Author: kdutney

What will St Mary’s Primary do?

Where can I get more information about bullying?

In situations where bullying behaviour occurs, staff at St Mary’s will follow the steps set out in our Student Behaviour Support plan:
Listen sensitely and gather all information from all parties.
Diligently observe and monitor.
Assist students to develop more appropriate social skills
Contact parents of all parties to make them aware of the allegations.
In situations where bullying behaviour occurs, staff at St Mary’s may:
Implement a behaviour management plan or playground plan for individual students
Explicitly teach about conflict and bullying
Implement resilience and anti-bullying programs
Address bullying behaviour in their curriculum
Apply disciplinary consequences where necessary.
The school will not give you any of the personal details of other students involved. They will not give you any details of consequences given to other students involved.

What can I do if I feel that St Mary’s is not addressing the bullying appropriately?
Make an appointment to meet with the Principal.
Contact Brisbane Catholic Education Office to speak to the Senior Leader for Cluster 5 on 34407905. They will endeavour to work with you and the school to try and solve the problem.

Kids Helpline: a free, private and confidential, 24 –hour telephone and online counselling service for young people aged between 5-25 years. https://www.kidshelpline.com.au/parents/issues/bullying-school
Queensland Government Education—Bullying—https://education.qld.gov.au/parents-and-carers/parent-participation/parent-resources/bullying
Bullying. No Way!: an online resource providing information for parents, students and educators. https://bullyingnoway.gov.au/
KidsMatter: aims to improve the mental health and wellbeing of children. http://www.kidsmatter.edu.au
National Centre Against Bullying: a peak body working to advise and inform the Australian community on the issue of childhood bullying and the creation of safe schools and communities, including the issue of cyber safety. http://www.ncab.org.au
St Mary’s Primary School does not tolerate bullying behaviour.

St Mary’s Primary School
School-Wide Positive Behaviour Support
Parent Information on Bullying Behaviour

What is Bullying

Bullying behaviour is when a child, or a group of children, deliberately and repeatedly upset or hurt another child. The person/people doing the bullying will have some form of power over the target.
Bullying is not one-off incidents of name calling or physical abuse, it is only bullying when it is repeated, deliberate and there is an imbalance of power involved.
Bullying can happen anywhere and can involve both staff and students. It can happen at school, in the community and online.

Pro-active Support

St Mary’s recognises the importance of ‘bystanders’ and their role in the prevention of bullying and has the following pro-active measures in place:
Making bullying an open topic, destroying the secretiveness by which it thrives.
Research has demonstrated that bystanders play a significant role in bullying. Bystanders are present most of the time (85%), where adults are rarely present.
Most young people feel uncomfortable but very few know what to do to stop it happening. Bullying behaviour is reinforced where people watch but do nothing .
St Mary’s employs a pro-active focus on educating and empowering bystanders through focused and planned interventions.

How can I tell if my child is being bullied?

Sometimes children who are bullied do not talk about it with parents or teachers. They are concerned that “telling” will make matters worse. Some signs that a child may be experiencing bullying may include:
Loss of confidence, fearfulness or anxiety
Changes in eating or sleeping habits, bedwetting
Health problems, vague headaches or stomach aches
Unhappiness, tearfulness or mood swings, sudden temper tantrums
Reluctance to go to school, changes in academic performance
Lack of friends
Missing belongings or torn clothing.

Stay calm and help your child to identify the bullying behaviour and ask them:
What has been happening?
Who has been involved?
Where have the incidents occurred?
Has anyone else seen the bullying behaviour?
Discuss with your child some immediate strategies. Make a plan to deal with the bullying. Encourage them to:
Use Stop, Walk, Talk
Firmly say “Stop” whatever the action is being done.
Walk away to de-escalate the situation.
Talk to the teacher or a trusted adult.
Become familiar with the St Mary’s anti-bullying policy and Information Pamphlets. Copies can be obtained from the school office or on the St Mary’s website or Parent Portal
Contact the school to check that your child has spoken to someone about the problem and to arrange a meeting to find out what the school will do to address the situation.
Stay in contact with the school to let them know if things improve or if there are further incidents of bullying.
Use some of the internet resources listed on the back of this pamphlet to help you and your child

What should I do if my child tells me they are being bullied?