Respectful Relationships 2021

The Respectful Relationships team are continuing to support the education of students in relation to social and emotional learning.  Several members of the Respectful Relationships team recently attended a workshop run by Courage to Care, an organisation dedicated to the education of the dangers of prejudice, racism and discrimination.  A significant part of the presentation was encouraging the role of the ‘upstander’, they define this as those who are willing to stand up, do the right thing and refuse to remain a bystander to instances of injustice.  While there may only be one victim and one perpetrator in an incident, often, there are many bystanders and Courage to Care urge those who are witnesses to become upstanders by supporting victims, challenging perpetrators and rallying the support of other bystanders.  One of the most important messages from the presentation was that ‘the standard you walk past is the standard that you accept’.  

These are conversations that we will continue to have with our students in order to foster a sense of responsibility, and we hope that parents and community members you are able to encourage the same message and model upstander behaviours.  It is our hope that as a whole school community we can challenge perpetrators of unacceptable behaviour and in doing so signal support to victims and motivate others to act as upstanders.  If you would like any more information in relation to the Respectful Relationships program please contact Andrew Harms (Assistant Principal) or Katrina Chipperfield (Wellbeing Coordinator).