At Woodend Primary School we expect that everyone is safe, valued and respected and that individual differences are appreciated, understood and accepted. Therefore we will not tolerate bullying or harassment in any form.

The school will provide a positive culture where bullying, including cyber-bullying, harassment and violence, is not acceptable, and in so doing, all will have the right of respect from others, the right to learn or to teach, and the right to feel safe and secure in their school environment.

As stated in our Anti-Bullying Policy, we conduct a Bully Audit twice per year and act on the results.

Towards the end of term 3 all year 3-7 students completed the second Bully Audit for 2018. Results have been collated and are included in this blog post. Early Years students (Reception – Year 2) were not surveyed as our reading suggested that children under 8 years old don’t have the cognitive and language skills to participate reliably in a question – answer survey.

The term 3 audit shows that while most of our students now have a good understanding of what is and isn’t bullying, there are still 35% of students who are not clear about the definition of bullying.

Although the vast majority of our students have not been on the receiving end of bullying behaviour, it is of concern to us that there are 5-10% of our students who reported they are experiencing bullying behaviours. Teachers have begun and will continue early this term to follow up with all students who reported they were experiencing ongoing bullying and/or requested an adult’s support. Parents of students who have been followed up will receive a letter advising of the issue the student raised and the support that will be put in place.

Approximately a quarter of the students surveyed talked about how they have helped someone who was not being treated well by others at school. It is difficult to share all of the student suggestions for improving the school, however some of the more interesting and/or achievable responses were:

  • teachers not expecting us to solve conflicts straight away
  • inviting anyone we see being bullied to come and hang out with us
  • have special days for people who are being bullied, eg an art day
  • look after each other and try to be like a family
  • I like the school the way it is
  • make it a bit safer on the oval
  • harsher punishments for bullies
  • wear the t-shirt that says everyone belongs
  • report bullying if it happens
  • ban the bullies from the school
  • maybe we could hold a workshop for students to learn how to help bullying. Students could act out a problem that looks familiar to things that happen around the school. Teachers could teach kids when to help instead of bystand, help the bullies themselves and help the victims.
  • Year 7s trained to help kids to solve problems
  • more play space
  • make teachers aware of the symptoms

Teachers will continue to work with students to build on the positive culture at Woodend and to teach and encourage respectful relationships.

If you have any questions or concerns about the audit or the follow-up process, please contact your child’s classroom teacher orJane-Ann Natar at the school.

Bully Audit Term 3 2018