This term the children have thought a lot about Bullying: what do we mean by this, and how do we stand up to it?

Anti-Bullying Week followed on from Remembrance Sunday, when we thought about how others have given their lives for us, and how we can use our lives to be the best we can be. The week began with Odd Socks Day, which was a chance for us to show that we reject Bullying. In assemblies throughout November, and into Advent, we have been thinking about how we can do this as a school community.

At North Lakes School, we define Bullying as when someone is harmed or hurt, repeatedly, deliberately, and unfairly by one or more others.

We expect everyone to follow the Golden Rule: “treat others how they like to be treated”, and we do not tolerate unkind, hurtful or disrespectful behaviour at any time. What makes Bullying distinct, is that it is unfair and harmful behaviour which happens several times on purpose.

We have looked at how we are all different, precious and unique – like the famous sweets, we really are “all sorts”. We know we that we all have different abilities, talents and needs. We have different ages, genders, languages, shapes, sizes, races, religions, families and carers, interests, likes and dislikes. Our differences make us special and interesting, and at North Lakes we respect and include everyone. We celebrate difference and we reject hate.

The children know that we all have a responsibility to be a defender, not a bystander, and to stand up to bullying, whether it is face to face, or online. We all need to recognise it, respond to it, and report it.

To recognise bullying we need to look out for signs of sadness, distress, anger and unkind behaviour. We have then looked at four good ways to respond to Bullying – see if your children can tell you about them and explain what they mean...

Depending on the situation, we can choose to:

• Walk away
• Talk to the victim
• Talk to the bully, or
• Scoop up the victim

Whatever we choose to do, we must keep ourselves safe – and we must ALWAYS REPORT IT to a trusted adult.

As we celebrate Christmas, we will be thinking about how we can follow the Christmas Star, and one way to do this, will be to be a defender of others, to celebrate difference and include everyone as we move into a new year.