Page 43 - Week 01 - Tuesday, 12 February 2019
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MS LEE: Minister, what steps have you personally taken to address the serious nature, frequency and longevity of these claims, given that apparently they go back as long ago as 2017?
MS BERRY: I have sought assurances personally from the Director-General of the Education Directorate that the systems in place to deal with issues of this kind in schools across the ACT, but particularly the ones in this school referred to in the Canberra Times yesterday, are appropriate. I can say that since then the directorate has contacted, or has attempted to contact, all of the families that were included on the petition that was sent to the directorate. There were 17 families. There will be a meeting of parents at the school to discuss the approaches that have been implemented since those incidents occurred. Looking forward, the school will also be participating in positive behaviours for learning, which is about building a school culture around positive support and learning for students in that school community.
I am assured that the systems in place and that were available at the time dealt with the issues. But what I am concerned about with the issues at Theodore is that there does not appear to have been complete and thorough communication between the school, the directorate and the families about what was actually being implemented to support their children and their families in regard to those incidents.
MR PARTON: Minister, are you aware of violence in other schools and, if so, what are you doing to address it?
MS BERRY: Generally our schools are safe places for students but on occasion students are injured in schools and schools and the Education Directorate have systems and supports in place to support the school communities to ensure that teachers and leaders within those schools have all of the supports they need to address these issues as they arise but also, more than just the individual issues, that they have a whole-of-school culture that contributes to a positive, safe learning environment for all students regardless of where they come from or their backgrounds.
Positive behaviour for learning is being rolled out across all of our schools, including Theodore, to ensure that all of those supports are available, that teachers and leaders and the whole school community understand what it means to support each other to have positive learning environments. But yes, occasionally in schools there is violence and the Education Directorate ensures that the schools have the appropriate supports, processes and policies in place to ensure that parents and students are properly supported.
Schools—violence
MR WALL: My question is also to the Minister for Education and Early Childhood Development. Minister, the principal of a Tuggeranong primary school that has been highlighted in the media this week sent an email to parents assuring them that the school has put in place measures to address violence, including the rollout of the positive behaviour model, to respond to incidents. In the email, the principal
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