Summary of Legislation and Policies
Legislation: · UN Convention on the Rights of the Child: Article 28 states that children have the right to an education, and that discipline in school should respect children’s human dignity. Article 29 states that education should develop each child’s personality and talents to the full. It should encourage children to respect their parents, their cultures, and other cultures. · UNESCO Salamanca Statement: This statement proclaims that every child not only has a fundamental right to education, but that they must be given the opportunity to achieve and maintain an acceptable level of learning. · Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians: notes that there are gaps in the educational opportunities and achievement levels for young Australians. This document sets the standards and commitments for which government and educational facilities will work towards. Of particular note is Goal 2, which demands that through education, all young Australians will become successful learners, confident and creative individuals, and active and informed citizens. The focus on education goes far beyond a students knowledge of curriculum, but their ability to be successful in life beyond schooling. · Inclusive Education Policy Statement: “Inclusive education means that every day in every classroom, every state school student is learning and achieving in a safe, supportive, inclusive and disciplined learning environment.” |
School Policies: Mackay State High School has a comprehensive set of policies regarding student behavior and safety. A link to each document and a brief overview of each follows: · Responsible Behaviour Plan for Students 2013-2015: “Attends to the welfare and management of students, staff and visiting community members at the school”. This has been broken into four (4) specific areas: Promoting positive and proactive behaviours through the school, Learning and teaching, Safety and Health, and Community and Facilities · E- Devices Policy: This policy is intended to be used in relation to phones, MP3 players, and other e-Devices which may cause harm or disruption to the school, class, and/ or students. · Great Results Guarantee: This government approved funding specifies that the school is to implement the “Every Day Counts” program, with regard to school attendance levels. · A recent Discipline Audit (2014) can be reviewed to determine where the school was in various levels of discipline and behaviour in terms of staff, students, and community members. The audit can provide valuable information on where the school, staff and student body require improvements with regards to behavioural practices. · Bullying and Harassment Policy: This policy is concerned with the physical and mental health of the schools staff and students. The objectives promote the emotional development of students in an accepting and safe environment free from bullying and harassment. The policy outlines the consequences of unacceptable behaviours and is distributed to all students upon enrolment at the school. [IMAGE 1 BELOW] · School-wide Pedagogical Model: Teachers at MSHS are required to use the Explicit Instruction model of teaching. Through this students will be exposed to structure in their lessons across the curriculum. Teachers are required to clearly state lesson goals, know the students and develop strong working relationships. Clear class standards are provided for the students in addition to engaging and challenging lessons. These are all designed with high expectations in mind. For specific information on the high expectations concept, please refer to Appendix B. [IMAGE 2 BELOW] Uniform and Sun-Safety Policy: Sun safety issues are lightly addressed within the Uniform Policy. A comprehensive Sun-Safety Policy can be obtained from the administration office as it was not available at the time of this report. [IMAGE 3 BELOW] |
How the Policies relate to the standards
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