School colours a towering success

Since September the pupils have been proudly sporting their new school ‘House’ colours - Primity (green), Silverbrook (yellow), Duncastle (blue) and Rosslea (red). The school houses are linked to a points scheme designed to positively reward good behaviour, and September’s runaway winners were the pupils in Silverbrook.

“Each teacher has a grid on their computer laid out on a spreadsheet and pupils get points for things like attendance, punctuality, bringing a note in if you have been off or late and so on. It is designed to be a very positive thing, for example, if you have been very well behaved you get five points a day, or if you did your homework you get a point for getting it signed by your parents,” said the principal, Chris Scholes.

“We have 156 children in the school, so each house has 39 pupils, but if you are a member of a family at the school those pupils are in the same house,” he said, continuing: “In addition to pupils having totals all the points are added up for a House total. In addition to rewarding pupils for good behaviour, it also allows me to see if there is a child who is not doing so well.”

To help the transition of the scheme into the mainstream workings of the day, Chris has introduced competitions. One fun ‘competition’ was to draw a picture of the principal, while one with a social conscience was the Two T Tower Challenge, in which pupils saved 2p and 10p pieces for two weeks, and the House Captains (P7 pupils) and Vice-Captains (P6 pupils) had to build towers using the coins. In the latter case Rosslea won, gaining their House an extra 20 points. The coins were then weighed and it was found that Silverbrook had the heaviest bucket, also meriting points.

In face, the school managed to raise £200 by the Two T Tower Challenge, and it was divided between the school’s four charities - Foyle Search and Rescue, Children in Crossfire, Foyle Hospice and The Rainbow Rehoming Centre.

With 7099 points overall Silverbrook were the winners in September. Prizes for weekly wins have included a non-uniform day and getting a cupcake at lunchtime on Friday.

“This week the winning House is getting ice-cream sundaes and a future prize might be to watch a movie on a big screen and there are also prizes for the Pupil of the Week,” said Chris, who added that he was also tweaking the scheme and one such innovation would include ‘100%er wristbands .

“The scheme is not about identifying underachievers, it is about raising self esteem, challenging the children to be the best they can be and making it fun at the same time. It is a means of teaching them about taking responsibility and teaching them important lessons that they can take with them through the rest of their life - like the importance of punctuality. I believe that schools should help prepare children for the future and this helps teach the importance of basic skills like team work and punctuality.”