Motto: Be transformed by the renewal of your mind — Romans 12:2
As a Christian school, discipline at Renew isn't separate from the rest of what we do — it's part of how we teach and train children according to Biblical principles. Our staff are professing Christians committed to building into the lives of young people, and that shows up as much in how we handle behaviour as in how we teach a lesson. Because we want that support to actually work, it's important we're clear about our expectations and boundaries.
Behaviour Management
One of the distinctives of the Christian School is the commitment to work with parents in helping them to educate and prepare their children for service. This means that discipline is seen to be a joint venture between the school and the home. Obviously there are issues that arise on a daily basis where students require immediate correction and the school has policies and procedures for dealing with these.
General Principles
Our Special Character describes an environment where children, parents and teachers experience godly relationships — showing the character of Christ in love, discipline, respect, honour and trust. Behaviour management is one of the places that gets tested and lived out, not just talked about.
The goal is always the home and school working closely together: the Bible places first responsibility for discipline on the home, so where a student is struggling, we work with parents rather than around them.
We want to be honest about what this is and isn't. Renew isn't a corrective institution, and we can't promise a particular outcome for every student — real change depends on the student being willing to be taught, and on training being reinforced at home as well as school. What we can promise is a community genuinely committed to that work, which is also why many families choose Renew: to be part of an environment shaped by these values, for the sake of every student in it.
Specific Rules
Students are expected to act orderly and respectfully, maintaining Christian standards of courtesy, kindness and honesty. Students are to show respect to those in authority over them, and respect towards other students and their property.
The following detailed outline of acceptable behaviour is provided so that consistent standards can be enforced by teachers and teacher-aides supervising students.
- All behaviour is to reflect and uphold good Christian standards and principles. Unacceptable behaviour will result in consequences determined by the nature of the behaviour.
- Students must exercise care in relation to their property and that of others; and must not deface or destroy school property. The expectation is that students will replace or reimburse for damage that is not accidental.
- Students will not threaten, harass, or hurt another student, nor in any way actively seek their unhappiness.
- Students are not allowed to buy from / sell items to other students or exchange any items (including money) on the school property unless it is part of school curriculum activities or a fundraising project approved by the senior management team.
- Students are expected to obey the adult in authority while on school grounds, on field trips or at any school function.
- The use or possession of tobacco, drugs or weapons is forbidden at school, or at any school function.
- Chewing gum is not permitted at school at any time.
- All personal property, books and equipment should be clearly named.
- All staff members and supervising adults are to be treated with respect and addressed by Mr, Mrs or Miss followed by the individual’s surname.
- Bicycles, scooters, or skateboards must be ridden to and from school responsibly. These may only be ridden by their owners, and they must wear a helmet.
- No electronic equipment (laptops, tablets, cell phones, smartwatches etc.) can be used within the school except those required for school use.
- Cell phones may be brought to school by students but must remain switched off and not used during school hours, except with a teacher’s supervision and permission.
Learning Environment
The focus of the Christian School is education which is learning and training. For learning to happen effectively teachers in classes must be able to teach.
This requires that the appropriate learning environments are created and maintained where teachers can teach and students can learn. This becomes especially important as students learn (especially in Senior School, where they have a certain amount of material to cover prior to assessments).
While appropriate guidance and pastoral assistance will be given to help change inappropriate behaviours and attitudes, it is necessary that the learning of the whole class take precedence over that of the individual.
Consequences
Where students choose to break rules there will be consequences. The expectation is that students will, with parent’s support, complete the tasks/impositions placed upon them. If students choose to negatively impact the education of others through disrupting the learning environment there will be consequences, which include detentions or removal from the learning environment and may eventually lead to stand downs or suspension which may lead to exclusion. These consequences will impact the students' own learning and they may be required to catch up on work at a later period.
Please note: Our first priority is training in Biblical standards and Christian character, and that shapes how we respond when things go wrong. We want every family at Renew to be here because they want this, not just because they're managing consequences — and we're always happy to talk with families about whether Renew is the right fit.
