"We have implemented a social skills program where we discuss activities and images relating to differences between people,
acceptance of these differences, highlighting positive
aspects of each student and always using
positive, encouraging language."

...Deputy principal

We are an outer urban special school with many students who display highly challenging behaviours. Our school focuses upon fostering social skills for positive relationships, increased student participation and a happy environment for all.

Where It Began... Our total student population is 80. We have around 35 senior students aged 14 to 18 who are diverse in:

• intellectual ability
• learning style
• communicative ability
• communication style
• emotional stability
• sexual maturity
• mobility
• self-reliance
• street savvy
• health and robustness

Our students have social skills typical of much younger children, including some capable of voluntary and involuntary aggressive and violent behaviour. Most of our students lack the skills to deflect or defuse another person's anger and aggression.

Getting Started... To support students who are experiencing bullying and harassment, and the students who are carrying it out, we developed two main priorities.

• We needed to ensure the safety of all students, including frail students in wheelchairs who have no voluntary limb movement.
• We needed a plan that could equitably cope with intentional aggressive behaviour as well as similar involuntary behaviour.
  

We focused on strengthening student-student relationships, strengthening and clarifying adult-student relationships and enhancing student social skills.

How We Went About It... We introduced varied experiences for our students.

Some activities increase their participation:

• with peers, staff, administration and carers as active members of a Student Council.
• Morning team meetings of staff and students plan the day and remind everyone of their focus.
• Afternoon debriefing sessions review the day collectively and individually, and encourage students to reinforce their efforts.
  

Some experiences are based on more or less formal training:

• All students get weekly social skills training.
• Specific students receive sex education.
  

Other practices are aimed at establishing and nurturing positive relationships:

• Team-building activities, such as sporting and work details, foster student relationships across ability levels and disabilities
• We are improving adaptive and alternative communication strategies, for example: visuals, signs and using visual cues to enhance the communication.
  
• Students have highly individual behaviour support plans with customised expectations, motivators and consequences.
  

What We Are Learning... Fewer accident/incident reports show that individual student aggression is reducing and there are fewer student attacks. Many students show greater responsibility for their own behaviour.

What's Next... The school is looking at transferring skills learned in the school to other settings and other groups of people. We are looking at which elements of the program have good outcomes and which can be dropped.

Words of wisdom
Our school's leadership continually values student and staff contributions, and this has contributed enormously to our high staff morale, happy environment and positive relationships, despite the difficulties of challenging behaviours. The conscious effort to support is shown in many ways, including twice-yearly 'retreat' conferences where staff can develop personal and interpersonal skills, and re-examine our own practices to address student needs.

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