.png)
%20(1).png)
_edited.png)
Positive Behaviour for Learning
PB4L/Incredible Years/Restorative Practice
Te Whai Hiringa has embraced the PB4L, Incredible Years and Restorative Practices school wide. Our staff have undergone intensive training to become trained in this powerful new approach to behaviour management and social and emotional competence.
What is PB4L?
Positive Behaviour for Learning initiatives help parents, whānau, teachers, early childhood centres, and schools address problem behaviour, improve children’s well-being, and increase educational achievement.
By strengthening relationships and creating more positive home and school environments we remove barriers to
engagement and improve students’ chances to achieve at school and beyond. PB4L represents a major shift in managing disruptive behaviour by students in our education system. Positive behaviour is a prerequisite to improving the engagement and achievement of our children and young people. Using a proactive approach, the environments around children can be changed to support positive behaviour. Positive behaviour can be learnt and is taught at Te Whai Hiringa.
It’s not about changing the students; it’s about changing the environment,
systems and practices you have in place to support them to make
positive behaviour choices.
PB4L Restorative Practice
What happens when things go wrong?
The Incredible Years Teacher programme provides teachers with tools and strategies to teach social and emotional competence and to help turn disruptive behaviour around and create a more positive learning environment for their students. The programme is for teachers of children aged 3–8 years. Although at Te Whai Hiringa we have pushed the boundaries and use this approach school-wide. We asked for special permission form the creators to ensue our whole school is trained.
The programme covers:
-
building positive relationships with students
-
proactively preventing behaviour problems
-
using attention, encouragement and praise to turn behaviour around
-
motivating students by giving them incentives
-
helping students learn social skills, empathy, and problem-solving
-
using appropriate consequences for undesirable behaviour.
Our kaiako and kaiawhina have acquired a vast toolset of methods to use in behaviour and classroom management by completing this 6 month course. We have had extremely positive feedback from staff and whānau at the effectiveness and success of this new approach within our school. Using the Incredible Years approach we now
focus on the key strategies presented to us on the Teaching Pyramid.
What is the Incredible Years Teacher programme?
The bottom of the pyramid focuses on tools to encourage students' positive relationships and behaviours and build their confidence, self-esteem, emotional regulation, problem-solving and motivation for learning. This bottom layer of the pyramid provides the foundational scaffolding and nurturing necessary to promote student learning and developmental growth and should be used greatly. At Te Whai Hiringa we put a heavy focus on using the bottom 3 layers of strategies to minimise classroom and playground disruption. By following this system there is a reduction in the need for calls home to parents, loss of privileges and consequences. The Incredible Years approach encourages Teachers to nurture positive relationships with each student and their whanau. Here at Te Whai Hiringa we encourage and invite you to be a part of this process. A positive relationship between teacher, children and family enables our students to feel valued and special and fosters a supportive and trusting relationship out of which academic performance will flourish.
Click here for more information on the Incredible Years Teaching Program and PB4L.
Schools have a critical role in forming future citizens, and
when schools teach and model restorative ways of handling
conflict and wrongdoing, they contribute significantly to the
creation of a more peaceful, humane and democratic society.
The Positive Behaviour for Learning (PB4L) Restorative Practice model puts focus on building and maintaining positive, respectful relationships across the school community and offers school staff best-practice tools and techniques to restore relationships when things go wrong. Here at Te Whai Hiringa we begin the process with Mini Chats. Where if an incident arises between students or teachers and students we have all parties involved for a chat to voice all concerns and feelings. Through these discussions each person is given their chance to explain the situation and offer apologies if necessary. We call this process Restorative Justice. A 'just' school is a place where victims and wrongdoers are active participants in processes that ensure equal justice and fairness. Victims are empowered through having their experiences validated and having their needs met. Wrongdoers are able to tell their stories and be given the chance to make amends, and the school community can seek ways to ensure that the incident does not happen again.
For issues that need whānau intervention or are more serious in nature there are three types of Restorative Conferences in PB4L Restorative Practice: Mini Conferences, Classroom Conferences and Formal Restorative Conferences. Although they differ in formality, numbers participating and the severity of the related incident, all three types require the phases of preparation, participation and follow up, and all three use Restorative Scripts and fair process. Restorative Conferencing is a process that provides schools with ways to repair harm and restore relationships. It uses the stories of those involved in an incident and the people close to it (e.g. students, staff and whānau) to:
-
explore what has happened and who has been affected
-
hold those who have caused harm accountable for their actions
-
provide support to those who have been harmed, and others involved.