- How to ask your friend if they are okay – use the script to help your students have a conversation
- What to do if someone is being bullied – how to support a peer in need
- Being different and responding positively – how to respond positively to situations
National Day of Action
On Friday 18 August 2023, help us to create positive action by growing connections with students, school staff and our school communities for Australia’s key school bullying prevention initiative.
The 2023 NDA theme, growing connections, promotes the importance of student connectedness and sense of belonging, helping students feel accepted, respected, included and supported.
We encourage new schools to register for the NDA. Schools that have previously participated have already received their School event toolkit and do not need to register again. Corporate teams can also register as a supporter and raise awareness by wearing or decorating with the colour orange on the NDA.
Research has shown that strong school community connections and social skills are protective factors in the prevention of bullying and enable positive help-seeking behaviours in students.
What is bullying?
Bullying is when someone with more power than you deliberately and repeatedly tries to upset or hurt you. It can involve one or more of the following:
- the misuse of power in a relationship
- is intentional, ongoing and repeated
- behaviours that can cause harm.
Bullying can be physical, verbal, or social. Bullying can be easy to see (overt), or hidden (covert) Cyberbullying is online bullying that involves the use of technology such as the internet or mobile devices.
The department’s Inclusive Practice hub resource can help guide conversations to show students how they can respond positively to online hate and where to seek help to prevent harm. Students can also learn to be an upstander and help a friend who is being bullied. You can also refer to the Anti-Bullying Educators page for more support in the prevention, early intervention or response to bullying behaviours.
Once registered to participate in the NDA, schools will be provided with resources and suggested activities and communication to help them deliver in-school learning. If you have already registered, you should have already received these resources.
Resources
Primary schools
Secondary schools
- How to ask your friend if they are okay – use the script to help your students have the conversation
- What is cyberbullying and how to get students to respond positively
- What to do when someone is being bullied - how to seek help and support others when they need it
- How to respond positively to situations - strategies to manage anxiety
- Going to high school from primary – what is the same and what can be different
The eSafety Commissioner partnership
We are also working with The eSafety Commissioner and co-hosting virtual classrooms for primary school classrooms, professional learning for teachers and parent resources to support the delivery of the National Day of Action against bullying and violence in our schools and communities.
NSW public school teachers can register their class (Year 3 to 6) for the Be an eSafe Kid: take action against online bullying free virtual classroom from the eSafety Commissioner on 14 or 18 August, or aternatively, attend the open session on the 16 or 18 August. The virtual class explores what you can do if you are cyberbullied. More information is available at Webinars for schools | eSafety Commissioner.
Online harmful sexual behaviours, misinformation and emerging technologies (90 mins)
This webinar provides evidence-based, targeted advice about online harmful sexual behaviours, misinformation and emerging technologies.
Time - 30 minutes of reading, an assessment and 2 NESA accredited hours of professional learning. Australian Professional Standards for Teachers addressed – 3.3.2, 4.5.2
By the end of this module, you should be able to:
- identify online harmful sexual behaviours, and develop skills to support students’ knowledge of consent, online respect and refusal skills
- identify the impact of online misinformation and support students to develop skills to critically evaluate information and trusted sources
- explore the social and safety implications of emerging technologies and understand the key safety skills young people will require.
- Downloadable parent resources to help you start the chat about online safety issues and strategies with your child. Resources include videos, books, information sheets, audio files, family tech agreements, activities and COVID-19 advice.
- Parental controls video to help with device management and online safety.
- Online sexual harassment and image-based abuse video to help your child overcome harmful behaviours online and how to support them.
- Cyberbullying and online drama video to help you support your child if they experience cyberbullying.
Cybermarvel resources
As a part of the department’s Cybermarvel Online Safety Awareness program, we have collated resources for teachers. A small section is relevant to addressing cyberbullying in schools.
Educators can use these as they see fit for their students.
Further information
You can access more information about the NDA here:
A range of additional resources and activities have been pulled together from across the department and from eSafety.