In a survey carried out with 30,000 children in England, the Anti-Bullying Alliance concluded that 1 in 4 children said they were frequently bullied. 6% of those children said that it happened online. The impact of bullying can last a lifetime and have an immense effect on a person’s (and their family’s) wellbeing.
Anti-Bullying Week 2022 took place this week with the theme Reach Out. Bromley High School joined thousands of other schools across the UK to celebrate.
Two of our values that unite us as a community, which are particularly poignant, are compassion and courage. I see these values in school daily and they epitomise what a Bromley High School girl is.
The culture of compassion is shown in everyday actions of kindness from the girls. They welcome new pupils into their form groups, help each other with their studies, and show care in the playground. We teach compassion explicitly in form times, PSHE lessons and assemblies and celebrate acts of kindness across the school. We also look at compassion beyond the school community and look at people’s lives who are very different from our own such as the children living through the war in Ukraine to the plight of refugees.
We also teach our girls to be courageous every day. We speak to them about creating success on their own terms and how to resist peer pressure. We explain the importance in having the bravery to do things differently and to speak up and ask questions.
This week’s theme of Reach Out is fully supported by these values; compassion to reach out to someone who is being bullied and courage to reach out for help.
Mrs Emily Codling, Headmistress