- 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
Australia’s key bullying prevention initiative for schools celebrated 12 years of action, connecting schools and communities to find workable solutions to prevent bullying in 2022. The next National Day of Action (NDA) is on Friday 18 August 2023 to promote inclusiveness, respect and community belonging in Australian schools. More information about the 2023 theme and about how schools and supporters can register will come out soon.
Building on the department’s Inclusive, Engaging and Respectful Schools package, we can promote inclusion, respect and community belonging for all students in NSW public schools.
In addition to the resources and activities you may access when your school registers to participate in the NDA 2023, a range of additional resources and activities have been pulled together from across the department and from eSafety below.
Be kind online
The National Day of Action against bullying and violence is a timely reminder to spread the word in our school communities on how we can be kind and respectful online. A range of classroom resources are available for all year levels on the Bullying. No Way! webpages.
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.
Be an eSafe Kid: a better internet starts with you (45 mins)
Students will learn to:
- identify the benefits of participating in group activities – offline and online
- discuss how our actions can make the online world a better place for everyone
- understand how to deal with cyberbullying issues
Register now for the dates below:
- 17 Mar – 10:30 –11:15 AM
- 18 Mar – 10:30 – 11:15 AM
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.
Register now for 24 May 7:30 – 9:00 PM
- 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 month in October 2021, we 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
Further information is available on the eSafety Commissioner website on the educators webpage.