School Culture & Wellbeing at Lyndhurst
At Lyndhurst, we are building three active cultures that intertwine to create an environment that
encourages success in student learning and academic results as well as high standard student
interactions and behaviour.
The first culture is one of high expectations of the students. High expectations by teachers of their
students are translated into high expectations of the school by parents. The Lyndhurst community has
high expectations of our school that reflect their high aspirations for their children. This is a key
ingredient in our success as a school. Building an aspirational community engenders a culture of high
expectations and high achievement.
The second culture is one of high expectations by teachers of each other. We believe that, to all
members of our staff, it means something significant to work at Lyndhurst PS. We want to engender a
community that respects and admires the commitment of the members of staff and this, in turn, builds an environment where all members of staff feel appreciated and thus more willing to add discretionary effort. In a culture such as this, there is an expectation amongst staff that all will contribute in a significant way to the accomplishments of the school and all will share in the pride of the resulting success.
The third critical culture is one in which students have high expectations of each other. This essential element is crucial in maintaining an orderly learning environment and encouraging high levels of achievement. There is a high standard of behaviour that is not only expected of the students but that students have a right to expect of each other. There are standards of interaction that are respectful and courteous. There are standards of commitment to their schooling and motivation to learn that are constantly in evidence.
I relish the opportunity continue to build a school at Lyndhurst that provides support, encouragement and growth opportunities for staff and which is characterized by high student motivation to learn and high teacher motivation to teach and to continue to learn. This is a school in which the whole community can participate and of which the whole community can be proud.
Student well-being is a critical factor in how students learn and the connection that they have to a school
and community. Lyndhurst Primary School has a focus on building strong, positive relationships between
students, teachers and parents.
We aim to be proactive in managing student welfare, not just reactive. Our whole school social skills
program gives everyone a common language to develop the social and emotional skills to be successful
in school, experience wellbeing and have positive relationships with others. Our aim is to develop
students who are self-regulating, responsible and accountable, who are able to problem-solve and show
empathy towards others.
In response to the rapid growth of our school, we have implemented a sub-school structure as a means
of focusing school leaders on the well-being and academic progress of every student. Each member the Principal Class team at the school as taken on particular responsibility for a section of the school. The three sub-schools are, Prep-1, Years 2-3 and Years 4-6. Through the sub-school structure, we hope that we can maintain our personalised approach to our students and families as the school grows. Supported by a Leading Teacher in each sub-school, each member of the Principal team (Principal and Assistant Principals), will have the time and resources to get to know every student in their sub-school and can communicate effectively to every family in their sub-school. From a parent's perspective, you can expect to deal with the same person whenever you have a concern or issue and you can be assured that issues will be dealt with and followed through.
We use a Restorative Practice approach at Lyndhurst Primary School. This is a way of viewing relationship-building and behaviour management in schools that works to strengthen a sense of community among students and between students, teachers and parents. In the Restorative Practice philosophy, conflict or wrongdoing is seen as causing harm to people and relationships, and there is an obligation first to repair this harm in order for the people involved to move forward. It is a way of educating students towards self-regulated right behaviour that is respectful of all concerned. In particular, it puts the onus back on the wrong-doer to be truly accountable for their behaviour and to repair any harm caused to others.
Lyndhurst is implementing Kids Matter across our school. KidsMatter Primary is a mental health and wellbeing framework for primary schools and is proven to make a positive difference to the lives of Australian children. KidsMatter Primary provides the proven methods, tools and support to help schools work with parents and carers, health services and the wider community, to nurture happy, balanced kids. We hope that Kids Matter will not only help us build and more positive, proactive and healthy culture in our school, clearly focused on the well-being of our students, but also to help us build healthy relationships across our whole community. Click here for more information about Kids Matter.