At Northern Bay College, we know that clear behaviour expectations help create a safe, supportive, and positive learning environment for everyone. When expectations are clearly defined and consistently taught, students understand what is needed to succeed at school.
A College-Wide Approach
Our students and staff often move between campuses, so it’s important that our behaviour expectations reflect our shared college values and are consistent across all campuses. To best meet the needs of all students, the team developed two versions of the Agreed Expected Behaviours — one for Years P–4 and another for Years 5–12.
The Power of Student Voice
At NBC, we recognise that students are our most important stakeholders, and their voices play a key role in shaping our school culture. The Agreed Expected Behaviours will guide how students experience school each day, so it was important that they were provided with an opportunity to ideas and perspectives.
Over 100 students were involved in developing and finalising the Years P–4 and Years 5–12 Agreed Expected Behaviours. Students collaborated to create a set of rules that were reasonable and easy to understand across all year levels. The look and feel of the final products were also very important to them — students explored several design ideas before selecting an age-appropriate version for each group. Several students even created the NBC student characters that appear on the final product.
The Final Product
The Agreed Expected Behaviours was officially implemented as part of the Starting Right program during the first two weeks of the 2026 school year.
Northern Bay College has developed “Always” posters for students in Prep–4 and Years 5–12 that clearly outline the five key expectations for learning and behaviour across our school. These expectations were created with student voice at the centre, ensuring they are meaningful, easy to understand, and relevant to everyday school life.
The purpose of the “Always” posters is to provide all students with consistent, positive and predictable expectations that support a safe, respectful and inclusive learning environment.
The posters also support our Agreed Expected Behaviours by explicitly outlining what positive behaviour looks like across different settings and learning environments.
By teaching and reinforcing these expectations consistently, we help students build positive relationships, develop independence, and confidently engage in their learning
The posters strengthen the partnership between school and home by giving families a clear understanding of the behaviours and values we promote across all campuses and year levels.