A new Safe and Respectful School Communities campaign has been launched by the Department of Education, with the aim of preventing occupational violence and aggression in schools.
Minister for Education, Grace Grace said the campaign would raise awareness that anti-social behaviour and aggression towards school staff was not acceptable.
“The Government has a zero-tolerance stance on violence in our schools,” Ms Grace said.
“Through their school’s Code of Conduct, students know what behaviour is acceptable at school,” she said.
“So, it should follow that parents and carers, or other people entering our schools also behave in a respectful manner.”
Ms Grace said schools were not only learning places, they were also workplaces.
“Just like any other workplace, our staff have every right to be safe at work and be treated with respect,” she said.
“The new campaign’s tagline is ‘your child, our student, one team’ and this sums up the message we want to get across.
“Everyone has a role to play.”
Ms Grace said the campaign would not only look at how to better connect staff with the support they needed, but how to build a culture within schools to prevent this kind of behaviour to begin with.
She said the campaign had been developed in consultation with key stakeholders and schools across the State would receive a range of materials to distribute and display to share the message.
Further information about the campaign can be accessed at this PS News link.
