Safe Schools Hub for Parents

Positive leadership creates and maintains the safety and wellbeing of all members of the school community. This happens when school leaders work with their school community to develop policies, programmes and procedures that make the school safe, supportive and respectful. The leaders have a vision of how the school could be, and they communicate this to you and involve you in helping to build a safe school.

2 A supportive and connected school culture

Students feel safe in a school community that promotes and acts on positive values, is inclusive of student diversity and fosters positive, caring and respectful relationships. This involves the entire school community – including parents and carers. When people feel connected with each other, they feel that they belong and positive things can then happen.

3 Policies and procedures

Clear policies and procedures help to build a safe school. These should be both drafted and reviewed in collaboration between school leaders, teachers, parents, carers and students.

It is important that there is shared understanding and ownership of these policies and procedures, because this helps all members of the school community to support student safety and wellbeing.

4 Professional learning

Staff undertake ongoing professional learning to develop and improve their skills. Professional learning can help staff to develop detailed understanding of student wellbeing and the types of strategies that can work to support the safety and wellbeing of all members of the school community.

5 Positive behaviour management

A safe school promotes and recognises positive student behaviour. This helps to ensure student safety and to minimise risk.

Parents, school leaders and teachers – and students themselves – can all contribute to the positive behaviour management of students inside and outside the classroom by recognising, praising and celebrating what students are doing right. This increases the chance that students will repeat these positive behaviours in the future.

6 Engagement, skill development and safe school curriculum

Three things are needed in safe schools:

• Engagement: students need to be engaged and interested in what they are learning in order to build an awareness of safety and wellbeing issues.
• Safe school curriculum: what is taught in the classroom helps to build students’ understanding of what a safe school looks like, their own place and role in making their school safe, and how to make their relationships with peers, teachers and parents respectful and positive.
• Skill development: when students develop the skills to cooperate and relate well to others, they also build skills to behave appropriately at school.

7 A focus on student wellbeing and student ownership

Students play an important role in the development and maintenance of a safe school. They can make a positive contribution to the wellbeing of all students in the school, their families and the broader community.

8 Early intervention and targeted support

Intervening early and providing targeted support are essential for a safe school.

The first important step is identifying those students who may be ‘at risk’. Another important step is exploring strategies and processes that will provide the support needed by these students and their families.

9 Partnerships with families and community

Positive partnerships between parents, families and schools, as well as with community organisations, are important for creating a consistent and supportive approach to safety, wellbeing and learning.

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