Bullying-Free New Zealand Week will be from 16-20 May in conjunction with Pink Shirt Day, on Friday. The week follows the theme He kōtuinga mahi iti, he hua pai-ā rau: Small ripples create big waves.

This week is Bullying Free New Zealand Week. 

Whilst we have an ongoing focus on Bullying Prevention & Response across the year, this week provides the opportunity to focus our attention on Bullying and what we can do as a school and community to stop it.

Over the past few years we have made significant school wide improvements to our Bullying Prevention and Response. One of the key aspects of this work has been the development of our schools definition of Bullying.

This definition and shared understanding guides our preventative teaching and learning (lessons) and forms part of our response plan. 

Having a shared understanding of bullying is important so that everyone - students, teachers, school leaders, whānau and wider community - can consistently recognise and deal with bullying when it happens (Bullying Free NZ).

Please take the time to read this definition below, so as a school community we are all on the same page when we use the word bullying.

At Cashmere Primary Te Pae Kererū we define bullying as...

• Bullying is deliberate - there is an intention to cause physical and/or emotional pain or discomfort to another person;

• Bullying involves a power imbalance - there is an actual or perceived unequal relationship between the initiator and the target - this may be due (for example) to physical size, age, gender, or “social status”;

• Bullying is usually not a one-off - it is repeated over time, or has the potential to be repeated which causes fear and anxiety. Repeated acts of bullying may involve single acts with different targets or multiple acts (by the same or different initiators) with the same target;

• Bullying is harmful - there is short or long term physical or psychological harm to the target.

For further resources including some very helpful information for parents and whānau check out the Bullying Free NZ website, https://bullyingfree.nz/ 

In addition to this, please find here our schools Bullying P&R Strategy.