Capilano Elementary
North Vancouver School District
News Item

Positive Behaviour Supports

December 12, 2016

​At Capilano Elementary School, we continue to work on developing positive classroom and playground cultures. One part of helping to create a positive learning environment is our Code of Conduct: Capilano R.O.C.K.S.

 All British Columbia Schools require a Code of Conduct that meets the criteria as outlined by the Ministry of Education. 

 

Code of Conduct:  Capilano R.O.C.K.S.

R    Respectful - to oneself, other people and other things
O    Open-Minded - to views, values and traditions of others 
C    Cooperative - working collaboratively with others
K    Kind - demonstrating empathy, respect and consideration
S    Safe - keeping oneself and others injury free 

 

When students fail to adhere to the Code of Conduct, disciplinary action will be preventative and restorative rather than merely punitive. The goal of restorative action is reconciliation and reparation.  Students failing to adhere to the Code of Conduct are given the opportunity to take responsibility for their behaviour and restore damaged relationships, correct the injustice, or restore material damages.

Capilano has a number of professional staff members who support our teachers in establishing clear expectations for positive behaviours that allow students to learn, share and grow.

All elementary schools have teacher-counsellors who work with individual students, small groups and classes. In addition to providing support for individual students, our counsellors assist with class meetings, friendship groups and whole-class lessons on friendship, empathy and problem solving skills.  The North Vancouver School District also employs Behaviour Support Workers (BSW) who support positive behaviours in classrooms and on the playground.  We share our school counsellors with one other elementary school and our BSW with two other elementary schools.

Supporting Positive Behaviours in Classes

At school learning is our primary focus.  So that all learners can experience growth and success, all students need to contribute in positive ways to their classroom learning communities.  To assist with this, we ask our students to:

  • Behave so that they, and other students, can learn
  • Engage respectfully with others in the classroom and school
  • Treat others the way they'd like to be treated
  • Respond on "First Ask" to instructions
  • Positively react when redirected
  • Be part of peaceful solutions to problems or challenges
  • Show understanding about how personal actions affect others
  • Ask a staff member for clarification if unsure of behaviour expectations
  • Model expected behaviours for other students

The Capilano Code of Conduct outlines how we respond when students have difficulty demonstrating positive behaviours. The Code of Conduct also outlines information for parents on how to support the positive school climate.

 

From Code of Conduct (updated October 2016)

Parents as Partners

Parents are encouraged to review and model the Code of Conduct with their children.  Parents can support their children in building social responsibility by:

  • Teaching and modelling appropriate ways of dealing with conflict
  • Developing problem-solving skills, with an emphasis on effective use of communication 
  • Helping children find safe and appropriate ways to express and deal with anger or frustration
  • Listening to children and responding to needs and concerns in ways that develop social capacity: What was the problem/issue?  How did the problem or issue affect you? Others? What did you do to solve the problem? Did your strategy work? Why or why not? What would you do differently next time?
  • Helping children understand the value of reflecting on individual differences and seeing "both sides" of a story or situation (develop child's empathy skills)
  • Focusing on the development of the attributes of the International Baccalaureate PYP Learner Profile and Attitudes as well as the IB Action Cycle (choose-act-reflect)
  • Monitoring and discussing television viewing, playing of videos, and on-line games
  • Ensuring a healthy balance of social activities; involving children in games and activities that develop collaboration and cooperation
  • Providing opportunities for children to develop the vocabulary to effectively communicate about issues and to practice the language of problem solving
  • Encouraging and explicitly expressing value for cooperative fair play in competitive situations
  • Support the home-school connection by:
  • Contacting the teacher, principal, or vice principal with concerns about the behaviour or safety of children at school
  • Reviewing and extending problem solving processes initiated by the school, at home

Parents are reminded to respect the privacy of students and their families when discussing consequences for Code of Conduct violations.  For privacy reasons, school staff members will provide parents with details pertaining to their child/children but will not provide details pertaining to disciplinary actions relating to other students.