In addressing Australian Government concerns that all schools should have values as part of their curriculum and school activities, ACSSO invited state schools to describe how they promote specific values to their students. What you see here barely scratches the surface of how the Australian public education system instils positive values in young people and the imaginative techniques used by government school teachers.
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Corinella Public School, Corinella, NSW
Corinella Public School is a small isolated school situated in a rural environment 60km south west of Forbes, NSW. Events such as Walk Safely to School Day help the school community to focus on values that are especially key in a small country school, such as older students actively caring for younger ones ... find out more
YOUR SCHOOLS, YOUR VALUES
Austinmer Public School, Austinmer, NSW
We are using Reconciliation Week to promote our students' knowledge and understandings of Aboriginal culture through a series of simple but significant activities including a “Welcome to Country” ceremony with a senior member of the Aboriginal community, flying the Aboriginal flag alongside the Australian flag and a display of students' artwork ... find out more
Buxton Public School, Buxton, NSW
Our school council researched departmental publications and web sites and surveyed members of the school community to come up with a prioritised list of values most relevant to our school. It's been an exciting and challenging initiative that has stimulated a great deal of interest and provided an excellent rebuttal to anyone anyone - including the Prime MInister - who suggests our public schools do not promote values ... find out more
Crestwood High School, Baulkham Hills, NSW
Two students observed the habits of local ducks and ducklings, were worried about the dangers these little creatures faced - and acted. Our students, staff and their families also enthusiastically knit blankets to be distributed at home and abroad ... find out more
Forbes High School, Forbes, NSW
Forbes High School is embedded in the local country town community and actively reflects the values of that community, from Anzac Day to Show Day ... find out more
Georges River College, Oatley Senior Campus, NSW
Our school provides a high quality education in a safe and friendly environment. At Oatley individual worth and school values are given the highest priority. Our students are supported and helped to be good people and responsible, motivated and academically resilient students. This is what we call The Oatley Way. We pride ourselves in encouraging behaviour that reflects this way, every term, every week, every day ... find out more
Hastings Public School, Hastings, NSW
We take great pride in our student leadership initiatives. Examples include our School Parliamentarians - who take on organisational roles on topics of school importance and lead the sittings of our School Parliament - and our Peer Mediators - who assist students in the playground, organising games for younger children, mediating in playground disputes and providing a friendly referral point ... find out more
Lurnea High School, Lurnea, NSW
Students from the Support Unit at LHS sewed up a storm to make a beautiful country quilt for Liverpool hospital to raffle to raise money and also made a variety of turbans for patients to wear. They presented their handmade items to the hospital and staff were extremely impressed with the quality of the work ... find out more
Macarthur Girls High School, Parramatta, NSW
We commemorated this year's International Women’s Day by raising funds for the library of the Parramatta Mission’s shelter for women who are victims of domestic violence. Thus it was our students who through their own efforts were providing educational opportunities for local women ... find out more
Northlakes Public School, San Remo, NSW
We broadly follow 'The Virtues Project' by Linda Kavelin Popov: "Virtues are much more elemental than values. While values are culture specific, virtues are universally valued." At the beginning of the year we decided which virtues we would target ... find out more
Wyong Creek Public School, Wyong Creek, NSW
At our small, one-teacher school accommodating students from Kindergarten to Year 6, we have a strong commitment to public education and its values. Our motto, ‘Wisdom in Learning – Freedom in Spirit’ was created in 2003 by one of our parents and it reflects the values and beliefs held at our school ... find out more
Beechmont State School, Beechmont, QLD
The values of community, compassion, kindness, tolerance, understanding and warmth resonate within our small community. As part of a school program started in 2003 exploring world religions, students visited a Buddhist temple to reflect on principles of love, kindness and compassion ... find out more
Byfield State School, Byfield, QLD
Ours is a small, fairly isolated country school in Queensland with an enrolment of 33 in years 1 to 7. We recently selected our student leaders for the year, who organise school-based events for days such as Harmony Day and International Women's Day. Leaders also teach younger students about behaviour management and school rules, as well as running school parades and meting weekly with our school principal ... find out more
Charters Towers State High School, Charters Towers, QLD
We promote and celebrate values with our students by awarding certificates to select students, not solely as a reflection of academic ability but to recognise qualities such as teamwork, cooperation, putting in extra effort, helping others and other characteristics that our community values ... find out more
Fairview Heights State School, Toowoomba, QLD
We have seven school values - Honesty, Individual Dignity and Worth, Responsibility, Respect, Participation, Cooperation and Confidence. These values were chosen as the result of community discussion and input and have become the basis of all our school "rules". Whenever we talk to students about behaviour issues we refer to the value that is being breached rather than the rule they broke ... find out more
Glenwood State School, Glenwood, QLD
The importance of values was brought home in an ANZAC Day service for students and parents led by our School Leader. During the service the school choir sang ‘Lest We Forget’ and an ANZAC inspired poem was read. Peace pledges were made to the school community by each student. Flowers were laid by students at the base of the flagpole. The students were commended by teachers and parents for the pride they showed ... find out more
Mackay North High School, Mackay, QLD
We have been running the "Lest We Forget" Project for five years, conducting overseas tours to locate, commemorate and photograph the graves of fallen Australian soldiers. The project certainly fits into the criteria of values education as the students research the soldiers on behalf of local family members and then, after having visited the grave and paid tribute to the soldier, we bring back the grave photos for the families ... find out more
Mackay West State School, West Mackay, QLD
One of these girls is unable to participate in birthday parties for religious reasons. Because the values of tolerance and kindness have been well taught, the girls find ways to have fun together ... find out more
Marshall Road State School, Holland Park, QLD
I am proud of my school because of the values that are instilled in its students. The teachers and students put these values into practice by having an excellent peer support program, buddies program and student council ... find out more
Palmwoods State School, Palmwoods, QLD
We have recently undergone a comprehensive and successful school renewal process. The outcomes were a new logo, motto, mission statement and set of values and beliefs to guide the school community into its future. By embracing families and community volunteers and providing a ‘community’ edge to the relationships within the school, we have begun making ‘real’ these values, beliefs and directions ... find out more
Augusta Park Primary School, Port Augusta, SA
In 2004, in consultation with students, parents and staff, we developed our school values. These values are Honesty, Respect, Responsibility and Achievement. At the beginning of this year we held Values Week, a chance for teachers and students to discuss, learn and discover more about our school values, and we award Values Reward Cards to students who demonstrate each of the values ... find out more
Fisk Street Primary School, Whyalla Norrie, SA
This picture encapsulates the trust and respect that our students and staff have for each other and that our school works towards developing within our students. It was taken at a Youth Forum in Port Augusta that our students attended ... find out more
Heysen Primary School, Aberfoyle Park, SA
Ours is one of four schools that share the Aberfoyle Park Primary School Campus, and one of two that are state schools. A couple of years ago our students, staff and school community together developed a statement of values and beliefs that we just recently re-confirmed ... find out more
Modbury School, Modbury, SA
Our school has clearly emerged in the last three years as a unique, innovative and leading primary school and preschool through its values-based approach to whole school change - we have experienced the enormous difference a values-based approach can make ... find out more
Reynella South School, Reynella, SA
Our entire school community - students parents and staff - went through a process to identify the 10 virtues we wanted to focus on over the course of each year. They have been Courtesy, Respect, Responsibility, Caring, Tolerance, Trust and Honesty, Co-operation, Enthusiasm, Confidence and Peacefulness. There have been many examples in the last couple of years of our students displaying the values we promote, such as sending teddy bears to children left homeless from the Canberra Bushfires ... find out more
Riverton Primary School, Riverton, SA
Participation is a key value taught at our school, and 'Be Active - Let's Go' is a theme for 2005. Our Year Sevens have taken this to heart, with 19 of 21 students selected for South Australian Primary School Amateur Sports Association activities ... find out more
Westport Primary School, Semaphore Park, SA
Every Westport student, staff member and parent receives a copy of "The Westport Values", which details what it means to be a Westport member. Our principal has a drawing of the "Values Train", and it's up to all parents, pupils and staff to jump aboard and help to make a difference ... find out more
Deloraine Primary School, Deloraine, TAS
The pillars around which our school culture is built are RESPECT and RESPONSIBILITY. We see them as the core values from which other values grow and good character develops. We see our task as helping children to understand, care about, and act on core ethical values ... find out more
Exeter High School, Exeter, TAS
I’ve attached a copy of a poster one of our long serving office staff and parent, Christine Fialho, made for our school. It is included in our Student Handbook and Staff Handbook. I just thought it was great because it highlighted the many areas at our school that are available for students to be involved in, and the VALUES we share ... view larger in new browser window or download the poster as PDF
Brunswick East Primary School, Brunswick East, VIC
Our students, staff and community were all surveyed in 2004 and decided on the shared values that we thought desirable and worthy of embedding into our school culture and environment ... find out more
Jamieson Primary School, Jamieson, VIC
It is sad that we have to be so overt about values, given that it is intrinsic in our daily lives and embedded in all we do. However, if it overcomes the blight of the misconception that state schools are ‘valueless’, we are all for it. This year we are going through our behaviour management policy document and working with the children to integrate the theme of peace in all they do and say, building on our student-driven Peace Pole Project ... find out more
Carine Primary School, Carine, WA
We have developed our own OSCAH (Our School Carine Aims High) award, presented to one child per class on a weekly basis, which acknowledges values of respect, pursuit of knowledge and potential and social, civic and environmental responsibility. We recognise the value of active citizenship and are committed to our Virtues Project. Values are truly alive and well at Carine Primary School! ... find out more
Dalkeith Primary School, Dalkeith, WA
We have a sister school in Bali, Pegadungan SD Nr2, that we linked up with through the AdoptASchool Project. This enables the students to develop a range of values from generosity to those encompassed by social justice through the penpal exchanges and raising funds. This project is supported by the school community and a group of interested parents ... find out more
Gingin District High School, Gingin, WA
Our Virtues in Education Program is designed to promote and educate students about 52 good virtues, values or personal characteristics that we all see as important in our daily lives ... find out more
North Balga Primary School, Balga, WA
North Balga PS has chosen to become a 'Choose Respect' school. Our vision is to see our whole school community work together and then maintain a 'Culture of Respect'. A prominent value of many today is "I will treat you, how you treat me". Living by this value, gives permission for pay back and revenge. Choose Respect offers an alternative to this value ... find out more
South Coogee Primary School, Beeliar, WA
Since Feb 2004 we have focused on developing values in students via The Virtues Project. We focus on one Virtue per fortnight and explicitly teach the meaning behind the virtue as well as what that virtue will look like when a student is practising it. PowerPoint presentations support the focus virtue, and are used by teachers inside and outside of class ... find out more
Tranby Primary School, Rivervale, WA
We have our own school bear called TOD (treat others decently) who visits classes and attends assemblies. He passes on such whole school messages as cooperation, respect, fairness, problem solving, achieving goals, sharing, negotiating, playing games well and positive classrooms ... find out more or download teacher presentation notes in PDF