Austinmer Public School is proud of its reputation and we strive to make the focus of this school the children who learn here. We believe that every child has the right to enjoy learning and we endeavour to build an environment that encourages children to take risks in their learning and to try new things. Each individual is important to us and their progress through the grades from Kindergarten to Grade 6 is central to everything we do.

The central point of our philosophy is that every child needs to do their best and with that as our aim, we try to acknowledge both the endeavour and the outcome of each activity both in the classroom and in whole-school work. The school is very proud of the high standards attained by its students and has established processes for acknowledging those attainments.

1.1 Do children receive awards?

We hold a strong belief that children respond best to positive reinforcement. As a result, the School Welfare Policy sets out the importance of building self-esteem and providing rewards for many aspects of school life.

1.1.1 Assembly Awards: Each Monday the principal presents Merit Certificates for a variety of classroom successes to two children from each class. The reasons for these awards is to encourage all children to try their best in all they do. Children should be encouraged to value these awards as a record of their achievement.

1.1.2 Assembly Manners Award: Each assembly Year 6 pupils present a manners award after the completion of the assembly. When children receive 5 of these awards they are entitled to a morning tea with the principal.

1.1.3 Assembly Citizenship Award: Each assembly teachers choose 1 child in their class to receive a citizenship award. Each winner receives a certificate and a free DVD rental from Video Ezy Thirroul.

1.1.4 Sports Awards: The school uses a variety of Sports Awards that are presented throughout the year. At Presentation Day each year the students who have achieved the highest results in sporting ventures are presented with the Sports Person of the Year award. The people considered for this award are those who attain representation status in the PSSA selection processes (ie. District, Zone and State Events).

1.1.5 End-of-Year Awards: At the end of each year Stage 2 and 3 teachers nominate four students from their class to be honoured for demonstrating commitment and enthusiasm throughout the year. These awards are at the teacher’s discretion, but usually celebrate achievement, citizenship or trying hard to meet their potential.
All Stage One pupils (Yr 1 and 2) receive a certificate celebrating their learning throughout the year. Each Kindergarten child receives a book.

1.1.6 Library Award: The school acknowledges children at the annual presentation day assembly who make significant contributions to the library and during library lessons. The award winners are chosen by the teacher librarian. The ‘Tinkerbell Award’(named after Ruby Tinker- a great friend and helper in our school library), is awarded annually to a child who displays a love and enthusiasm for reading.

1.1.7 Denise McKenzie Award: This award (named in honour of Denise McKenzie) is presented annually for outstanding effort, contribution and results in Creative Arts.

1.1.8 Dr Stan Warren Citizenship Award: This annual award is presented to a student who displays outstanding citizenship throughout the year. Named after Dr Stan Warren a highly respected past principal.

1.1.9 Col Hando award: This award is presented annually to the house that accumulates the most number of points based on manners, effort and behaviour within their classrooms. A weekly award is given at a assemblies and this annual award recognises the overall winning house.

In trying to recognise excellent effort the school demonstrates the value placed on a student achieving his/her personal best and encourages all students to try their best in all they do.

1.2 Do we have student leaders?

A range of leadership roles are provided for students in the school in an effort to encourage personal responsibility and the development of strong organisational skills.

1.2.1 Student Representative Council
Classes from Year 1 to Year 6 each nominate two representatives to the SRC. The students from the senior classes become the chairpersons of the group and they are called upon to fulfil official duties when students need to respond in leadership roles.

1.3 How do we select student leaders?

Each class holds an election in the early part of the year to select two representatives to attend regular Student Representative Council meetings. The children elected from Year 6 are accepted as the office-bearers of The Council for the year and fulfil most of the formal roles.
Most teachers provide opportunities for students to take on leadership roles as part of their classroom organisation. The jobs are rotated so every child has an opportunity to carry out assigned tasks.

1.4 Do senior students have extra responsibilities?

The school has a well planned program of Buddies and Peer Support. These programs are conducted by the Year 6 students who take responsibility for small groups of children from the rest of the school. These programs provide excellent opportunities for the Year 6 students to develop their leadership skills.