Working Together:

The move from Primary to Secondary School is significant for students and parents.  At OLSH we seek to work in close partnership with parents.  We do know that students achieve better when home and school work closely together.  We welcome and invite parents throughout the year to:

• Welcome / Information Evenings

• Parent / Teacher Interviews

• Career Pathways / Subject Choice Evenings

Parents can also become involved by being a member of the Parents and Friends Association, helping in the Canteen, assisting in the Library, involvement in the LAP Program, and helping with the maintenance of grounds and equipment.  Parents are welcome to meet with teachers at any time to discuss their daughters’  progress.

Pastoral Care

Pastoral Care is the total expression of OLSH’s care of students. Pastoral Care is the active pursuit of programs and practices that promote and develop the intellectual, emotional, physical, psychological, social and spiritual dimensions of individuals through the establishment of a safe, secure and welcoming environment where support structures are evident.

Pastoral Care is a call to action, of not letting go when it may seem more expedient to loosen the ties, particularly for those who are greatest in need.

Our Pastoral Care Policy

Our Pastoral Care policy identifies and expresses a common vision about Pastoral Care at OLSH. It is central to the development of our school community.

The Pastoral Care policy applies to all members of the school community and aims to:

• have a formative influence upon the school community while being formulated, reviewed and/or renewed.
• provide a touchstone within which the school community can develop policies and procedures and maintain consistency of decisions, practices and actions related to pastoral care.
• give expression to the relationships of faith, learning and support which characterize the school’s vision, ethos and practice.
• identify intentions and patterns for taking action.
• provide transformative experiences and a connectedness that help individuals to build a caring and hopeful community.

Pastoral Care in our school is underpinned by the social teachings of the Catholic Church which are an expression of gospel values viewed through the lens of the charism of the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart.

We are made in the image of God and at the core of the Church’s pastoral action is a deep respect for the innate dignity and uniqueness of the individual.
The student is at the centre of all the activities of the school.

OLSH as a school of the Church is pastoral in nature because it believes in the importance of nurturing the physical, social, moral and spiritual needs of human beings in a safe learning environment.

The school has the potential to be a positive force in developing a sense of self worth in our students, of forming living skills and values and developing a spiritual journey as an integrating life principle.

Pastoral Care is central to the ethos of a Catholic school community.

Pastoral Care is based on the values of the gospels. In particular, the values of an unconditional love involving hospitality, compassion and forgiveness.

Student Needs and our Responsibilities

Student needs include:

• to be treated as an individual
• to belong to a family
• to belong to a faith community
• to be forgiven.

Pastoral Care is entrusted to all members of the school community and challenges them to:

• contribute to one another’s growth. It endeavours to provide to all the experience of interpersonal relationships of care and support.
• see it as an essential component of their role.
• uphold and sustain policies and practices that foster mutual respect, responsibility and service to the community.
• respect and support diverse family structures and integrate cross cultural issues.

Principals are to enable an environment for learning by providing the space and opportunities for the development of pastoral care.

Teachers are challenged to see that at the heart of their role is the modeling of right relationships.

Students are challenged to create a community of learning.

Parents are invited to support a climate of learning, care and forgiveness.

Pastoral Care concerns the stewardship of resources to maximize opportunities for the benefit of individuals.

Pastoral Care is about compassion.

Elements of our Pastoral Care

School Ethos
Interpersonal Relationships
Behaviour Education
Teaching and Learning
Formal Pastoral Care programs
School/Family partnerships
Supportive organisational structures
Support Networks

Curriculum Teaching & Learning

Comprehensive and inclusive approaches to teaching and learning.

Implementation of Pastoral Care programs that address the ‘life’ needs of students.

Fair and just assessment.

School Organisation, Ethos & Environment

Coordinated and supportive organisational structures.
Liturgy celebrations and assemblies.
Effective networks of care.
Fostering high quality interpersonal relationships
School vision and beliefs.

Partnership & Services

Parish, diocesan and parent partnerships.
School based Pastoral Care activities.
Links to wider community.
Accessible support services to cater for a range of needs.

Outcomes

The success of Pastoral Care is most dependent on the quality of relationships that are forged when members of the school community act in partnership to construct and implement a:

• a visible Pastoral Care Policy
• Pastoral Care that truly reflects productive relationships
• that exist within the school community
• student centred Pastoral Care
• celebration
• opportunities for each individual to find a niche
• teaching practices that engage individuals
• staff who understand the relationship between Pastoral Care, teaching and the well being of student
  

Behaviour Management

At Our Lady of the Sacred Heart College we ensure that the students learn and the teachers teach in a peaceful, safe and caring environment.  Students are requested to:

• Work co-operatively, showing respect for others and their surroundings

• Be responsible for their own behaviour and accept the consequences of what they choose to do

Inevitably, there are occasions when students do not live up to the ideal of responsible behaviour.  Various procedures from diary notes contracts, lunch and afternoon detentions (with prior notice) are used to encourage responsible behaviour. Repeated extremes of unacceptable behaviour can lead to suspension and expulsion.