This article is from page 39 of the 2008-11-18 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 39 JPG
THE ‘Incredible Years’ programme rewards children who engage in pos- itive thinking and communication, through a variety of methods.
One novel approach that Scoil na Maighdine Mhuire has taken is to send home positive notes to parents, such as ‘happygrams’!
These are comical photographs and a piece of text praising students for their efforts. They offer great confi- dence to both students and parents alike.
“In the past, if you got a note going home, it was bad. Since September
we have been concentrating on send- ing home positive notes. I have had parents ringing me almost in tears they were so happy,” said Ann Mc- Mahon.
Students who try hard also receive ‘superstar’ awards, while classroom behaviour is also rewarded.
‘Each classroom teacher has a be- haviour plan. There is a target be- haviour and strategies around that behaviour,’ she said.
Students who make big efforts are rewarded with tokens and at the end of the week they can use the tokens to buy presents or goodies for them- To AVore
Every Friday, the school holds an assembly and a student of the week in each class is awarded with a cer- tificate.
The emphasis is on fairness as the teachers ensure the prizes are spread among all students.
“The whole school is told why a student achieves the award.
“With the programme, if you give feedback to a child, it is specific,” she added.
Children are also encouraged to communicate their feelings, through a feelings barometer and this also fo- cuses on positive thinking.
“They are taught how to talk them-
selves out of the negative place and engage in dialogue. The theory be- hind it is that over time it reduces negative thinking so much that it saves children from things like drug addiction, anti-social behaviour or ending up in jail,’ said Ms McMa- steer
“It is a win-win situation. Already I can see a decrease in negative be- haviour in the classroom and in the school yard. We kept a record of in- cidents in the yard book last year. I already know there is a sizable dif- ference in the number of reported in- cidents in the yard since September,” she said.