Year 5 - Stand Up Project

On Monday the 16th of June, the Year 5 cohort participated in a Stand Up Project workshop with Dr. Zach Greig. Zach dived deeper into the differences between Friendship Fires, Mean on Purpose and Bullying. Students participated in practical activities about how you can go from a bystander to an upstander by applying the Four Ds (Direct, Delegate, Distract, Delay) when witnessing a Mean on Purpose event, but also what you can do when you see or are part of a Friendship Fire (as delegating to a teacher might not be the first strategy to use in a Friendship Fire).

Some of our last year’s SUP leaders also attending and were invited to share their experiences being a SUP leader, what they felt they were able to do for themselves (e.g. develop their own leadership skills and public speaking), and for BEPS (e.g. teaching students about being an upstander). 

At the end of the workshop the students were invited to volunteer to be a Stand Up Leader if they would like to, and our new Year 5 SUP leaders were chosen. It was fantastic to see so many students volunteering, showing Habit 8- 'Find Your Voice', even if they might have been a little unsure. After recess they participated in a second workshop, with the support of the Year 6 leaders, to discuss and plan the workshops they will deliver next semester to our Year 2 and 3 cohorts. Zach invited them to talk about what they hope to get out of being a SUP leader and it was inspiring to hear them talk about their hopes for the program and for having a positive impact on our whole school community. 

A reminder that next Wednesday, 2nd of July, all BEPS parents are invited to attend a parent session about the Stand Up Project, including how you as parents and carers can support your children if they are to experience Friendship Fires, Mean on Purpose or Bullying. 

Some reflections from Year 5 students about the workshops:

“It was super interesting to hear about how Dr Zach’s childhood made him come up with the Stand Up Project.”

“I think it will help our parents a lot, because they might feel like they don’t know how to help us. I think that it will help them if we tell them things they can do.”

“Being a SUP leader will teach us how to teach the younger students about it and also increase our connections with the younger students.”

“I was able to understand more about it, because before that I wasn’t sure what it was all about.”