An introduction to the Personal Best School Challenge

Students who are engaged with school attend more regularly, have fewer behaviour issues, form strong friendship groups and achieve better educational outcomes. Despite these clear advantages, student disengagement from school continues to be a problem, and is getting worse.

 

The Personal Best School Challenge has been developed following five years working and researching student engagement in Western Australian, National and International schools. The program is an evidence based approach to promoting school engagement that incorporates proven interdisciplinary approaches.

 

At the foundation is a structured program that rewards the achievement of personal best through;

• individual self competition,
• faction (house) competition and
• inter-school competition.

Individual performance contributes to team performance which contributes to whole school performance. When one child achieves a personal best, everyone benefits.

 

This project promotes a strong sense of school community (belonging), achievement and sense of autonomy among students. All factors that have been shown to promote student engagement.

 

The program intentionally rewards personal best achievement in five flexible domains: Academic, Extra-curricular, Professional, Personal and Community.

 

Staff, student leaders, students and parents are provided with targeted professional learning to assist them develop as individuals and support the healthy growth of students.

 

The goal for all participants is simple: strive to achieve your best!