Year 3 - 6 Project Rockit

The messages from our students below are quite emotional. It is too oten accepted that children can be cruel. An important piece of work for schools and families is to condemn bullying in its many forms and for the some of the children who have commented below, this will hopefully help them become advocates for a safe future free of bullying and physical, emotion and cyber  cruelty. Well done to each of our commentators.

BRYNN WD1 wrote

IChairs! An army of chairs is what we walked into at the beginning of our Incursion. As we walked in Mr Cossins asked us to sit in the front row. Two random human beings had positioned themselves in front of the TV in the hall. We were learning about bullying and our presenters were Project Rockit. 

I wasn’t sure what to expect but I felt a little excited at the same time. 

Once everyone was seated, they began to share their stories to help us get to know them. Abe told us about his fear of height and the generous gift of skydiving tickets that his parents had bought him for Christmas. Obviously he was super nervous but found the courage to jump out of the plane. 

The first part was about bullying and the types of bullying. We learnt about online, physical, verbal & relationship bullying and how they were different but all NOT OK. Of all the learning that we explored, I found the relationship bullying the most interesting. I find it fascinating that there are 2 different kinds of friends, like the kind type of friends and the type of ‘friends’ that say things behind your back (this links to online gossip too!).

One of the brain breaks we played was called ‘Levels’. Each level needed us to use different body gestures. The presenter shared statements and we had to use our bodies to share our life experiences. For the last question, almost the entire community made their way to the ‘roof top’ (this was basically us energetically waving our hands in the air). The statement was about being able to put yourself in the shoes of the victim and be prepared to step-up and help. It felt good to know that our community has so much kindness that they would be willing to stick up for others in those situations. 

The biggest thing I was able to take away from this is that it is ok to help people who are being bullied and don’t ignore what was happening. This was an important message and I hope that it becomes less of an issue for kids our age in the future. 

Comments by other students:

‘I really liked the game Levels because it helped me understand more about being an ‘upstander’ and notice other people that would do the same as me.’

Lillyana WD2

‘The messages were good for us kids because some kids get cyberbullying and troll. When it gets personal it can be really embarrassing. For some people it gets in the way of coming to school.’

Ibrahim WD2

“I feel like it was helpful because it will help people who get bullied feel like they’re not the only ones that get bullied. Trying to ignore it and trusting that someone will stick up for you was a useful lesson.” 

Ehler WD3

“We looked at some of the different kinds of bullying and had to figure out what type of bullying they were doing based on the scenario. I hope that some people realise that what they think is fun can actually be bullying behaviour.”

Corey WD3

“Learning about the types of bullying was helpful. I didn’t realise that talking behind people’s back was a type of bullying.”

Gerome WD4

“It’s important to stick up for anyone if they are being bullied. It could hurt people and turn them into a bully too.”

Nyapini WD4

“Not every new person gets treated badly but every now and again, others might pick on them because they don't know enough about them. It’s not fair.” 

Olly WD5

“You need to be kind and don’t bully anyone. We all want to be happy at school and bullying gets in the way because it can really rattle people's emotions. In extreme situations they can become antisocial.” 

Ethan WD5