A school in Orpington is tackling bullying by empowering young students, with anti-bullying ambassadors as young as eight leading the charge.
Crofton Junior School is a large six-form entry school with an enrolment of 720 students and is part of the Connect School Academy Trust.
Three years ago, an anti-bullying program named the Diana Award was introduced at the school with aims to empower young people to make positive changes in their community.
The program includes 20 anti-bullying ambassadors from years four, five and six, who promote messages and provide support to peers.
Teacher and anti-bullying lead of the Diana Award at Crofton Junior School, Susie O’Hara, said children must volunteer to become an ambassador, which then gets filtered down through a selection process.
She told the News Shopper: “Students are in a role of being the first port of call if a child is worried about bullying.
“They have to do a lot of training, like counselling skills, active listening, and being taught about empathy.
“So, as a child, they need to be someone who attends meetings quite regularly and does research and homework.
“It’s someone who is very dedicated, sensible and caring, someone who's going to look out for the well-being of others, and someone who's kind and respectful.”
During the training, children were taught that for behaviour to be considered bullying, it must meet three criteria: it must be repeated, intentional, and negative.
They also learned about the various types of bullying, which they remember using the acronym VIP: Verbal, Indirect, and Physical.
The ambassadors must wear distinctive rainbow lanyards to be easily identifiable on the playground, allowing them to approach any child who appears lonely or upset and offer support.
“If they've had an issue at break time, they come and find me, they write a report, and then I follow it up with the appropriate teachers or adults who can then go in and sort the situation”, Susie added.
In addition to their day-to-day activities, the Anti-Bullying Ambassadors work on special campaigns targeting specific issues and earn badges upon completion.
For the Respect Badge, the ambassadors raised awareness about disabilities through research and collaboration, while for the Wellbeing Badge, they introduced the Shining Star award to recognize kindness and conducted an anti-bullying survey to enhance school safety.
With the Online Safety Badge, they educated peers about online safety, shared resources with parents, and hosted a visit from the Metropolitan Police to reinforce safety measures already in place.
For the Community Badge, the ambassadors organized an anti-bullying poster competition displayed at Petts Wood Library, promoted their efforts in the community, and interviewed older generations about bullying.
Susie added: “The children are aware of what bullying is, the types of it, and the impact of it.
“The scheme gives us extra pairs of eyes on the playground, and it helps the teachers and the children.
“Some might be too scared to approach staff, but they’re happy to approach their peers.
“We celebrated the end of a wonderful year with a picnic at the local park and are set to get the new cohort of year fours in September”.
Head Teacher Susie Sargent and Deputy Head Liz Quayle said the work of the ambassadors are “valued tremendously” and are an “active part” of the school.
They told the News Shopper: “We are especially proud that they have achieved School of the Month twice as well as their numerous badges.
“The children are dedicated and supportive to everyone.”
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