Southern Cross High School

Southern Cross High School is an active community and a safe and caring environment in which the rights and responsibilities of teachers and students are guaranteed. Pastoral care at Southern Cross High School is vitally concerned with the fostering of students’ self-discipline. It also contributes to students recognising that their fundamental freedoms and rights are reciprocated by responsibilities.

Our Pastoral Care policy seeks to create an atmosphere conducive to study, which is underpinned by a system of rights and responsibilities. The development of this system is nurtured by co-operative negotiation between staff, students and families. Everyone in the school community is involved in pastoral care. A commitment to partnership and shared responsibility amongst staff, students, parents and other family members is an integral feature of pastoral care at Southern Cross High School.

SCHS seeks to establish, develop and manage a school environment in which students learn to respect individual rights and fulfil social responsibilities. For the majority of students, the family unit and the school are amongst the most formative influences in their lives. It is therefore essential that a relationship of trust, cooperation and partnership develops between the school and family members, and that at all times, school personnel maintain respect for and sensitivity to diverse cultural values and family structures

Therefore Southern Cross High School is committed to encouraging students towards a spirit which recognises and adopts self discipline and personal responsibility. Student involvement in the process of development, implementation and review of the pastoral care program is important. Students are encouraged towards responsible behaviour by example and come to understand it as a process requiring personal choice and commitment.

Students are encouraged to bear responsibility for their own behaviour by having this responsibility consistently reinforced. While pastoral care initiatives respect the privacy of students’ lives, some students and their families actively seek the School’s support in times of crisis and instability. Within the limits of its resources and expertise, Southern Cross High School is committed to the well being of the student and endeavours to provide this intensified support.

Southern Cross High School aims to develop an achievement orientated school community in which all participants have the support and opportunities needed to grow physically, emotionally, socially and intellectually.

Southern Cross strives to offer relevant curriculum, teaching methodologies and practices which meet the needs and interests of all students by:

• Developing in community members a feeling of self worth and respect for each individual’s dignity.

• Ensuring that staff have the opportunities to continue developing effective approaches to pastoral care.

Southern Cross High School consults with, and involves, the whole school community, in co-operative negotiations for the development, review and implementation of a pastoral care policy.

The school has a commitment to a review practice reflecting changing needs in regards to contemporary circumstances that impact upon staff and students and acknowledging other relevant policies and legal obligations