Wellbeing

Bullying No Way! Week (11–15 August 2025)

Bullying No Way Week is Australia's key bullying prevention initiative for schools. It provides an opportunity for schools to create a shared understanding about bullying behaviours and share their bullying prevention policies and strategies. CGPS has clear definitions outlined in our school policies and procedures for bullying.

The national definition of bullying for Australian schools says:

Bullying is an ongoing and deliberate misuse of power in relationships through repeated verbal, physical and/or social behaviour that intends to cause physical, social and/or psychological harm. It can involve an individual or a group misusing their power, or perceived power, over one or more persons who feel unable to stop it from happening.

Single incidents and conflict or fights between equals, whether in person or online, are not defined as bullying.

Behaviours that do not constitute bullying include:

mutual arguments and disagreements (where there is no power imbalance)
not liking someone or a single act of social rejection
one-off acts of meanness or spite
isolated incidents of aggression, intimidation or violence.

However, these conflicts still need to be addressed and resolved. Likewise not all online issues are bullying. (Online bullying is sometimes referred to as cyberbullying and refers to bullying that is carried out through information and communication technologies.)

Students who may be experiencing bullying behaviour, or students who have witnessed bullying behaviour, are encouraged to report their concerns to school staff or another trusted adult as soon as possible.

Signs a parent or carer might notice if their child is being bullied include if their child:

doesn't want to go to school or participate in school activities
changes their method or route to school or is frightened of walking to school
drops in academic performance
experiences changes in sleep patterns
experiences changes in eating patterns
has frequent tears, anger, mood swings
takes money from home
has unexplained bruises, cuts, scratches
loses or brings home damaged belongings or clothes
arrives home hungry.

The signs of possible cyberbullying can be the same as signs of other bullying, but include other behaviours with phones, computers and other devices, for example:

being hesitant about going online
seeming nervous when a notification, message or phone call appears
being visibly upset after using their phone or computer, or suddenly avoiding it
closes the screen, or hides the mobile phone when others enter the room
spending unusually long hours online
receiving suspicious phone calls, emails or packages.

Parents or carers who develop concerns that their child is involved in, or has witnessed bullying behaviour at our school, should contact their child's classroom teacher, Principal, Assistant Principal, Leading Teachers or our Mental Health and Wellbeing Leader.