Learning & Wellbeing at Cashmere Primary Te Pae Kererū
'Feeling Good and Thriving'
Our school’s Wellbeing Framework empowers students, staff, and whānau to develop the tools and strategies to ‘feel good and thrive’. Teams use the different dimensions of our Framework to explicitly teach students strategies to support the development of these tools.
On Friday we concluded our week of Bullying Free Prevention and Response activities with Pink Shirt Day. It was fantastic to see so many students and whānau with their pink shirts on! Pink Shirt Day aims to reduce bullying in Aotearoa by celebrating diversity in all its forms and supporting workplaces, communities and schools to be safe, supportive, welcoming and inclusive of all people.
At Cashmere Primary Te Pae Kererū we want to work together to stand up to bullying.
Our school defines bullying as:
Bullying is deliberate
Bullying involves a power imbalance
Bullying is not usually a one-off
Bullying is harmful
Māunu
We have been focusing on the Emotional and Social dimensions of the Wellbeing Framework by raising awareness about bullying and focusing on the importance of being kind and inclusive to all. We have learned about what bullying is, what to do if children see bullying happening, and what to do if it is happening to them. We took part in a variety of activities throughout the week, including the one pictured below where different scenarios were given and the children had to decide if the behaviour described in the scenario was ‘OK’ (thumbs up) or if it stepped ‘over the line’ of acceptability (thumbs down). If the behaviour was ‘over the line’ the children put their thumbs down and jumped over a line on the court. This was a great stimulus for discussion about types of behaviour that are kind and unkind and ones that can be considered to be bullying.
Kōraho
This past week we have taken the opportunity to focus on the Emotional and Social dimension basing it around our Stand up to Bullying week activities. We have been learning about what bullying is and how to be kind and what makes a good friend. We are learning to recognise appropriate and inappropriate behaviours and have investigated the difference between being a bystander and an upstander. The Kōraho learners have shown a strong understanding of what this looks like for them and are more confident in the importance of being an Upstander.
Pīrere
Last week we were busy at Living Springs camp for two nights. This meant that we were focussed on the social, physical and emotional dimensions of our Wellbeing Framework. There were many opportunities whilst at camp to interact with other learners in the team, try a variety of physical challenges and for many of our learners this was the first time away from home for two nights. Our learners were supported by our great team of parents and teachers and camp was a fantastic opportunity to develop our wellbeing skills.
Kātua
This past week we have taken the opportunity to reconnect for Term 4 and focus on the Emotional and Social dimension basing it around the NZ Bullying Free activities the Year 7 and 8’s have been unpacking in Term 3. In Mānuka we took the opportunity to challenge and dispel myths and to reinforce information that is factual, reliable and valid. In Kānuka we unpacked how difficult it can be to understand what people feel by judging body language and how easy it can be to hide our true feeling.
We continue to revisit our school definition of bullying and reiterate the difference between being a bystander and an upstander.
Whānau Resource
The Bullying Free NZ website has a wealth of information about bullying, preventing bullying and responding to bullying.