The Stand Up Project | Students Leading Positive Change

Building upon the success of our 2025 partnership with The Stand Up Project, this year the program continued to expand by empowering an outstanding group of student leaders to help strengthen Peninsula Grammar’s culture of respect, inclusion, and active bystander intervention.

This year, twentysix Year 10 and 11 students stepped into leadership roles within the Stand Up Project (SUP). Following their successful applications to be SUP Leaders they participated in two days of specialised training covering bystander intervention and facilitation skills. Then these students took on the challenge of designing and delivering learning experiences for our Year 7 students, families and staff.

Drawing on their own experiences and perspectives, the SUP Leaders hosted sessions for parents and teachers focused on what adults can do to help young people feel supported when disclosing bullying.

The SUP Leaders spoke about the three levels of support adults can give to young people. These were based upon a framework developed by last year’s SUP Leaders: 

1.    Just Listen

2.    Listen to Give Advice or 

3.    Listen and Problem-Solve Together.

This has now been published in a SUP resource and shared with schools throughout Australia.

Some SUP Leaders bravely shared their own experiences in vulnerable moments which enhanced the power of the sessions. Their insights provided valuable guidance for the adults in our community and reinforced the importance of listening, responding with care, and creating environments where students feel safe to seek help.

The SUP Leaders then put their skills to the test, bringing their sessions alive in the Year 7 classrooms through a series of interactive workshops. These sessions explored the bystander effect and encouraged students to recognise the important role they can play when they witness bullying or exclusion. Through discussion, role plays, and practical activities, students practised simple but powerful upstander actions, including the Four Ds of Bystander Action: Direct, Delay, Distract, and Delegate.

The courage and commitment shown by our student facilitators has been inspiring. Their work has helped embed a shared understanding across the school that respect is not simply a value we talk about, but something we demonstrate every day through the way we look out for one another.

The SUP Leaders and key staff also participated in an independent evaluation of the program outcomes by Monash University’s School of Educational Psychology & Counselling.

We congratulate all SUP leaders for their outstanding contribution to our school community and for modelling the positive change they wish to see in the world. Through their efforts, they have helped create a stronger culture of belonging, empathy, and collective responsibility for all.

Mrs Suzanne Penhall 

Head of Respectful Relationships