Being a Glasser Quality School

In 30 August 2019 we were declared a Glasser Quality School (GQS). We are the second Glasser Quality School in Australia. The other is Sunshine Beach State School.

A Glasser Quality School actively builds quality relationships, encourages quality work from all, provides a need-satisfying environment and aims to encourage all learners and staff to achieve to their potential (find out about Glasser Quality Schooling here: http://www.wglasser.com/the-glasser-approach/quality-schools ).

A GQS operates with Choice Theory as its psychological base. Some of the core concepts include:

• Removal of fear and coercion
• Doing quality work is deeply satisfying
• Quality relationships enable quality learning
• Self-evaluation and co-verification lead to quality learning outcomes.

Operating in this way actively removes barriers to learning.

 

Choice Theory – our psychological base

Choice Theory explains why and how we make choices that determine the course of our lives. Understanding human behaviour at this level gives us the tools to be happy people and build the life we want to live.

Choice Theory states:

• The only person’s behaviour I can control is my own (trying to control others ruins the relationships I need)
• Behaviour is always purposeful and chosen (and is our best attempt at the time to satisfy our Basic Needs)
• I choose everything I do (and practically all I think). My emotions and physiology are a direct result of those choices
• We are internally driven by our genes to satisfy our Basic Needs (Survival, Love & Belonging, Power, Freedom, Fun & Enjoyment)
• I can change what I’m doing and thinking if it isn’t getting me what I need
• Each person is responsible for his / her behaviour
• Many long-lasting psychological problems are relationship problems

 

How We Use This Information

Choice Theory underpins everything we do at Peregian Springs State School. Quality relationships are our focus.

Helping our learners understand how and why they behave and how they can take more effective control of their lives is part of every class, every day.

Some of the ways we do this are:

• Many staff are trained in Choice Theory, Reality Therapy and Lead Management
• Implementing our whole-school social and emotional literacy curriculum, with explicit lessons and experiences taught across all year levels enabling children to lead more effective lives
• Helping our learners to identify and balance their Basic Needs
• Helping our learners to grow from requiring co-management involving adults to being responsibly self-managed
• Continually evaluating our practices by asking, ‘Is what we are doing helping us achieve our core values of Relationships first, Global Citizenship, Learning, Creativity, Respect and Resilience?’
• Providing a continuum of support for all  who need it.

Find out more about Choice Theory Psychology here: http://www.wglasser.com/the-glasser-approach/choice-theory

 

Links 

• William Glasser Institute -  http://www.wglasser.com/
• Mental Health and Happiness (Choice Theory for everyday people) - http://mentalhealthandhappiness.com/
• William Glasser Institute Australia - http://www.wgia.org.au/
• PSSS website https://peregianspringsss.eq.edu.au/our-school/choice-theory

Capability is built from Prep to Year 6

This year's Japanese School Trip was a cracker! We took the most children ever - 12 brave souls boarded the flight to Narita (Tokyo), attended school and lived with a Japanese family for a week.

There were excursions to Kamakura and the city, calligraphy lessons, a Tea Ceremony, amazing lessons in music and science and arts and crafts. There was 'strange' food and some sick children. There was laughing and also a lot of crying on the last day.

But the best thing of the week was reflecting on how each of these children have grown and changed in one week. One parent commented that she sent a 10 year old who returned a teenager (in a good way!) The attending teacher sent the families a heartfelt email once we returned. This message really says it all in terms of the capability we (parents and teachers) develop in children over the years of their primary education.

This is what he had to say

'Dear Parents and Carers,

I would like to reiterate what Gwen wrote in her email yesterday. The Japan trip was a wonderful experience for everyone involved and I feel privileged to have witnessed the maturity and growth in the students in such a short time. The positive mindset displayed at all times by all students is a credit not only to the students, but also to each of you for the years of guidance you have given them. 

Whether it was by way of smiling politely through instances of language breakdowns, checking in on the wellbeing of fellow travellers (‘What number?’ Students will understand this😉), grabbing on to each other to remain intact on a busy Tokyo train,  teaching an entire music class of curious Japanese kids how to sing English songs at the request of the even more curious Japanese teacher, being fed food that was very unfamiliar, not to mention being part of a different family, there are countless examples of your students having an open mind and breezing through situations that many other people (adults included) would have found challenging. They were so ready for this trip. 

Your child showed wonder in the world around them, compassion, confidence and respect. I am delighted to have been part of this fantastic adventure with them.

Kind regards,

Andrew'

 

Roll on Japanese School Trip 2020

Finish as a team

Finish as a team...what a great concept. And so reflective of the modern world. No longer is it the greatest to come first - it's better to work collaboratively, support each other and finish the job together, as a unit, as a whole.

And so the Kokoda Challenge for our kids - The Kokoda Youth Foundation focuses on changing the lives of disadvantaged youth. The challenge is to train for and then run 15 gruelling kilometres - and finish as a team. Our school has had a team of students supported by their teachers running in this event for the last two years. Gradually we've all gotten involved even if we're not all running. We now wear green to school the day before the team head off to the challenge and all the money raised is donated to the Foundation to assist a group of youngsters get to Papua New Guinea and walk the Kokoda track visiting villages and honouring our veterans along the way. The program involves the youth doing what they thought was impossible, creating lifelong bonds and experiencing history and culture to prepare them for giving back to the community on their return.

There is a special story behind this year's team involving one of our teachers, Susie Lefevre. In 2014 after beating breast cancer, Susie conquered the Kokoda track, honoring her father and maternal grandfather who were both WWII Kokoda Track heroes. It was one of the most grueling yet rewarding challenges Susie has ever completed. She shares a message of persistence, endurance, hope and facing whatever life throws at you with grace, confidence and a huge smile and our team considered this message as they ran yesterday.

All Kokoda school cups are in honour and memory of Australian Veterans, not only keeping their spirit alive but helping to educate all of us about our diggers and the sacrifice they made for our freedom. In 2019 our Peregian Springs State School teams were named after Susie's father and maternal grandfather.

• Frank Freckelton - Craftsman 247 Light Aid Detachment
• Ray Edmonds – Militia 55/53 battalion

What an honour for our 2019 team! How proud these brave men would have been of you.

 

Trust

Source: Yuriy Seleznev/Shutterstock

Trust is a nebulous thing - it's hard to define and even harder to develop and maintain. It's the cornerstone of our relationships. Trusting someone means you can rely on them, that you have confidence in them and that you feel safe with them both emotionally and physically. It's easy to say you trust someone, but it's hard to do and it's equally hard to be trustworthy.

Relationships cannot survive without trust because it is the willingness to be vulnerable to another person based on the confidence that the other is benevolent, honest, open, reliable and competent.

For organisations like schools, trust is a powerful resource in day to day work. It plays an important role in visioning, modelling, coaching, managing and mediating (Tschannen-Moran, 2014). A school built on trust is more productive, more engaged, happier. It's buoyed along on it's own tide of positive emotion. People feel it when they walk into the office. They see it watching kids at work and play. They hear it in teachers' voices. They see it in our faces.

What to do when trust is broken? How much does it hurt? How widely does it spread? Can it be built back? Is it possible to make yourself vulnerable again? Can we again have confidence that the other will be benevolent, honest, open, reliable and competent once more? How long does it take? Trust matters; it matters in our personal relationships, in our working lives, in our social lives... and in our school.

'I don't ask for much, I only want trust,

And you know it don't come easy'

Ringo Starr

Tschannen-Moran, Megan (2014) Trust Matter: Leadership for Successful Schools, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco

Turning 10

Credit: Getty Images

It's our birthday soon - we're going to be 10. I keep telling people we're 10 but technically we're not 10 yet. But I don't know any nine year olds who can't wait to be 10 (and I know nearly 200 nine year olds).

We've come such a long way - building our school from a tiny community of 264 students and 12 classes to a massive 1120 and 45 classes. It's been a wild and rewarding ride and we're going to celebrate!

Everyone's getting in on the act - there will be a special Birthday Assembly (of course - our school never goes halves with Assemblies!) with cupcakes, presentations and performances, murals, games and an open day, special 10th birthday handballs all kids will want, a movie of our 10 years, and the opening of the time capsule and the closing up of it again until our 25th. We will celebrate all those children turning 10 with us this year. It's going to be great fun.

I can't wait to be 10!