“The Teaching of Responsibility” At the Student Enrolment Interview all parents are issued with a McDowall State School Student

Responsibilities Booklet. This booklet was summarily explained to each parent. This booklet is readily

available from www.mcdowallss.eq.edu.au . Principal and staff take the teaching of responsibility to

students very seriously. The Student Responsibilities Booklet is a ready reference for teachers, parents

and students.

The primary school years are a window of opportunity during which students can be taught to

be responsible for their things, for work, for their actions, for their talents and potential, for

their character and for their choices. The biggest problem w ith discipline is that teachers,

parents and adults too often just react to what children do, instead of assuming responsibility for the situation, taking control and

acting like teachers, parents and adults. If teachers have no real clear or specific objectives for their teaching, all they can try

and do is react properly. But with clear goals in mind in terms of what they want to teach children, they can act, they can take

the initiative, they can assume control of their class’ destiny. The teacher and parent must actively support each other in this

endeavour, “To achieve best educational outcomes for all students.” Instead of measuring student performance on

momentary feelings or emotions, a Student Responsibilities Framework is used.

RESPONSIBILITY means to become mature in the sense of being responsible to family, to self, to society. To be responsible for all aspects of our lives and our situations; for our talents, for our potential, for our feelings, for our thoughts, for our actions, for our freedom.

At its next higher level it becomes morality or care for how our actions and attitudes affect others.

On its most basic level, responsibility is obedience.

Then it becomes discipline.

At the highest level it becomes service.

Children best learn responsibility through this sequence. The earlier levels of responsibility prepare a child to accept the later

levels. Attempting to learn responsibility out of sequence is rarely successful. The ages on the chart are general and approximate.

Different children can grasp and gain different forms of responsibility at different ages. What is important, is not the age but the

sequence responsibility levels are taught. The first concepts should be taught as early as children can handle them.

To succeed in teaching responsibility to children, there are six important principles:

Education Queensland - “Code of School Behaviour”

The Code of School Behaviour defines the responsibilities that all members of the school community are expected to uphold and

recognizes the significance of appropriate and meaningful relationships. It outlines a consistent standard of behaviour for all State

School communities in Queensland, inclusive of students, staff and parents. The Code has been developed to deliver the best

possible outcomes for students, recognizing the close relationship between learning, achievement and behaviour. Please refer to:

http://education.qld.gov.au/behaviour/docs/code-school-behaviour-a4.pdf .

School communities use the Code as a basis for providing:

Positive support to promote high standards of achievement and behaviour.

Clearly articulated responses and consequences for inappropriate behaviour.

These are listed within the Responsible Behaviour Plan for Students.

Upon student enrolment, all parties are expected to sign an Enrolment Agreement, including students (where appropriate),

parents and principal (or delegate). This agreement requires all parties to abide by the Code of School Behaviour and other

conditions stipulated by the school.

Student Responsibilities Levels: “A Reporting Language”

The ‘Student Responsibilities Booklet’ is provided to each parent at time of Student Enrolment Interview. The ‘Student

Responsibilities Booklet’ outlines five graduated levels from 1 through to 5, each requiring increased personal acceptance of self-

responsibility for student actions or those the student failed to uphold. As Student Responsibility Levels rise, so increases the

guidance, direction, expectation and support from parents, teachers and peers. Students are firmly held responsible and

accountable for their own actions.

For each Student Responsibilities Level, the student is provided examples of conduct that may typically necessitate assigning a

particular Level to a student’s behaviour. Examples of consequence and subsequent teacher intervention in response to an

incident are also provided. Not all behaviours and interventions are listed. The teacher, upon investigation into a particular

incident, retains discretion in assigning a Student Responsibilities Level. Student Responsibilities Levels provide teachers, parents

and students with a COMMON LANGUAGE in adequately describing levels of behavioural concern and in guiding

appropriate consequence. The assigning of a Student Responsibilities Level to a student ’s behaviour is not in itself, a

consequence. Students may be required to provide restitution in some way.

ALL students begin on Level 0 and the majority of students remain on Level 0 throughout their school career. Level 0 indicates

that the student is exhibiting behaviours as expected of a McDowall State School student. Such students should therefore wear

their school uniform proudly. Respect, co-operation, responsibility and team-work are learned skills requiring personal effort and

self-reflection in adult and student alike. Teachers provide a varied and consistent programme to meaningfully encourage and

support students in the mastery of these skills. Teachers gain enormous satisfaction in celebrating student achievements with

them.

Unfortunately, some students, despite the efforts and support of those around them, choose to repeatedly and deliberately fail to

respect themselves, respect others and take responsibility for their own actions. Student Responsibilities Level 5 reflects the

exhaustive efforts and intervention by school staff in promoting appropriate student behaviour, with minimal or measured

success. The consequences of Level 5 placement include student suspension, alternative schooling and/or student exclusion from

this school.

Student Suspension & Exclusion

The Principal expects that all students enrolled at McDowall State School will be obedient from time of enrolment at this school.

This ensures the safety and wellbeing of all, while also ensuring best possible learning outcomes for all. The Principal may

suspend a student’s enrolment at McDowall State School if he is reasonably satisfied the following grounds exist:

Disobedience;

Misbehaviour;

Conduct that adversely affects, or is likely to adversely affect, the good order and management of the school;

The student’s attendance at the school poses an unacceptable risk to the safety or wellbeing of other students or staff;

The student is charged with and offence or serious offence; and

The Principal is reasonably satisfied it would not be in the best interests of other students or of staff for the student to

attend the school while a charge is pending.

To remove any doubt, conduct may be grounds for suspension even if the conduct does not happen on school premises or during

school hours.

Student Responsibilities Levels: “Brief Summary”

Student responsibility is demonstrated by student behaviour over

time. Student Responsibility Levels 1-5 therefore remain current

for ten school days from date of assignment. Should further

incident occur, at which-ever SR Level, ten days are re-set from

that new date. SR Levels target the inappropriate behaviour not

the student. If no further behavioural incident is noted during the

ten school day period, the student may directly return to SR Level

0.

Student Responsibility Levels describe the severity of and concern

held for a student behaviour or incident. A SR Level is assigned to

the most severe behaviour evident at that point in time. Therefore,

a student may not always progress and return through the SR

Levels in numerical order. Truth in reporting and intervention is

expected. Should the student action warrant it, a student may be

assigned directly to a SR Level 5 (formal suspension).

Student Responsibility Levels are not accumulative. Note that a special Points System operates during Term 4 for Year 6.

Students do not generally progress on to the next SR Level for repeated incidence of the same misbehaviour, although

heightened levels of concern (eg. disobedience etc) will eventually lead to SR Level 5. SR Levels are a reporting framework

to create a ‘common language’ between participants within the school community. Each level denotes the extent of student

failure to exhibit the micro-skills of responsibility within the social setting of the school. Where repeat offences continue to

occur, the student remains on the SR Level with heightened consequence until the inappropriate behaviours are

discontinued. [ Consistency ]

The examples of student behaviour recorded in the Student Responsibilities Levels Booklet are examples only. It is

impossible to list every behaviour and an associated logical consequence. Staff are professional practitioners who impose

and supervise an appropriate consequence to the student’s misbehaviour and then use the examples provided within the

Student Responsibilities Levels Booklet to determine the SR Level to assign. The booklet assists staff to ‘moderate’ the

levels assigned to misbehaviour in promoting ‘consistency’ of issue severity description.

The assigning of a Student Responsibilities Level to an incidence of misbehaviour is not a consequence. The educational

intervention and student learning occurs through the imposition of a logical consequence in response to the misbehaviour.

The SR Level is only a way to describe the seriousness of the issue in reporting the matter to other staff, students or

parents.