Anti-Bullying
Ballyclare High School Gets Ready for Anti-Bullying Week
Ballyclare High School is ready to take part in this year’s Anti-Bullying Week, which runs from Monday 16th to Friday 20th November 2015. The week-long campaign, under the theme “What Bullying Means To Me”, will provide an opportunity to focus on what bullying is all about.
Anti-Bullying Week is coordinated by the Northern Ireland Anti-Bullying Forum (NIABF) and supported by Translink. NIABF is an interagency group hosted by the National Children’s Bureau (NCB) NI and funded by the Department of Education.
Mrs McKay explains the importance of Anti-Bullying Week:
“In our school we work hard throughout the year to make it clear that bullying is never acceptable. Anti-Bullying Week gives us the opportunity, as a whole schools community, to consult and train pupils on this important issue and send a clear message that bullying has no place in our school.”
Mrs McKay, Mrs Fullerton, Mr Fenton who are leading pupil workshops this week, continue: “We are looking forward to using the really useful NIABF resources to highlight what bullying is and how we can deal with it. Our pupil workshops and assemblies gives our whole school, including management, teachers and pupils the opportunity to focus on reinforcing the anti-bullying message across the entire school community.”
Mrs Fenton and Mrs Hill (E-safety co-ordinators) also hope to cascade ENABLE Anti-bullying Ambassadors’ Training throughout the school later in the year. The training was received as a result of their winning application to a 2-day course in London attended by other Ambassadors from across the EU.
One of our pupils, Poppy Thomas has been named Runner-Up in the Senior Creative Writing competition, as part of this year’s Anti-Bullying Week campaign. She received her prize at a special ceremony, on Wednesday 18 November in the RADAR Centre, Belfast. Poppy’s creative writing teacher, Miss McConnell and Poppy’s friend Aimee Jenkins were also able to attend the ceremony and thoroughly enjoyed the ‘Radar’ experience.
The Northern Ireland Anti-Bullying Forum defines bullying as ‘the repeated use of power by one or more persons intentionally to harm, hurt or adversely affect the rights and needs of another or others’.
Lee Kane, Regional Anti-Bullying Coordinator, says that schools across Northern Ireland have been getting involved in the campaign.
“Schools and other organisations from right across our community have signed up to take part in the week of activities. NIABF has provided a range to resources, including themed posters, assemblies and class workshops to support pupils in exploring their understanding of what bullying is about. By improving our understanding of bullying wherever it takes place, either in school, in our communities or online, we can help to tackle bullying more effectively.”
Anti-Bullying Week is once again supported by Translink. Anti-bullying messages will be reinforced on posters in train and bus stations across Northern Ireland. Translink’s Ursula Henderson says:
“Bullying can mean different things to different people but has the same detrimental impact on child development – creating fear and anxiety, tension and stress. It’s important we continue to take positive steps to build understanding of what constitutes bullying in order to address it effectively and protect an individual’s emotional wellbeing.
“By supporting NIABF we are also delivering the message that customers should always behave responsibly and with respect for other passengers and staff while travelling by bus or train.”
See below for more information:
