Northeast Primary  School

Positive Paws

The elementary school ages are considered to be instrumental to a child’s on going (fundamental grades and stages of) development. With this in mind, it is important that children are taught positive behaviors and habits early in life. By teaching children positive behaviors at a young age, they are more able to understand and engage in positive long-term attitudes and actions that will guide them towards future success. To encourage students, and to teach all children positive behaviors, elementary schools across the country have implemented positive behavior programs to improve student awareness, knowledge, and development.

With this goal in mind we will continue our program of “Positive Paws.”  The “Paws” relate to our School Mascot, “Stripes” the tiger.  Children are given a Positive Paw in recognition of their positive behavior.  The focus of our efforts this year can be summed up in the phrase:

“Be Responsible, Be Respectful, Be Cooperative, Be Kind and Be Safe.”

Children who exhibit behaviors relating to these concepts may be given a Positive Paw by their teacher, either classroom or specialist.  The children may decorate it as they see fit and return it to the Principal.  On Friday mornings the names of the children receiving a Positive Paw for the prior week will be announced following the pledge and called to the library.  In the library, they will be congratulated by the Principal and select from an array of coupons etc. as a tangible reward for their efforts.

In some cases, teachers may elect to develop a behavior management plan relating to improve an aspect of the child’s behavior.  However, we have deliberately left the development of this plan to the teachers, as a tool to modify and positively recognize good student behavior.

“Where the Main Thing is Student Learning.”