❓ Question regarding the implementation and effectiveness of the 'Let's Take A Stand Together' action plan aimed at addressing violence in schools. The Minister provides some answers directly and incorporates a detailed response into Hansard.
AnsweredQoN 515Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
SCHOOLS — ''LET'S
TAKE A STAND TOGETHER'' ACTION PLAN
515. Hon COLIN TINCKNELL to the Minister for Education and
Training:
I refer to the ''Let's
Take A Stand Together'' action plan. The plan refers to providing better
support and advice for public school staff and advocates a consultative
approach.
Can the minister please advise
whether or not the government is listening right now and learning from the
overwhelming community support for teachers who are unfortunate enough to find
themselves in a position of having to act against aggressive behaviour; and, if
so —
(a) will the
minister please advise what actions are reasonably expected of education staff
in dealing with violence, as per action 4 of the ''Let's Take A
Stand Together'' action plan;
(b) can the minister advise what is currently being
done to achieve all 10 actions of the action plan; and
(c) can the
minister advise, for actions 1 and 2 of the action plan, how many exclusion
orders have been made to the director general of the Department of Education, as
well as the number of exclusion orders that have actually been approved since
the action plan's inception?
TAKE A STAND TOGETHER'' ACTION PLAN
515. Hon COLIN TINCKNELL to the Minister for Education and
Training:
I refer to the ''Let's
Take A Stand Together'' action plan. The plan refers to providing better
support and advice for public school staff and advocates a consultative
approach.
Can the minister please advise
whether or not the government is listening right now and learning from the
overwhelming community support for teachers who are unfortunate enough to find
themselves in a position of having to act against aggressive behaviour; and, if
so —
(a) will the
minister please advise what actions are reasonably expected of education staff
in dealing with violence, as per action 4 of the ''Let's Take A
Stand Together'' action plan;
(b) can the minister advise what is currently being
done to achieve all 10 actions of the action plan; and
(c) can the
minister advise, for actions 1 and 2 of the action plan, how many exclusion
orders have been made to the director general of the Department of Education, as
well as the number of exclusion orders that have actually been approved since
the action plan's inception?
AnswerView source ↗
This is an excellent question and I have
an excellent answer, but because part (b) of the question asks what we are
doing against each of the 10 actions, if I were to read it all out, it would
take a long time. So I will give the member the bits that I can, and then I will
ask that the answer to part (b) be incorporated into Hansard ; otherwise,
it will take up too much time.
The government has listened, is
listening and will continue to listen to teachers and school communities.
(a) The actions
required of staff when students engage in aggressive or violent behaviour are
clearly described in ''Physical Contact With Students'', which I tabled
on 11 April 2019.
(b) This is the
bit that I seek leave to have incorporated into Hansard .
Leave granted.
The following material
was incorporated —
(b) To achieve the 10 points of the plan the following actions are being
undertaken:
1. Principals to suspend students who attack other
students or start fights
From the start of Term 1, 2019, principals have been
directed to automatically suspend students who intentionally attack, or
instigate a fight with, another student, or film fighting between students.
2. Principals to automatically move to exclude any
student who physically attacks school staff
From the start of Term 1, 2019, principals have been
instructed to automatically move to exclude any student who physically attacks
school staff.
3. New alternative learning settings for the most
violent students
Three pilot alternative learning settings have been
established, located in the North Metropolitan, South Metropolitan and
Southwest education regions. The program delivered in these settings is
designed to restore students' behaviour so they can safely return to
school.
4. Clear advice for principals, teachers and education
assistants on authority and responsibility to take action
This advice has been provided to all staff through the
two documents Physical contact with students and Responding to fights
between students .
5. Provide training and support for school staff
As a first step from 2019, there is mandatory training
for every graduate teacher employed in a public school on how to de-escalate
and manage aggressive behaviour.
6. New 'good standing' requirements to
be added to school behaviour policies
All schools have been provided with information on how
to include good standing into their school behaviour policy.
7. Free parenting program for parents of young children
The Triple P – Positive Parenting Program
continues to be offered free to all Western Australian parents of Kindergarten
children. During 2018, the Positive Parenting Program Stay Positive Campaign
ran with a strong focus on parents and carers of Kindergarten children. Two
hundred and eighty-one sessions were advertised and parent participation
increased by 61 per cent from Semester 1 to Semester 2.
8. Review critical incident reporting and monitoring
A police liaison officer is being appointed and will be
based in the Department of Education's central office to support
response, management and followup of critical incidents involving violence. In
addition, consultation has commenced with Western Australia Police Force to
station a Department of Education officer at the Police Command Centre, to
better connect principals with police despatch when critical incidents occur.
9. Spark a community conversation about violence in
schools – with community leaders and others
Focus groups with young people, parents and
stakeholders have been held and resources for parents, students and principals
are being developed.
10. A Premier's Youth Forum was held at Ellenbrook Secondary College on 19
November 2018, attended by 18 students from both public and non-government
schools, including several young people from a local youth organisation.
Point of Order
Hon NICK
GOIRAN : I just make the observation that standing order 106 says
that answers to questions shall be concise and relevant. I say this in the same
breath as I say that I recognise that this is not my question; and, if the
member wants this information, I am quite happy to support him. I do not think
we need to be embarking on a process regularly whereby ministers ask to have
their answers incorporated into Hansard , which I, as another member who
does not receive it, do not get the opportunity to hear.
The
PRESIDENT : I have noted that a significant number of excessively
long questions that require an enormous amount of detail have been asked during
this session. I think, on occasion, that has led a number of ministers to seek
to incorporate all the answers into Hansard rather than taking up the
whole of question time, which might then deny other members an opportunity.
Nothing prevents any other member from asking for a copy of an answer to a question.
Questions without Notice Resumed
Hon SUE ELLERY : Madam
President, I make the point to the house that I try to ensure that there is
enough time for everybody to get a question.
The answer continues —
(c) Since the
commencement of the 2019 school year, 34 recommendations for exclusion have
been made to 14 May 2019. Of these, 24 students have been excluded, five
students have not been excluded, two recommendations were withdrawn and three
recommendations are pending.
an excellent answer, but because part (b) of the question asks what we are
doing against each of the 10 actions, if I were to read it all out, it would
take a long time. So I will give the member the bits that I can, and then I will
ask that the answer to part (b) be incorporated into Hansard ; otherwise,
it will take up too much time.
The government has listened, is
listening and will continue to listen to teachers and school communities.
(a) The actions
required of staff when students engage in aggressive or violent behaviour are
clearly described in ''Physical Contact With Students'', which I tabled
on 11 April 2019.
(b) This is the
bit that I seek leave to have incorporated into Hansard .
Leave granted.
The following material
was incorporated —
(b) To achieve the 10 points of the plan the following actions are being
undertaken:
1. Principals to suspend students who attack other
students or start fights
From the start of Term 1, 2019, principals have been
directed to automatically suspend students who intentionally attack, or
instigate a fight with, another student, or film fighting between students.
2. Principals to automatically move to exclude any
student who physically attacks school staff
From the start of Term 1, 2019, principals have been
instructed to automatically move to exclude any student who physically attacks
school staff.
3. New alternative learning settings for the most
violent students
Three pilot alternative learning settings have been
established, located in the North Metropolitan, South Metropolitan and
Southwest education regions. The program delivered in these settings is
designed to restore students' behaviour so they can safely return to
school.
4. Clear advice for principals, teachers and education
assistants on authority and responsibility to take action
This advice has been provided to all staff through the
two documents Physical contact with students and Responding to fights
between students .
5. Provide training and support for school staff
As a first step from 2019, there is mandatory training
for every graduate teacher employed in a public school on how to de-escalate
and manage aggressive behaviour.
6. New 'good standing' requirements to
be added to school behaviour policies
All schools have been provided with information on how
to include good standing into their school behaviour policy.
7. Free parenting program for parents of young children
The Triple P – Positive Parenting Program
continues to be offered free to all Western Australian parents of Kindergarten
children. During 2018, the Positive Parenting Program Stay Positive Campaign
ran with a strong focus on parents and carers of Kindergarten children. Two
hundred and eighty-one sessions were advertised and parent participation
increased by 61 per cent from Semester 1 to Semester 2.
8. Review critical incident reporting and monitoring
A police liaison officer is being appointed and will be
based in the Department of Education's central office to support
response, management and followup of critical incidents involving violence. In
addition, consultation has commenced with Western Australia Police Force to
station a Department of Education officer at the Police Command Centre, to
better connect principals with police despatch when critical incidents occur.
9. Spark a community conversation about violence in
schools – with community leaders and others
Focus groups with young people, parents and
stakeholders have been held and resources for parents, students and principals
are being developed.
10. A Premier's Youth Forum was held at Ellenbrook Secondary College on 19
November 2018, attended by 18 students from both public and non-government
schools, including several young people from a local youth organisation.
Point of Order
Hon NICK
GOIRAN : I just make the observation that standing order 106 says
that answers to questions shall be concise and relevant. I say this in the same
breath as I say that I recognise that this is not my question; and, if the
member wants this information, I am quite happy to support him. I do not think
we need to be embarking on a process regularly whereby ministers ask to have
their answers incorporated into Hansard , which I, as another member who
does not receive it, do not get the opportunity to hear.
The
PRESIDENT : I have noted that a significant number of excessively
long questions that require an enormous amount of detail have been asked during
this session. I think, on occasion, that has led a number of ministers to seek
to incorporate all the answers into Hansard rather than taking up the
whole of question time, which might then deny other members an opportunity.
Nothing prevents any other member from asking for a copy of an answer to a question.
Questions without Notice Resumed
Hon SUE ELLERY : Madam
President, I make the point to the house that I try to ensure that there is
enough time for everybody to get a question.
The answer continues —
(c) Since the
commencement of the 2019 school year, 34 recommendations for exclusion have
been made to 14 May 2019. Of these, 24 students have been excluded, five
students have not been excluded, two recommendations were withdrawn and three
recommendations are pending.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.