Kangaroo Flat Primary School Case Study

Kangaroo Flat Primary School

Tell us about Kangaroo Flat Primary School

Kangaroo Flat Primary School is located in Bendigo and has a current student population of 315. Our Student Family Occupation index sits at 0.71. We have a growing English as an Additional Language (EAL) population from refugee backgrounds.

What is the project?

An integral part of our message is around ‘Everyday Heroes’ which helps children to connect and reflect on the experiences and feelings of others and foster the courage of the everyday hero to take a stand against bullying.We want active bystanders who take a stand and use their voice to speak up. The project had two parts: the development of a movie demonstrating how children can be active, positive bystanders and the design of flags with anti-bullying messages emblazoned on them.

What were the key objectives?

The project was developed in response to anecdotal evidence that we had children that were passive bystanders to some acts of bullying behaviour. Some students felt that it was okay to witness or hear unacceptable behaviour directed at others providing that they were not directly involved. We wanted to provide students with the message that it was not okay to stand by and say and do nothing to help. We needed students to be proactive, to feel comfortable to ‘take a stand and lend a hand’. We needed students to know that they could be active bystanders, that they had the power to change the situation.

Also our school has had an increase in the enrolment of EAL students, particularly Afghan students with refugee status. It was important that our school welcome and include these students and celebrate our growing diversity.

How was it implemented?

Our school felt it was important that we focus our efforts on a number of levels:

Strengthen our Student Voice

Leadership workshops were facilitated by LoddonCampaspe Multicultural Services. Thirty students attended a two day workshop focusing on building student leadership capacity with a particular focus on inclusion, friendships and diversity.
Selected students from our student forum drafted a script and developed a short movie based around the theme of ‘Everyday Heroes - The Positive Bystander Effect’ with the support of the ICT teacher fromthe local Year 7-10 secondary college.

Explicitly teach Social and Emotional Learning

Our school timetabled a Wellbeing Hour on Thursday afternoons. The Grade 5/6 Neighbourhood ran a Girl Space and Boys Business program utilizing the expertise of our Chaplain and Primary Wellbeing Officer. Cybersafety, resiliency and friendships were also addressed during this time.

Signage along the entrance way of our school

Our school community ran a competition asking for anti-bullying slogans to be put forward and voted on. The seven stand out slogans, such as ‘Bullying is not cool-it doesn’t belong at this school’, were printed onto 3.5 metre flags that line the entrance way of the school. It was important for our whole school community to read the anti-bullying signage.

Has the project been a success?

The project has been a success. We feel that the school and yard are generally calmer. Students are naming the behaviours that they feel are inappropriate. Anecdotally, we seem to have less incidences of students who are standing by and letting issues escalate this year. Our students are more proactive in stopping, deflecting, and discouraging those around them when they see a potential situation arise.

There has also been a growing sense that there has been a change of language around the school. Students use the words ‘bystander ‘or ‘active bystander’. Students feel that they have a voice, and that they can make a choice about what to do. Our EAL students indicate that they feel supported and have friendships with peers. There is an increased tolerance of others who are different.

Wellbeing is firmly on the agenda at our school. The Wellbeing curriculum that is slowly being developed is starting to be taught explicitly but will take time to embed. We continue to strengthen our home-school partnership with our families.

In addition,our school has been on a journey to change some attitudes and behaviours of our wider school community. Some parents/guardians have also needed to learn and understand the key anti-bullying messages in order for our school to operate in a calm and harmonious manner.

What is the future of the project?

This project helped lift our profile within our school community about the strategies we use to counteract bullying. We will continue to develop lesson plans around cybersafety and bullying, and use art and perhaps music as avenues to further develop ideas around the anti-bullying theme. In addition, we intend to create stronger links with our wider community such as our local secondary college andLoddonCampaspe Multicultural Services.

Contact

Kim Saddlier -