St. Joseph’s mark Anti-Bullying Week

ANTI-BULLYING WEEK. . . . .Marking Anti Bullying Week at St. Josephâ€TMs Boys School on Thursday are Year 8 students Ciefer Doran, Tony Lyttle, Shea McCafferty, Odhran Patton and Liam McCauley with Rachel McIntyre and Rebecca Quigley. (Photos: Jim McCafferty Photography)

Year 8, 9 and 10 pupils created buckets full of anti-bullying resources and tools which were delivered to four of the local primary schools in the hope that they use them to deliver their own anti-bullying workshops.

These included the ‘Helping Hands Programme’ – where positive messages were painted on the handprints and placed on a ‘Positivity Tree’ in the school depicting hands coming together to mark the start of Anti-Bullying Week.

Year 8 teacher co-ordinating Anti Bullying Week, Classroom Assistant Rachel McIntyre praised the initiatives shown by the pupils in what has been a difficult year.

Mr. Beattie pictured with Year 9 students Braden McSwine, Kevin Curran, Sean Kelly and Jordan Kelly, marking Anti Bullying week at the school..

“It is great credit to all our boys. We are so proud of them. The enthusiasm they have shown throughout the week has made being part of these workshops an absolute pleasure.”

Another of the workshops during the week was ‘Bullying v Banter’ - Teaching the boys how to distinguish between the two.

This included identifying and understanding the different roles in bullying – the Victim, the Reinforcer, the Assistant, the Defender and the Outsider. Year 8s built an understanding of how to deal with this type of scenario through the workshop and there was a positive feedback from all involved.

Ciara Deane, Vice Principal also praised the pupils, adding: “It’s sad we couldn’t have had the usual primary schools visiting and taking part in the many workshops and activities. But full praise to our pupils who came up with novel ideas to reach out to their younger counterparts in their former schools.

Year 14 students James Crampsey and Matthew Devine showing their support to Year 8 pupils Andrew Cregan, Jamie Smith and Conan Oâ€TMKane as St. Josephâ€TMs marked Anti Bullying Week at the school.

“Anti-Bullying week is an important aspect of our Pastoral Calendar. It allows staff time to reflect on the work they do every day to support our Pastoral Curriculum.

“Every school day we are invested in the support, nurture and care of our Boys and we work towards sustaining a school environment that is safe and underpinned with an ethos of respect.”

St. Joseph’s marked the week with a number of anti-bullying workshops and activities, all under Covid19 restrictions, and saw the participation of pupils, teachers and administrative staff.