Anti-Bullying Week is organised by the Anti-Bullying Alliance and takes place annually across the country. The theme this year is ‘Reach Out’ with the aim of encouraging young people to reach out for support or reach out to someone who needs support.
During the week students were involved in a whole host of fun activities all designed to raise awareness of the anti-bullying message. In our ‘Beat the Bully’ penalty shoot-out students took on Mr Sleigh in a nail-biting football challenge. With 4 students managing to slip 3 penalties past him we don’t think Mr Sleigh will be called up to the England squad this year, but we will keep putting him through his paces!
Elsewhere in the school students created a kindness tree with words of encouragement for others. Students also took part in a ‘Pin the Tail on the Donkey’ style game and over 150 students entered the anti-bullying quiz.
In the assembly that was led by Miss Walsh students were taught about the definition of bullying, the different roles people play in bullying and where to seek support. Miss Walsh said: ‘Bullying happens everywhere, fortunately it is rare at The Friary as our students understand the impact bullying has and we spell out that it will not be tolerated. It was amazing to see all our students on board with the anti-bullying message.’
Elsewhere, in tutor time students were shown real life case studies of young people who had experienced bullying and the impact this had on them. Tutors led students in discussions around how to prevent and report bullying.
On Friday students and staff took part in the national ‘Odd Socks Day’. We saw all kinds of weird and wonderful sock combinations in school with students from all year groups getting involved. Christmas socks were a firm favourite especially amongst staff, apparently it is never too early to get into the festive spirit!
Lottie Hearn, Deputy Headteacher, said: “Bullying has to be a ‘live’ theme in all schools as no organisation can ever say it is 100% cracked. Certainly, we are wholly committed to helping our student to cope with, report and respond to unkindness in any form; whether that be face-to-face or via social media. We do find incidents are rare but when things do crop up we come charging to put things right – both in terms of remedying things, but also educating individuals so that they understand how they have behaved poorly. This Focus Week is part of a wider emphasis that looks at identity, online safety, and more besides, that rolls through this school year.”
