Page 1231 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 3 April 2019
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The team supports staff safety by:
• analysing data to identify where staff may be at risk of harm due to the behaviour of students or parents/carers
• making recommendations about effective student behaviour management in circumstances where a risk to staff health and safety has been identified
• reviewing incident reports
• facilitating the development, and regular review, of school-based risk management plans where the level of risk of harm to a worker resulting from behaviour of a student or other non-staff school community member has been assessed at a high level
• providing advice to schools on actions that should be taken to mitigate against risk of injury.
Responding to occupational violence, while directed at managing risks to staff safety, also addresses issues contributing to student safety.
System support and resources
In addition putting in place a standard approach to social and emotional wellbeing and responding to occupational violence, the Education Directorate is facilitating supportive school environments by increasing the diversity of support in schools and continually building the knowledge and skills of staff. The government is also investing in improved systems that will provide greater transparency and an improved opportunity to provide schools with proactive support to manage issues.
Allied health professionals and school support staff
Teachers in government schools work in partnership with a range of other professionals and support staff to meet the diverse needs of students and their families.
All ACT government schools have access to a school psychologist. School psychologists work across behavioural, social, emotional and learning domains to support a student’s wellbeing and learning. The ratio of school psychologists to students in ACT public schools compares favourably when compared to other jurisdictions and the ACT Government has funded 20 additional school psychologists to be delivered by 2020. As at 2019, government schools are supported by a total of 76.6 FTE school psychologists between those providing direct, indirect and universal supports and those attached to the Child Development Service and Positive Behaviours for Learning teams.
In addition to psychologists, government schools can also make referrals to the Network Student Engagement Team (NSET) that provides specialist and targeted services to schools. Four inter professional, multidisciplinary teams are drawn from over 100 educators and allied health professionals. These teams build capacity and support staff within schools through observing behaviour in the classroom, delivering professional learning and providing advice and strategies for teachers and other staff to implement. They provide more individualised support, assisting with the development of positive behaviour support plans for individual students. NSET also assists schools to implement and review school wellbeing and attendance procedures and processes.
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