Promoting a Positive School Climate

Introduction
A positive learning and teaching environment is essential if
students are to succeed in school. "Promoting a Positive
School Climate" is a resource that provides examples of
practices and activities that will help your school improve its
overall school climate. This resource has been designed to
help your school and safe schools team identify practices that
could work for you or be adapted to suit your needs.
What is School Climate?
A positive school climate may be defined as:
The sum total of all of the personal relationships within a
school. When these relationships are founded in mutual
acceptance and inclusion, and modelled by all, a culture of
respect becomes the norm.
Definition from Safe Schools Action Team report, Safe
Schools Policy and Practice: An Agenda for Action
(Toronto: Queen's Printer for Ontario, June 2006), p. 6
To help achieve a positive school climate, boards and schools
should actively promote and support positive behaviours, in
keeping with their character development initiatives. They
should also involve parents and members of the broader
community in the school.
Characteristics of a Positive School Climate
The following are some of the characteristics associated with
a positive school climate:

Students, parents and staff feel safe, comfortable and
accepted.

Healthy and respectful relationships are promoted among
all members of the school community.

Students are encouraged to be leaders and positive role
models in their school; for example, to speak up about
issues such as bullying.

Parents and community members are actively engaged.

Positive behaviour is reinforced, and students are given
opportunities to develop relationships that are free from
racism, discrimination and harassing behaviour.

There is a culture of high expectations which emphasizes
the improvement of learning outcomes for all students.

Schools ensure that all cultures are respected and valued.
How to develop a more positive school climate
Besides the practical examples offered, discussion questions
are also provided in a worksheet to help start a conversation
at your school about how to develop and promote a positive
school climate. These questions could be used at a staff
meeting or at a safe schools team meeting to celebrate all
the things that are currently taking place and/or to identify
areas that could use more attention.
School climate surveys
School boards are required to conduct anonymous school
climate surveys of their students, school staff and parents at
least once every two years and, as outlined in Policy/Program
Memorandum No. 145, Progressive Discipline and Promoting
Positive Student Behaviour, and to share the results with
their safe and accepting schools teams.
The results of the school climate surveys may identify
challenges for some schools. This resource provides a menu
of practical ideas for safe and accepting schools teams to
consider in helping to meet some of those challenges and
help them in their efforts to develop and maintain the kind of
school climate where all students can thrive.
Building on initiatives already in place
Promoting a Positive School Climate supports and
complements the work your school is doing in numerous
areas. It brings together ideas from various initiatives that
your school is already working on, including:

Character Development

Equity and Inclusive Education

Leadership Development

Parent Engagement

Student Voice

Safe and Healthy schools.
How to use the resource Promoting a Positive
School Climate
The resource has two parts:
1/ Promoting a Positive School Climate
This offers a range of practical suggestions for
activities/practices that can be applied to the entire school,
the classroom or to students.

Introduction to Promoting a Positive School Climate (PDF,
232 KB)

Promoting a Positive School Climate Resource (PDF,
80 KB)
Note: To print the Resource actual size, the document will
need to be tiled. After clicking Print', select Tile all
pages' from the drop down menu under Page Scaling. The
document will print in six tiles on letter size paper.
2/ Worksheet with discussion questions
This worksheet is intended to act as a thought starter for
schools. It has a series of questions that will spark discussion
and help to generate ideas about new activities and practices
that can be put in place at your school.

Worksheet for Discussion and Planning (PDF, 517 KB)