Bullying Prevention group is working well

Bullying Prevention group is working well

A collaborative group that started with an appeal from secondary principals for support in making schools safe from bullying in is making great progress says the New Zealand School Trustees Association. A spate of cases in 2005-2009 raised the profile of bullying in New Zealand schools.

NZSTA President Lorraine Kerr says the Bullying Prevention Advisory Group (BPAG) is a constructive group to be part of, and is having a practical impact by providing evidence-based guidance and information to schools on how to create an environment that keeps students safe from bullying in all its forms. Boards of trustees are responsible for ensuring that their school provides a physically and emotionally safe environment for students and staff.

BPAG also has links to other behaviour management and safety-related initiatives such as the Positive Behaviour for Learning (PB4L) program that developed out of the 2009 Taumata Whanonga hui.

“We are moving forward with a range of tools, from improving the information we have about what actually does go on, to supporting principals with practical steps to make their schools bully-free zones, to explaining the issues to local communities and telling them how they can help.

“Every student has the right to be free from violence and abuse at school, and that’s what we’re working on.

“Watch this space. There’s a lot of important work in the pipeline,” Lorraine says.

“It’s a good example of how well we can all work together when we want to.”

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