Kia ora Te Whānau,

This week is ‘Bully Free Week’ across New Zealand. The aim is to raise awareness about bullying. Bullying is deliberate, harmful behaviour that is repeated, or continues over a period of time. It often involves a power imbalance and it is difficult for those being bullied to defend themselves.

At Cashmere Avenue School we:

• create a safe, inclusive, and respectful environment

• identify bullying behaviour, and do not tolerate it

• recognise diversity and avoid cultural bias

• work to eliminate racism, discrimination, and stigma in education

• promote digital citizenship by teaching students about safe and responsible technology use

As part of our classroom programmes we discuss bullying regularly. Our focus this week is, as always, ‘Be a Kaitiaki - Be Kind’. A key area of focus has been clarifying what bullying is, as we need our tamariki to know what to do if they are being bullied.

Sometimes our children think bullying is when they don’t get their own way in a game or if a friend occasionally says something unkind. Therefore, we have also been discussing ways to resolve any issues with friends, as this is part of life and growing up but not bullying. When we do make mistakes, as we all do, we need to learn how to apologise genuinely. Above is a great structure to help guide this process.

On Friday we will be joining the nation to say "NO" to bullying by participating in ‘Pink Shirt Day’. Please encourage your child to wear pink and talk to them about what they have learned this week. As always, if you have concerns please raise these with your child’s teacher so we can work together to resolve these promptly. We all want our tamariki to be happy so they are ready to learn.

Ngā mihi nui

Jo Staite

Acting Principal