Student Well Being

Parents rightly expect many things from schools when they enrol their children. One of the most important of these being a rich learning environment that is free of bullying. At Berwick Lodge Primary School we take this issue extremely seriously – expressed colloquially, we put our money where our mouth is!

We are extremely proud of the close partnership we have developed with the Alannah & Madeline Foundation, an organisation dedicated to eradicating bullying of children. Bullying is a serious issue in our country with about one student in every four bullied over a period of several weeks. One child in every 10 is affected by cyber bullying every two weeks or more often.

We are honoured to have students at our school as the Victorian Better Buddy Ambassadors for the Alannah & Madeline Foundation. On June 1 we participated in the National Buddy Day – symbolised by the Buddy Handshake – representing the values of the Better Buddies Framework:

caring for others, friendliness, respect, valuing difference, including others and responsibility.

Check out our website and view the short film produced by our senior students for our 2011 film festival – it is titled The Boy Who Runs. You will see what I mean when I say we put our money where our mouth is.

In the photo is Ben, 2012 School Captain, teaching his Prep buddy the Better Buddy Handshake.

National Buddy Day was celebrated across Australia on June 1st. Berwick Lodge students wore purple clothing, shared lunch and some special activities with their buddies to celebrate the importance of friendship and raise awareness about bullying.

"National Buddy Day is a joint initiative of NAB and The Alannah and Madeline Foundation which addresses how children can help their peers learn positive behaviour to help reduce instances of bullying."

Eryn in grade 4 with her buddy, Jenna in grade 2 enjoy a hug from Buddy Bear.