- Myton School

Dear Parents and Carers

There is a rave in our hall this lunchtime. I’m told a rave involves loud music, glow sticks and lots of kids, so it is right up there with root canal treatment as an experience I would look forward to. However, this rave has a purpose and is part of the work we are doing with the Anti-Bullying Alliance. The rave is called “make some noise” with the message that if we are to defeat bullying, we need to talk more about it, understand more about it and report more about it. There have been tutor time resources and assemblies delivered as part of this work and right now there is a recruitment drive for Anti-Bullying Ambassadors among the students. The students who take up this role will be trained on listening and emotion coaching and other vital skills and will be a key part of our anti-bullying work.

Very little in education provokes as much debate as bullying and there are many people who think they have the answer. However, I tend to think that if the answer was simple, bullying would have been eradicated by now but unfortunately it hasn’t been. Therefore, our role is to constantly reflect on our practice in school, listen to our kids and parents when they talk to us about it and create a culture where comments and actions designed to gain social currency or self-gratification at the expense of others are just not tolerated. The work will never be finished as there will always be students who need this guidance but the work we are doing with the Anti-Bullying Alliance will support us in having the correctly trained people and the right systems in place.

I would like to thank Mrs Zahran and Mr Aynsley who have been leading on this work for the school and a huge thanks to the students who have already signed up to be trained as Anti-Bullying Ambassadors, especially those who are making sure some of our younger students, who may have otherwise struggled, can access and have some company at this rave. Fortunately, pretty much all our staff are younger in age and/or spirit than I am so I can delegate supervision of this rave to others, I am sure I’ll be needed on the astro, right at the other end of the school…

You can take a look at the Anti-Bullying section of our website here (includes a form to report bullying), and can take a look at the anti-bullying film produced by some of our staff and students below.