The Education Minister has released a new plan to address violence in schools and provide greater clarity for teachers and other school staff on their rights and responsibilities.
Under the 'Let's take a stand together' action plan, new tactics to address violent behaviour by WA school students and better support staff to manage incidents will roll out over the next three years.
The plan follows consultation with stakeholders from across the community about effective ways to bring about change. It includes 10 actions for schools, families and communities to work together to address this complex societal issue.
Better support for public school staff – including clear advice on preventing, managing and responding to aggression and violence – will be provided to help schools.
From next year, every graduate teacher employed in a public school will be trained on how to de-escalate and manage aggressive behaviour, as part of their induction program.
New rules will apply in public schools so that any student who starts or films attacks or fights will be suspended automatically. Principals will automatically move to exclude any student who physically attacks school staff. ‘Exclusion’ means a student is removed from a particular school permanently or for a set period of time. Every exclusion order is approved by the Director General of the Department of Education.
New alternative learning settings to help students manage their behaviour, are being developed.
The plan focuses on the behaviour of students who have intentionally been physically aggressive to others. Students with a disability who either cannot manage their behaviour or do not intend to harm others are not the target of this plan.
See the 'Let's take a stand together' action plan here.
