SWAN Hill Primary School joined together in a bid to stamp out bullying last Friday.
As part of the National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence (NDA), the whole school community from students to the principal, teachers and lollipops made a link in a paper chain to be displayed in the school library.
“That is in recognition of the fact that we are all a part of the same community,” explained Mandy Hinton, who is part of the school’s positive behaviour team.
“This year we have done a number of activities leading up to the day.”
“These are focused on kindness and being kind to other people.”
The school has been involved in the program for 10 years and this year’s theme was kindness culture, where students are able to feel included, respected and feel they belong.
Respect is one of the four key values of the school alongside belonging, responsibility and commitment.
Students on the day wore their house colours to represent their belonging to their different house teams.
In the lead up to the day, students have been watching videos and reading books and having discussions about bullying.
Students and teachers also had an opportunity to spread messages of kindness on a digital notice board.
Messages included being kind to other people, helping your friends out, treating people how you want to be treated and encourage someone to do something wonderful.
“We are trying to be proactive and build up skills in our students,” Mrs Hinton said.
“So that they can support their classmates and also be empowered if they do get into difficult situations.”
“They can also feel empowered about being able to do something to help their community and their classmates.”
