communicate with others. Social skills help children develop and maintain positive interactions with others, most of which are vital in initiating, developing and sustaining friendships. 

Social skills groups are small groups, typically consisting of two to eight children, led by a facilitator. The focus of the group is to help children learn how to interact appropriately with others of their age. Children will learn how to communicate, develop new friendships, acquire problem-solving skills, learn emotion regulation skills and further their knowledge of social cues.

Social Skills groups are offered at Laburnum Primary School for students following a group intervention selection process.

For an overview of our approach to teaching and learning, see Curriculum Framework: Teaching and Learning (2022)