SWPBS marks second round of implementation in Cyprus schools

“Building School-Wide Inclusive, Positive and Equitable Learning Environments Through A Systems-Change Approach” (SWPBS), an innovative policy experimentation project that seeks to promote inclusive education with the development of children’s positive behaviours, has launched its second round of implementation. Building on the success of the first year of the project that involved the application of the Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) system in 16 schools across Cyprus, the project moves to its second expanded phase that involves the participation of 32 schools.

SWPBS’ second round kicked-off in the beginning of September with visits of the coaches of the project to schools it collaborated with last year. The visits aimed to empower and reinforce teachers for the new year while they offered a great opportunity for the coaches to reaffirm the project’s mission to turn schools into inclusive and positive learning environments. The coaches also provided a follow-up training and a recap of the actions designed and implemented so far and introduced new school staff to the overall approach of the PBS system and the work performed by the school community.

In addition, the project’s consortium provided teachers with guidelines and training material to align the SWPBS activities with the COVID-19 prevention measures. These measures are specifically designed to support students and schools offering them assistance and reinforcement at individual and group level, catered to their behaviour in class.  

In Cyprus, SWPBS is being implemented by the Cyprus Pedagogical Institute in collaboration with CARDET and INNOVADE LI. The project follows a systems-change approach, which is based on the collaboration of the entire school and relevant stakeholders to improve student behavioural and academic outcomes, the school climate and teacher work satisfaction.