Flametree - An Annexe of Figtree High School

Flametree offers a specialist behaviour and individual learning service for eligible students from Illawarra high schools with a significant history of difficulty in managing their behaviour at school. Teachers at Flametree are trained and highly experienced special educators with considerable experience and expertise in managing student behaviours and in devising individually tailored learning programs.

At Flametree, we teach and promote our positive behaviour values:

RESPECT, RESPONSIBILITY & EXCELLENCE

Our Goals

Flametree aims to give students an opportunity to:

Achieve important behaviour and academic outcomes while receiving individual academic and behaviour support in a safe, consistent, structured school environment
Be supported in succeeding with their education, either at mainstream school, at Flametree, or another alternative setting
Learn strategies to help them manage their emotions and problem behaviours
Work out an achievable plan for their future which will help them on the road to success
Learn to live responsibly in the community
Exit Flametree to an appropriate transition option

Expected Student Outcomes

The programs at Flametree encourage students to get their lives on track, and achieve educational goals while learning to manage their own behaviour.

We offer students:

A clear, assisted pathway to success in education and employment
Simple straightforward rules and clear expectations for student behaviour
Encouragement, support and rewards when students decide to make positive changes in their lives
Consistently delivered negative consequences allowing students to predict the outcomes before they make a negative choice
The chance to turn a negative situation around into achieving a positive outcome

Attendance Policy & Procedures

Link to PDF

Students who are given a place at Flametree are required to establish and maintain acceptable school attendance. Unless there are exceptional circumstances, parents/carers must arrange to attend a placement meeting within 10 school days of first contact from the Flametree staff. If a meeting cannot be arranged within a reasonable time frame, the student's case will be referred to the DEC Learning and Engagement Team who may a reconsider the placement offer and make a placement offer to the next eligible student.

During student orientation, students and carers will be informed of the Flametree attendance policy and issued with a school information booklet outlining attendance requirements. To secure the placement offer, students must begin regular attendance within a reasonable time frame after the placement interview. If the student does not begin attendance within a reasonable time frame, a letter will be issued informing the parent/carer that the placement will be reviewed by the school and that the offer of placement may be withdrawn.

Students are expected to attend all school days unless there is an acceptable reason for not doing so. If, over a 10 week period, daily attendance (including part days, TAFE days and work placement) falls below an acceptable level, an attendance warning letter will be issued. The letter will re-state the attendance requirements and alert the parent/carer to the legal and educational consequences of poor attendance; that is: breaching the NSW Education Reform Act (1990), possible termination of Sydney Distance Education High School enrolment and failing to meet course requirements for the relevant stage.

If satisfactory attendance is not re-established, a subsequent letter will be issued, requesting a meeting with the parent/carer and student to resolve any barriers to the student's attendance and to establish a realistic attendance plan. The parent/carer will be informed of the need for the student to use their student place regularly or risk referral back to the Learning and Engagement team and their home school with possible loss of placement at Flametree.

If the student does not respond positively to the agreed plan and the student's attendance continues to be unacceptable, a further warning letter and attendance meeting will be arranged. At the meeting, the possible legal measures will be reviewed including a Flametree referral to the relevant Learning and Engagement Officer and consideration for the Home School Liaison Program. The possibility of DEC legal action for non-attendance will be reviewed with the student and parent.

If there is no significant improvement in attendance over the next 20 school days, a Home School Liaison Referral will be made via the DEC Learning and Engagement team. The parent/carer and census school principal home school principal will be informed in writing of the HSLO referral. A Child Wellbeing referral will also be made for Habitual Absence.

Where HSLO intervention is implemented, Flametree will work cooperatively with the relevant officer to support the student's return to school. If this intervention is not successful within a reasonable time frame, the Principal and/or Head Teacher Flametree will liaise with the DEC Learning and Engagement Team and home school principal to review the efficacy of the student's placement. The Principal may recommend the termination of the placement and referral back to the DEC placement panel or census school for other action and intervention. The Principal of Figtree High School may recommend that student be placed on the ED eligibility list and that the placement is offered to the next eligible student.

Student Awards for Attendance

Students achieving 90% attendance or better (including part days, TAFE days and work placement) will receive a Flametree Achievement Award at the school's annual Presentation Day and will also be awarded 100 school bonus points as part of the reward system.

Truancy

Students leaving school without permission during the school day will receive appropriate consequences as part of the school's discipline and welfare system. Parents/carers will be contacted to alert them to this breach of discipline on each occasion.

Students making this decision three times within 10 school days will be suspended for Continued Misbehaviour unless an alternative individual attendance plan is in place. Should the behaviour persist, the student will incur the normal consequences under the DEC Guidelines for Suspension and Expulsion in NSW.

Variations to the Policy

Students receiving NSW Department of Juvenile Justice control orders will maintain their placement for the remainder of the current school term. If the young person has not been released from custody at the beginning of the new term or school year, their placement will reviewed by the Principal after consultation with the NSW Department of Juvenile Justice. The Principal may decide to retain or terminate the placement based on this advice.

If a decision is taken to terminate the placement, the DEC Learning and Engagement team, Juvenile Justice case worker, home school principal and parents/carers will be notified of the decision in writing. The student may be referred back to the Learning and Engagement team to consider their eligibility for subsequent ED/BD placement on their release.

The management of this Attendance Policy will be at the discretion of the Principal after considering the individual circumstances of the student concerned. The Principal reserves the right to vary this policy to cater for individual student's needs and circumstances.

Distance Education

Students at Flametree are usually enrolled in various courses offered by Sydney Distance Education High School. This helps us offer the best possible curriculum to our students, and access all of the Key Learning Areas, a wide range of elective subjects, and teachers who are subject specialists. Flametree staff support and assist students with their lessons.

This also means that students who opt to return to their home school do not miss out on important curriculum content and achieving important learning outcomes when they are away from their school.

Transition Options

Planning for each student's future and working towards that plan is an important part of the service to students.

In NSW, all students must stay at school to complete Year 10, or until they are 17 years of age. Students younger than 17 years must be involved in education at school, TAFE, with a training organisation, or engage in at least 25 hours of employment per week.

Flametree offers students individual behaviour and learning support in order to achieve a Year 10 credential - the Record of School Achievement (RoSA). We will assist you and your child to explore a range of options for achieving the RoSA.

We also help Stage 5 (Year 9 & 10) students and their parents plan for a continuation into Year 11 and Year 12, or further training and/or employment in another setting.

After completing Year 10, students can:

Transition to the local school for Year 11
Transition to apprenticeship or pre-apprenticeship at TAFE
Transition to work training with accredited training agencies
Transition to Five Islands Secondary College – Higher School Certificate.

Please note, the Flametree staff will assist parents to negotiate transition pathways at TAFE and the Five Islands Secondary College, however enrolment is not guaranteed. Each student's enrolment application will be judged on the student's individual merits.

Students are encouraged to think, plan and work at meeting goals in their schooling and future lives. They are encouraged to view their time at Flametree as a chance to move towards their future goals. They are also encouraged to realise that while the Flametree staff can help and support them, they must take personal responsibility for achieving these goals and for working on any problems which may be getting in their way.