Upstander Program

Each year our grade 5 students have the opportunity to apply to become part of the Upstander Program. The program specifically empowers these young students to become "upstanders" by teaching them how to actively respond to bullying and harmful behaviours, rather than being passive bystanders. Through explicit lessons, interactive workshops and peer-led initiatives, Year 5 students learn valuable skills in conflict resolution, inclusion, and respect, helping them to create safer and more supportive school environments.

The initiative is a collaboration of five local schools, supported by the Bayside City Council. Our students recently participated in day of collaboration, connection, fun and learning at the Brighton Town Hall.

Each year the Upstanders work with an artist to create an artifact to share their message of kindness, empathy and respect. The decals located on the main shopping streets of Bayside and throughout our school grounds were created by the 2024 Upstanders.

This year the students will work with an artist to create an avenue to spread their message which will focus on cyberbullying.

Our Upstanders explain the role of an Upstander, some activities they have undertaken at school and details of the different workshops they participated in at the Upstander day.

Being an Upstander

An upstander is someone who chooses to stand up for someone who is getting bullied or harmed by others. Upstanders encourage others to report bullying if they see it or it’s happening to them. As an Upstander we go to meetings every Wednesday to talk about the effects of bullying and cyberbullying and to learn correct ways to stand up for others.

By Rosie, Soph and Laura

Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying is bullying that’s online. Even though it’s online, it’s still not okay but maybe worse. People fake identities and are being anonymous just to bully. People all around the world are suffering from it. It makes people insecure and is wrong. It’s a menace to society! So, let’s find out some way to prevent cyber bullying and what to do if you're being cyber bullied.

Boosting positive emotions

As Upstanders, the goal is for everyone to enjoy school. One of the main games we enjoy playing is called the Ping Pong game. The game is that you play music to catch the ball, then when the music stops the person with the ball has to make the other person laugh or smile. Me and Layla as Upstanders have really enjoyed doing this with the students. We hope they have enjoyed this and taken something from this activity.

By Layla and Clara

Working in Yr 1/2 classrooms

For the 2024 Bullying No Way week, the HPS Upstanders went to teach some young classes about this year’s theme: Everyone Belongs. We went into the grade 1 or 2 classrooms and were very impressed by how much all of the younger kids knew about bullying and inclusion/exclusion. While they were working on their projects, we found they had no problems collaborating and making their fish unique and different from each other. I think they really enjoyed seeing all the fish together and knowing that ‘we are all different, but we swim together.’ We all really enjoyed working with the Year 1 and 2 students, and we were glad we could teach them about Bullying No Way week.

By Ella and Daea

Year 1 fish activity

As part of being an upstander was having an enjoyable afternoon with the year ones and twos. During that time, we got to tell them what an upstander is and what it means to belong. We got many entertaining answers and smiles. The point of the conversation was to show that it is ok to be different and that everyone belongs. Be an upstander not a bystander.

By Maya and Clara

Bullying no way week

A few weeks ago we had ‘Bullying No Way Week’. This year the theme was ‘Everyone Belongs’. We did an activity with the year ones where they all coloured in a fish, we did this activity because we wanted to show the year ones that they were all different, in this case all the fish were different colours. We also had a talk with them about how sometimes people get bullied for being different which is not ok. After they had all finished colouring in their fish we arranged them onto a sheet of paper with the title being ‘We are all different but we swim together’. This was how we represented bullying no way week with the younger kids.

By Tess and Kaela

The Forum day

The Upstanders went to a forum day at the Brighton Town Hall on the 11 of September. We had an exhilarating experience that helped us understand how it feels to be bullied and excluded so now we can help each other through it. All of us made a lot of friends in every school. The schools that were there were Hampton, Sandringham East, Brighton Beach, Sandringham and Beaumaris Primary Schools. Most of us started off knowing no one from the other schools and knowing nothing about any of the other students but by the end of the day we were all friends. We got to play games to help us become better Upstanders and get to know each other.

By Bella and Daea

Being an Upstander

At the forum we learnt that being an Upstander means to stand up to bullying. When given the chance to be right or kind, choose kind. Being an Upstander means to show leadership in every situation and to not be a Bystander in tough situations for others. We chose to be Upstanders because we believe everyone deserves to be treated the same way, because everyone is equal.

Amelia & Layla 5B

Dr Troy Innocent

At the forum day we meet Dr Troy Innocent, he taught us about art, about how and what art represents its artist and he made a make to improve our understanding of where the other schools were that were at the forum day: Sandringham, Brighton Beach, Sandringham East, Beamarius. We learned about him and what he has accomplished such as many pieces of unique artwork all around Melbourne, such as many pieces that show the past and present of the place the art is located.

By Kohen and Jack

As part of the 2024 upstanders, we had a session learning about Troy Innocent and his incredible artwork. He told us about how trams are going around with his artwork on it. Most of his art is interactive or abstract. He has a lot of his work displayed on the city street. In our session we pointed out parts of a map and what they meant to us.

Respecting boundaries

While we were learning about respecting people’s boundaries we got to do roleplays. In roleplays we got to act out a scene of what we thought respecting boundaries was.

When we were doing this, we were developing new ways to learn about how the person being mean might not intend it to appear like that. For an example people’s boundaries are different than ours, one person might not mind someone taking their stuff but somebody else might mind a bit more than you think.

By Indie and Elly

Conflict resolution

At the forum day one of the many things we learnt about was conflict resolution. We played a modified game of dodgeball called Cowie dodgeball where the teacher running it called Ms Cowie would constantly change the rules. If you argued she would for example, say anyone with blonde hair is out or if you asked a question she might say you're out if you argued she would let everyone in except you. This game taught us about our amygdala which is the part of our brain that controls our anger and frustration. Ms Cowie called it the guard dog because it would either fight or fly meaning that if the guard dog got really triggered it would fight but if you can calm it down it would fly meaning walk away from the situation.

By Barnaby 5C, Griffin 5B.

Exclusion

At the forum day, we learnt about exclusion and how it feels when you are excluded. We played a game involving cards, where everybody would get a card. You would either get an 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, or King. The higher your card number, the more important you were and the better you were treated, and if you got the card numbered 8 or 9, you would be completely ignored. This game was called the Royals game. You were given a card, and you weren’t allowed to look at it, and you would put it against your forehead. Depending on how you were treated, at the end of the game you would guess what card you got. This game taught us all about how it felt being excluded, and the importance of being inclusive.

Visible Wellbeing Parent Evening with Professor Lea Waters

This presentation introduces parents to Visible Wellbeing which combines the science of wellbeing with the science of learning to make wellbeing visible in all classes and across co-curricula at the school. Visible Wellbeing is the culmination of 20 years of high-impact research in psychology and education conducted and published by Lea Waters PhD. In this presentation, Lea shares a few of the Visible Wellbeing practices that can be easily used by parents to support the wellbeing of their children at home.

Date: Thursday November 7th, 2024

Time: 6:30pm - 7:30pm

Zoom Link: Please send the following link to your parent and carer community so that they can register - https://tinyurl.com/5yrxf6fu

Holiday activity

As part of our learning here at school this term our students have worked in class to develop skills in the area of Attention and Awareness. These strategies help us to choose what we would like to pay attention to, and shift our attention to things that bring us joy and energy rather than something deflating or anxiety-inducing. If you are interested in integrating some Attention and Awareness activities into your family life, mindfulness is a great way to start, and the opportunities are almost unlimited! You may want to try apps like Smiling Mind or Headspace, or take the family out for a day of Mindful Walking in a nature reserve near you!

Twilight Carnival