Vilna School
Behaviour Handbook
2015-2016
Teaching and
Supporting
Intelligent Behaviour
“Relationships are the agents of change
and the most powerful therapy is human love”
In the first step toward a compassionate heart, we must develop our empathy or closeness to others. We must also recognize the gravity of their misery. The closer we are to a person, the more unbearable we find that person's suffering. The closeness I speak of is not a physical proximity, nor need it be an emotional one. It is a feeling of responsibility, of concern for a person. In order to develop such closeness, we must reflect upon the virtues of cherishing the well-being of others.
We must come to see how this brings one an inner happiness and peace of mind. We must come to recognize how others respect and like us as a result of such an attitude toward them. We must contemplate the short-comings of self-centeredness, seeing how it causes us to act in unvirtuous ways and how our own present fortune takes advantage of those less fortunate.
~ The Dalai Lama - An Open Heart: Practicing Compassion in Everyday Life
Table of Contents
Philosophy……………………………………………………………………………pg.3
Supporting Documents…………………………………………………………pg.4
School Expectations……………………………………………………………pg.5
Personal Influence Model………………………………………………………pg.6
Minor Offences………………………………………………………………………pg.7
Dress Code……………………………………………………………………………pg.8
Cell Phones/Electronics…………………………………………………………pg.8
Late/Tardiness……………………………………………………………………pg.8
Skipping Class………………………………………………………………………pg.9
Major Offences…………………………………………………………………….pg.9
Virtues Anti-Bullying Program……………………………………………..pg.10
Smoking Reduction Program………………………………………………….pg.12
Drugs and Alcohol…………………………………………………………………pg.12
Vandalism…………………………………………………………………………….pg.13
Searches………………………………………………………………………………pg.13
Detentions/Suspensions…………………………………………………………pg.13
STUDENT DISCIPLINE
Philosophy
Student discipline is necessary for maintaining an effective learning environment, and to assist students in developing self-control, self-discipline and appropriate behavior.It takes a whole school community to effectively educate a student. In keeping with this philosophy, we at Vilna School commit to working as a TEAM to help ensure our behavior issues are dealt with empathetically, fairly, consistently and collaboratively.
Vilna School is dedicated to providing a safe and caring learning environment to support our vision of success for each student. Our discipline policy is based on the Teaching with Love and Logic as well as Restorative practice and Circle processes.
STUDENT BEHAVIOUR AND CONSEQUENCES
References
Students in Vilna School will be dealt with in a manner, appropriate in relation to the Alberta School Act and the Aspen View Student Conduct Policy Statement.
Teachers
Teachers will be responsible for deciding on daily issues in the school. All infractions are dealt with quickly, fairly and in a calmmanner, while preserving the dignity of all involved.
Administration
Referralsfrom teachers for Administrative support related to major infractionscan include recommendations and possible solutions when applicable. Consequencesfor major infractions are the responsibility of the administrator involved in mediating the issues. Circle processes may be activated to make recommendations where applicable. An investigation of the infractions which have occurred will be conducted by an administrator with the assistance of staff. It is our intent to involve parents/guardians in this process wherever possible.
The consequence will be decided based upon the following conditions.
- Student actions/reactions
- Information elicited including involved student, peer and staff observation
- History of student in dealing with his/her responsibilities and behaviour for that school year
- Student ability and skill level related to the situation
- Recommendations from staff, the counselling team and/or the Restorative Justice Process.
Fairness:No two students are alike.
Vilna School recognizes that every child is unique. The disciplinary decision of the teachers and administrators will take into account the above conditions relative to the individual student. Disciplinary actions between students will not be compared; our mission recognizes the need to educate the whole child and that no two children are alike. While there are general consequences for specific behaviours, there may be situations that arise that call for a resolution of a different nature.
STUDENT DISCIPLINE-SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS
2006 Administrative Procedures Manual
Administrative Procedure 350
Student Responsibility:
The student responsibility policy is in effect for all board sponsored activities in the classroom, on the busses, and during out of school events.
Background
Students have rights within the schools as long as they do not infringe upon the rights of others in the school.
Procedures
1. The principal shall ensure that this administrative procedure is communicated to students.
2. Students shall:
2.1. Be diligent in pursuing their studies;
2.2. Attend school regularly and punctually;
2.3. Cooperate fully with everyone authorized by the Division to provide education programs and other services;
2.4. Comply with the rules and regulations of the school;
2.5. Be accountable to the staff members and volunteers for their conduct;
2.6. Respect the rights of others;
2.7. Be accountable for their guests’ actions;
2.8. Be dressed in a manner which is conducive to learning, in good taste, and not a health or safety hazard;
2.9. Ensure that clothing does not have unacceptable words, phrases, pictures or graphics; and
2.10. Treat school property with due care and respect;
3.The Division prohibits the following on school property and at school related activities:
3.1 Alcohol;
3.2 Illegal drugs;
3.3 Weapons; and
3.4 Tobacco use.
A weapon is described as any object that is used, or intended to be used, to threaten or harm another person. Reference: Section 12, 14, 45, 60, 61, 113, School Act
Aspen View Policy
According to Aspen View Regional School Division No. 19, Policy 300-35, Suspension and/or expulsion shall be considered when a student:
a) exhibits open opposition to authority
b) exhibits willful disobedience
c) habitually neglects duty
d) uses improper or profane language
e) engages in conduct potentially injurious to others
f) willfully damages school property
g) exhibits behavior that interferes with school or board approved activities
h) exhibits behavior inconsistent with Section 7 of the School Act
"We are nothing else but what we make of ourselves.
It follows that everyone is wholly and solely responsible for everything they do.
~ Jean-Paul Sartre on "Responsibility"
SCHOOL EXPECTATIONS
- Strive to participate in all learning activities and achieve your personal best in schoolwork.
- Behave in a manner that respects the rights of others.
- Get enough sleep, eat proper meals and show up at school ready for classes every day, on time.
- Cooperate with other students, teachers and parents in creating and maintaining a learning environment conducive to learning.
- To the extent possible at your grade level, be involved in decisions affecting your program of studies.
- Respect teacher guidelines regarding the use of personal electronics and data devices in the classroom during class times. Gr. 8-12 students may have them out during break times.
- Refrain from bringing energy drinks into the school
- Stay in building during break or transition times (except lunch)
- Parents of Jr. High students are to notify the school if they do not want their child leaving the school at lunch.
- Arrive to classes on time and with the necessary material and supplies.
Where students are neglecting their responsibilities to the detriment of others, their behavior is evaluated according to the Vilna School Discipline Policy.
ATTENDANCE POLICY
The staff at Vilna School firmly believes that there is a direct relationship between the habits of prompt and regular attendance at school and student achievement. Staff encourages these habits by carefully checking attendance throughout the day.
Call-out System
To better assist parents in knowing if their child is in class on a particular day, Vilna school has implemented an electronic call out system that will automatically call students home number if that student is marked unexcused for one of more of their classes that day.
Checking out of class
Students, who are required to leave class for medical or dental appointments or for any other legitimate purpose, will first check at the office. It is important that the school be informed if a student will be leaving regular classes. Students must have parental permission (phone/note) to check-out of class. Parents are required to sign in and sign out students when they bring them to school after the school day starts and if they are picking them up for appointments etc.
Signing out Procedures
Students must be 18 years of age to sign themselves out, alternatively we must have some form of parent permission such as a note or phone call. Guardians can only sign out students under their direct care unless the school has been informed in writing by another child’s parents they are giving permission for their child to leave with named person.
Prolonged Absences
During periods of prolonged absence, parents are requested to contact their child’s teacher, in order to pick up homework assignments. Although the school will make every effort to assist those who have a lengthy absence, the ultimate responsibility for catching up rests with the student.
Unexcused Absences
Students under 16 years of age are required by law to attend school. Parents of students missing school without valid excuses will be contacted by our school family liaison to assist having the student return to school.
The School Family Liaison Worker is responsible for checking with classroom teacher regualry to monitor student attendance.
The following procedure is in place:
- Prolonged unexcused absence of 3 days for elementary students and 5 days for Jr/Sr high school students will result in a phone call home and/or home visit.
- Should we be unable to reach you or have no success in our attempts to have your child return toschool, we will send a registered letter to you asking for you to come to school for a meeting to discuss your child’s attendance issue in person.
- If attendance concerns continue we would enter into an Attendance Contract.
- Should these attempts fail we will send a letter to the Truancy board who will then deal with the matter.
Attendance Contract
Parents and/or students with a pattern of inexcusable and extended student absences may be asked to enter into an Attendance Contract. The contract will clearly outline school expectations for student attendance and a plan of action to support regular student attendance.
MINOR OFFENSES
The following procedures and steps are designed to offer a consistent framework for teachers when administering discipline. The steps are firm, but are not meant to be absolute. Each case must be weighed and acted upon according to the circumstances surrounding it, and the individual student's previous discipline record.(Refer to Pyramid of Behavioral Interventions for possible interventions). Minor offenses include behaviors such as the following:
a)showing disrespect for others
b)swearing
c)being unprepared for class
d)disrupting class
e)having incomplete assignments
f)minor vandalism
g)not working on assignments
h)loitering in the hallways
i)being late(see late policy)
j)skipping(see skipping policy)
k)creating a mess/littering
l)breaking basic classroom rules
m) being in an out of bounds area
n) play fighting/horseplay
o) inappropriate dress
p)being off school property during class time (smoke pit)
Minor offences are handled by teachers in partnership with support staff.
Teachersare responsible for documenting the incident as well as recording the intervention in power school (as required) and notifies the homeroom teacher if applicable. The homeroom teacher is responsible for tracking minor incidents fortheir homeroom class.
Possible Interventions Include
Build on teacher/student relationship and keep communication open by giving students opportunity to discuss the situation and problem solve a collaborative approach.
Make clear expectations, implement circle process, give warning, lunch detention, loss of recess, think sheets, anti-bullying programming, phone call to parents, remind student of their responsibilities according to the school act posted on wall in classroom, counseling, meeting with parents, inform and discuss ideas with mentor teacher, and admin team, student sent home until parents come in for meeting(with admin approval).
Teachers of students who are consistently offending:
If after several documented incidents, (more than 4) and several interventions have been attempted by the teacher the student will be referred to the restorative justice program. Possible interventions couldinclude a circle, meetings with key teacher, referrals to in-school supports and contact parents of student.
VILNA SCHOOL DRESS CODE
At Vilna School we believe it is important students dress for success at school. Clothing and appearance need to be appropriate for our working and learning environment.
- Clothing needs to be appropriate and not distracting, suggested or offensive to others.
- Clothing or jewelry should be free of logos, sayings or images that promote the use of drugs or alcohol, sexual innuendo or display inappropriate language, violence or racial slurs.
- Summer wear such as halter-tops, tube tops, spaghetti strap shirts, “muscle shirts” or other beach clothing is not appropriate for school wear. Tops should go to the waist and skirts, shorts, “skorts” must be longer than the end of your fingers at your side. Bare midriff and/or underwear should not be showing. Straps for shirts should fit the “2 fingers wide” guideline.
- These guidelines apply for all school functions and events.
It is recommended that students wear appropriate clothing for PE classes such as shorts or sweat pants, shirts, socks and running shoes for safety and hygienic reasons. Students are required to wear shoes inside and outside of school.
Consequences for inappropriate dress
Students, who are not dressed appropriately for school, will be asked to cover up with a pair of sweats, sweater or t-shirt provided by staff or requested to return home to change into appropriate clothing. We request that parents support the school actions by having your children dress appropriately for school.
ELECTRONIC DEVICES(includingcell phones/I-Pods/MP3 players etc.)
I-pods or other electronic devices including cell phones are allowed at the discretion of each individual classroom teacher. Students who fail to comply with the standards/expectations of teachers will lose the privilege of using their electronic device within the classroom or in school. Lost or stolen I-pods and other electronic devices are the responsibility of the student.
LATES/TARDINESS
Student Responsibility:
Vilna school expects students to accept responsibility for arriving to class on time and ready to begin work. Being late for class without a valid reason is considered disruptive. To avoid unnecessary disruption, we ask that students arrive to school and to class on time. Most demonstrations and instruction occur at the beginning of the class.
TeacherResponsibility:
A positive pupil-teacher relationship is an effective strategy for addressing student absenteeism and tardiness. Careful classroom planning is another effective strategy.
Possible Interventions:
Consistent refusal from students to comply with teacher requests may be indicative of underlying issues related to lagging skills (social, academic, emotional knowledge needed to complete the task). This may require follow up with the parents and School Counseling Team and/or Restorative Justice Program.
Teachers can also administer lunch detentions, phone parents, remind students of expectations according to school act, and in cases of perpetual tardiness from a given student refer to administration for possible interventions.
SKIPPING
Student Responsibility
Vilna school expects its students to attend class at all times. Students will not in be as successful in school if they are missing classes. Students who miss class without a valid reason will be deemed as skipping.
Staff (teacher and support staff) Responsibility
The staff member who discovers students skipping, will notifythe teacher of that particular class. The teacher will thendocument the incidentas well as the intervention in PowerSchool and e-mail it to the homeroom teacher if necessary.
Possible Interventions:
Make expectations clear, give warning, lunch detention, think sheets, phone call to parents, remind student of their responsibilities according to the school act posted on wall in classroom, meeting with parents, inform and discuss ideas with HR teacher and admin team*, student sent home until parents come in for meeting(must be admin approved). Please note: Teachers are responsible to follow-up on assigned detentions and respond accordingly to address detentions that are not served.
Chronic Skipping:
Consistently missing class may be indicative of underlying issues related to lagging skills (social, academic, emotional knowledge needed to feel successful). This may require follow up with the parents and School Counseling Team.
The following are potential interventions a teacher could initiate with a student who is consistently skipping(more than 4 times in a semester) (in no particular order), peer mediation, counseling, study teams, modified class work, tutoring, mentoring, phone calls home to parents,parent meetings, lunch detentions, in-school suspensions, out of school suspensions.
Leaving School without permission/Walking home
For students in grade 8 or older who leave school without permission and choose to walk home on their own, we will follow the procedure below:
Students are directed to stay in school and not walk home. If students choose to begin walking home, we will call the guardian immediately and let the guardian know their child has chosen to leave school without permission. Let the guardian handle it from there unless they request otherwise. If a guardian cannot be contacted thenthe RCMP will be called to inform them of the situation. Let the RCMP know the circumstances, age of the student and weather conditions etc. Students in grade 7 or younger who leave the school are to be picked up and taken home if possible. Parents are to be notified.
MAJOR OFFENCES
Major offenses include infractions such as the following:
a)theft or other criminal offenses
b)possession or distribution or use of drugs or alcohol(see drugs and alcohol policy)
c)vandalism(see vandalism policy)
d)fighting
e)intimidation or extortion
f)making threats