Wellbeing News

Bullying No Way: National week of action

This year Westgrove Primary School is participating in the Bullying No Way: National week of action, 12 to 16 August 2024.

Bullying No Way Week is a commitment being made by thousands of schools and supporters across the country. It provides an opportunity to demonstrate our commitment to bullying prevention. It gives us an opportunity to connect with students, staff and school communities to implement workable solutions to prevent bullying.

The new hero colour for the campaign is purple – symbolising peace, strength and empowerment to take a stand against bullying behaviour.

The theme for this year's campaign is Everyone belongs. This theme highlights the importance of creating a sense of belonging and inclusion for students. We recognise bullying often thrives in environments where individuals feel marginalised or excluded, and it is our collective responsibility to ensure that every student feels valued and respected.

“Positive school climates that value diversity and inclusion can foster a sense of belonging and provide a protective factor against negative peer relationships and reduce bullying.” (Australian Education Research Organisation 2023).

For more information about Bullying No Way Week and bullying prevention, visit the Bullying No Way website.

During the week we will be engaging students in meaningful discussions and activities aimed at promoting empathy, understanding, and respect for diversity. We encourage parents and carers to take this opportunity to have open and honest conversations with their children about the impact of bullying and what they can do if they need support.

You can access the school’s bullying prevention policy on the school’s website to learn more about our process for preventing and responding to bullying.

If you have concerns that your child is being bullied, please contact your child’s classroom teacher in the first instance. If you believe the behaviour constitutes a crime, or is a serious incident of cyberbullying, please refer to the Bullying No Way website for information on how to report to other authorities and access wellbeing help.

Bullying – important conversations to have with your child

By working collaboratively within our community, we can collectively help reduce bullying.

Parents and carers play an important role in helping your child understand bullying, and know how to respond to it.

If your child tells you about things at school, or you observe something in public that involves conflict or bullying, take the opportunity to talk about what bullying is. You can learn more about what defines bullying at bullyingnoway.gov.au.

Questions you could ask:

What do you think bullying is?
Have you seen it? How did you feel?
Have you ever felt scared at school because of bullying?
As well as me, who are the other adults you would talk to when it comes to things like bullying?
Have you or your friends left other kids out on purpose? Do you think that was bullying? Why or why not?
Have you ever tried to help someone who is being bullied? What happened? What would you do if it happens again?

Remind your child that bullying is never okay and discuss how they can respond safely if they experience or witness it.

Encourage them to seek help from a trusted adult and keep seeking support if needed.

By promoting open communication, we empower children to stand up against bullying and create a safer environment where everyone can feel that they belong.

For more information, visit bullyingnoway.gov.au.

STUDENT SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS

We have had a number of reports about inappropriate online activity happening between students via various social media platforms, including Tik Tok, Snapchat and Instagram.

I have included below some information about supporting your children online.

As we lead our children through life and its many challenges, we’re often guiding them on how to make good choices and engage well with others. We teach them to say “please” and “thank you” and all the necessary nuances of engaging with the broader world from a very early age, but do we ever stop to consider how this translates into online behaviour?

While the basic skills will vary based on a child’s age group and the correlating interests they have, there are some basic behaviours that it is good to establish as they grow and develop. We’ve developed a simple list for three different age ranges which cover the rules that you might want to put in place and some key skills for building open communication.

Early years – children under 5: 

Begin early by setting clear and simple rules about technology use, including which devices your child can use, which websites and platforms they engage with, and boundaries around use time and routines.
Take the time to explore technology and use websites and apps – either before your child accesses them, or together, and use this opportunity to apply general etiquette to an online environment.
While you’re sharing this experience you can also build the foundations to have open and honest chats about technology use.
Walk the talk - model good use of technology in your own behaviour to set a good example. 
Show an interest in the activities your children enjoy and offer up suggestions for other relevant content and activities that build their knowledge, experiences and skills.

Primary school – children aged 5 - 12: 

Review rules about technology use and adapt these to suit the child’s developmental stage. For example, you might decide that children are ready to try out different platforms and apps with guidance and supervision or to change the rules to give them more autonomy if they have earned your trust. 
Consider limiting their technology use to shared areas of the house and keep technology out of private spaces like bedrooms.
Involve children in discussions about rules around technology use (as appropriate) and consider signing a family technology agreement that everyone sticks to build good habits and actions.
Get to know the privacy and safety settings of digital products and services that your child uses, and make sure these are set to the highest settings.
Show an interest in the websites and apps that they enjoy and try to learn more about them – get a head start by exploring the list on the eSafety guide.
Encourage critical thinking skills by discussing different types of content online and how some information might be misleading or harmful or how information, images and videos could be edited.  
Encourage children to talk to you about the things they experience or see online and listen actively when they do. 
Talk to your children about online risks – and safety messages, and discuss some strategies about how they can navigate certain risks that come up to build their digital resilience and skills.

For more information check out the following link:

https://www.alannahandmadeline.org.au/resources/how-to-build-positive-online-behaviours-a-guide-for-parents

STUDENT ATTENDANCE

Thank you to the families who have explained their child's absences.

We have included some NEW attendance data for your information. This shows how many students across our school are attending school each day.

TERM 3 , WEEK 1

TERM 3, WEEK 2

TERM 3, WEEK 3

What does this data tell us?

When we have 90% attendance = about 50 students who are away from school on that day.
We had a large number of students absent last week and not all of these absences were explained.
Attendance drops off later in the week.

Parents & carers we need your help to improve your child's attendance data, which will support improved learning outcomes for your child.