We are a primary school of 88 students in a rural community.

Where It Began... Because of our small numbers, we have organised the school into four composite classes.

Getting Started... To ensure that we have strong positive cross-age relationships between students in and outside the class room, we wanted to put in place a number of strategies, including the need to have a consistent way in which student behaviour is managed.

How We Went About It... We have an emphasis on teaching all students pro-social values such as responsibility and respect.

We have a strong anti-bullying policy and this has been clearly communicated to parents. Teachers have committed to responding quickly in bullying situations to make sure that they do not go further.

We make sure that contract replacement teachers are informed about expectations and strategies for classroom management to ensure consistency

All teachers follow a consistent approach to yard duty with a focus on the recognition and reward of pro-social behaviour.

There is a lunchtime program which provides a range of activities for students to be involved in if they are feeling 'left out'. Older students often help younger students to find an appropriate playmate from their own age group or include them in their own games. The children also can 'log in' with the yard duty teacher before lunchtime to play a yard-duty hiding game which involves the teacher.

We have a year 6/preps buddy program in place and all year 6 students are trained in conflict management skills and mediation skills.

Student leadership is a vital part of the school and we have a student representative council which, as one of its roles, decides which community service activities the students will support.

What We Are Learning... We have learnt that consistency and effectiveness of the school's overall behaviour management plan has increased staff confidence and morale.

What's Next... We will continue to maintain and build on the strategies we now have in place.