"What we have in our school is a microcosm of that society for which we are at pains to prepare our students. And in that microcosm are
all the strategies and techniques needed to survive. And
they lie in the students' own abilities."

...Deputy principal

Our school is situated in an outer city area. Our 1200 students come from a diverse range of cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. We have worked at improving student safety and connectedness to the school.

Where It Began... Friction between cultural groups was creating disharmony and distrust in the school, and leading to an increase in bullying and other unsafe behaviour. Also, the school is in an area where many social problems affect students' physical and emotional wellbeing and educational performance.

Getting Started... Our need to develop a greater sense of belonging and security in the school environment, and to improve positive relations between groups, led us to the Health Promoting School philosophy.
This is a whole-school model incorporating:

• curriculum, teaching and learning
• school organisation, ethos and environment
• partnerships and services.
  

One of the main aims of a Health Promoting School is to increase student 'connectedness' to the school. This aim seemed to fit nicely with our perceived problems, and it complemented the existing whole school behaviour plan, individual and group support programs and our interagency and community support networks.

How We Went About It...

• We informed the community, parents, teachers and students about the Health Promoting Schools approach.
• Senior Health education students designed surveys.
• Student council members surveyed the school on what they thought the issues were and their suggestions for improving the wellbeing of the school community.
• We implemented changes drawn from the survey results and students' ideas.

The survey results identified that 98% of students felt unsafe using the toilet facilities. This provided the first priority for student action. With support from students, teachers and carers, the toilets were repainted, decorated with student-created murals and refitted with soap dispensers, electric hand dryers and exhaust fans. Playground duty rosters were also reorganised to have a teacher always near these toilets.

What We Are Learning... The toilets have been a huge success, with many students feeling safer.

Most importantly, the students' needs have been identified and acted on, with students instigating and carrying out the changes. The overall result has been a strong sense of student ownership of both the projects and their school, and a belief that they can play an active role in decision making to improve their social, physical and educational environment.

As students play an increasingly active civic role in the life of the school, they have demonstrated greater caring for each other, both within and across cultural groups. Bullying and harassment have decreased, and students have begun speaking up more often against bullying by their peers. Senior Health students have carried out surveys to identify student perceptions about what's needed to make the school even safer.

There has also been a significant increase in positive relations among staff and students.

What's Next... We'll be continuing the Health Promoting Schools approach, and incorporating the Mind Matters program to further address issues of resiliency, bullying and harassment, and their connection to mental health. Again this is a whole school approach where issues are dealt with in the curriculum, policies, ethos and environment.

Over the next 3-5 years, we aim to have a much closer-knit school community with better relationships and a sense of calm and belonging.

"We've taken a collaborative approach involving staff, students and parents. The result is a significant proportion of people in
the school working in harmony."

...Teacher

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