Sometimes we don't feel very happy in school or at home, and that can be for lots of different reasons. Someone might be calling you names, or you might be worried about someone in your family, or someone might be upsetting you for a different reason. If any of these things happen and you feel upset, it is always best to tell an adult.
At Hillborough Juniors, we have highlighted the importance for our children to feel supported by adults and their peers when talking about their feelings and daily worries. We have a number of children in each year group that represent their peers and have undergone Anti-Bullying Training with The Princess Diana Trust to help them support their peers when they feel worried or are having difficulties with their peers.
The Anti-Bullying Ambassadors also run a weekly drop in session called ‘Friday Feelings’ which is open to all children. During these sessions, children discuss their feelings, thoughts and have an opportunity to take part in a range of mindfulness activities.
Each term the Anti-Bullying team meet and discuss the current issues among their year groups and solutions which they then put in place with the support of staff. Our Anti-Bullying ambassadors have played a crucial role in raising awareness about mindfulness among their peers.
Making friends
"When you meet someone, you don't know whether that person is going to become a good friend, so you have to be a bit careful at first."
"Friendship is like planting a seed that you've found. You are not quite sure what is going to come up so you have to watch it carefully and nurture (look after) it."
Friendships are very special things and you have to work hard at them. Sometimes we make friends with the wrong people. These might be people who get us into trouble or encourage us to be silly. These are not the best friendships because they won't help you to become a mature and sensible person. A good friend to have is someone who will listen to you and encourage you to do the right things. They will be loyal and stand by you when something bad happens and try to cheer you up. Sometimes we fall out with our friends and this can be difficult to deal with. Everyone will feel upset. But friendships can be fixed if you work hard at them. Always apologise and say you're sorry when you've done something to upset a friend. Try to make it up to them by being very kind and nice to them. We all have arguments and fall out with one another, but that doesn't mean we can't fix the problem and be friends again.
If you are having problems with your friends or you're not sure how to make new friends, talk to an adult about it. Your teachers at school will always help you with friendship worries.
WHAT IS BULLYING?
Bullying is when someone is aggressive towards you and makes you feel threatened or worried and scared. This happens to you more than once and means that the person keeps upsetting you again and again. If someone calls you names or says something mean to you just once, that is not bullying, but you should still tell someone about it. Bullying can be when someone threatens you, spreads rumours and tells other people nasty things about you often, physically hurting someone or leaving someone out on purpose to upset them.
WHAT CAN I DO IF SOMEONE IS UPSETTING ME AT SCHOOL?
If someone at school is annoying you or being horrible, or even bullying you, the first thing you should do is to tell an adult. The best people to tell are your teacher and your parents as they know you best and can talk to you about it. You can tell any adult that you trust. The teachers in the school will talk to you about the problem and try to help you to solve it. If it is something more serious, they might ask your parents to come in and help you to solve the problem together. You must never stay quiet if something is upsetting you. Always tell someone so something can be done about it.
WHAT CAN I DO IF SOMETHING OR SOMEONE IS UPSETTING ME AT HOME?
If something is happening outside of school that is upsetting you, you can still tell an adult in school. You can tell your class teacher or one of the Family Workers, or any other adult. They will listen to you and try to help you. Sometimes the adults will need to speak to your parents or other people to find the best way to help you. This might be difficult for you, but it is always best to try and solve a problem together. It is always the right thing to do to tell someone when something is upsetting you.
NEED TO TALK TO SOMEONE?
If there is something that you need to talk about, but you don't know who to talk to, you can ring Childline. Childline have friendly people on the telephone 24 hours a day (that's all day and all night!) who will talk to you and listen to your worries or problems. They will talk to you and try to help you work out your problems. They will also give you advice and they are always happy to speak to you, no matter how big or small your worries might seem. You can call them on: 0800 1111 or visit their website for more information: www.childline.org.uk
USEFUL INFORMATION
You can visit some of these websites for advice about friendships, bullying and lots of other things. Have a look!
Anne Frank Ambassadors
At Hillborough Junior we are proud to be working in conjunction with The Anne Frank Trust: ‘Free to Be’ programme. Through workshops facilitated by the Anne Frank Trust, year 5 learn about current bullying related issues faced by pupils today through the story of Anne Frank. At the end of the unit, a group ofanti-bullying ambassadors are chosen to pass on their learning onto other year groups. These children then work alongside our other anti-bullying programme: The Diana Award Anti-Bullying Campaign to help make our school and community a happier, safer place.
Rights of the Child
FINDING OUT ABOUT CANCER
Cancer is something that lots of us hear about but we don't always know much about it. Click on these links to find out more information.
