Students champion diversity and belonging

"The innovative and imaginative competition entries demonstrate the importance of this issue to our children, young people and schools,” says Bullying Prevention Advisory Group Chairperson, and Secretary for Education, Iona Holsted.

“They’re telling us that bullying behaviour is never okay and that everyone deserves to feel they belong and to be treated with kindness and respect.” 

This year’s competition was about recognising and celebrating diversity as a source of strength in our schools and communities. The competition gave children and young people the opportunity to explore ways to recognise and prevent bullying with their teachers, parents and peers. 

There were seven winning entries, a further seven special merit prize-winning entries and 15 highly commended entries. 

Building belonging

“Bullying behaviours cannot thrive in schools and communities where people accept and include each other regardless of things like appearance, disability, race, or sexuality,” says Iona. 

“A feeling of belonging is an important part of our wellbeing and building a sense of belonging is something we can all contribute to.”

Schools, parents, whānau and communities all have a role to play in supporting belonging, Iona adds. Responding to the identities, languages and cultures of our young people and their whānau is a vital part of this.

“Young New Zealanders are increasingly concerned about bullying, and have the capacity to show real leadership in finding solutions,” she says. 

Winners of the multimedia competition

First prize 

• Te Poi School, Matamata
• Palmerston North Adventist School x 2
• Randwick Park School, Auckland
• Pyes Pā School, Tauranga
• Carisbrook School, Dunedin
• St Peter’s School, Cambridge

Special merit prize

• Randwick Park School, Auckland x 2
• Karoro School, Greymouth
• Kaurihohere School, Kauri
• Te Poi School, Matamata
• Hawea Flat School, Wanaka

Helping schools to prevent bullying

Resources to help schools become bullying-free are available on the Ministry of Education’s bullyingfree.nz(external link) website.

Bullying-Free NZ School Framework

Find out more about the nine elements of an effective approach to preventing and responding to bullying and how schools can build them into their bullying prevention initiatives.

A roadmap for schools

Use the roadmap to help develop and implement a whole-school approach incorporating the nine elements of the Bullying-Free NZ Framework.

Professional Learning and Development Workshops

Ten professional learning and development workshops designed to support schools develop or review their policies. The website includes all the resources needed for schools to run each workshop.  

Bullying assessment matrix

The bullying assessment matrix enables you to assess the severity, impact and frequency of a bullying incident.

Tackling Bullying – A guide for parents and whānau

This guide will help parents, whānau and schools to work together to tackle bullying behaviour. It includes information about bullying and what parents and whānau can do. 

Tackling bullying – a guide for boards of trustees

This guide will help boards of trustees build on existing good practices in their school, and help to identify actions that could work for their school or be adapted to suit their needs.

Classroom posters for primary and intermediate  

Use this set of four posters to help students understand what bullying is and what they can do about it. The posters include spaces to add what you can do at your school.

Student Voice: a Guide

Sets out the importance of student voice in finding solutions to bullying.  This guide aims to promote good practice in student participation.  It has been written for educators, but can also be used by other professionals and by students themselves.

Wellbeing at School toolkits

The free Wellbeing@School self-review tools explore how different layers of school life contribute to creating a safe and caring climate that deters bullying. The Inclusive Practices Tools explore the extent to which school practices are inclusive of all students.

NetSafe Kit for Schools 2018: Helps schools to address cyber safety

The NetSafe Kit for Schools 2018 helps schools to create and maintain a safe online environment. 

Natalia Wilson-Begg produced, wrote and directed a rap song video featuring Tevita Tu’l, aka Lil T, and Enere McLaran-Taana, aka Lazy E. The We Are All The Same lyrics include:

• We ain’t the same, we don’t gotta change
• Come on world, we can be better
• We can do it all together…
• Our skin is different
• Our hair is different
• Our personality is different
• We are who we are, and we are the world!!!

Te Poi School, Matamata 

Te Poi School’s Victoria Roskam won the junior print category with her piece ‘It Stinks to be Bullied’.  Victoria creatively describes the effects of bullying, and shares a great message about seeking help.

Excerpts from ‘It Stinks to be Bullied’

I wish she just would have hit me then I could show a mark instead of sneaky words. Stupid annoying stuff; I thought it would stop but it was every day, every single day like a tap dripping, drip, drip, and no one would turn it off.

The teasing about having a boyfriend, that wasn’t true; the lies told to my friends to make them not like me, being told I was ugly just because I had glasses…

I couldn’t get to sleep because every night I was constantly thinking about all the things she said to me: “You’re ugly, you really like him”. Horrible little comments like that, going around in my head like a dog chasing its own tail.

I had to do something now or else it would get even worse. I finally found my own big voice and had the courage to tell Mum, as I felt like I was drowning from the tap constantly being on. All the anger and negative comments exploded out of me and I felt my positive energy flowing back in.

It was so scary telling the principal what was happening. I was worried she had believed all the false information she had been told. She was shocked and didn’t realise it was so bad. I remember when I finally looked up that she was crying along with Mum and I. This time someone finally turned the tap off and helped me with ways to stop her…

Mā te huruhuru, ka rere te manu

Students at Kaurihohere School worked for three days to transform their kura whakataukī into a school song and video. Their teacher, Jo Kake, says, “It was great to see them all work together in the writing process and take time to listen to each other’s ideas. This song wasn’t difficult for them to write, because it was language and values that they were all familiar with.”

The Proud to be a Kauri Kid lyrics include:

• We won’t let bullies drag us down
• We hold our heads high and stand our ground
• If you don’t have the strength to stand up for yourself
• You can guarantee an upstander will help.