Entertainer Peter Ram sings the ‘Stop The Bullying’ theme song with Grantley Adams students during the ‘Celebrate Kindness: No Name-calling Day’ initiative.
stand-out school
Fri, 10/28/2016 - 12:00am
Grantley Adams Memorial number one in bullying prevention
By:
Regina Selman Moore
The Grantley Adams Memorial School has been designated the Olweus School of the Year 2015-2016 for its efforts at bullying prevention.
The award was presented to the school yesterday by Certified Olweus Bullying Prevention trainer/consultant, Shawn Clarke, who is also CEO of Supreme Counselling for Personal Development (SCPD), which, under its Project Rescue initiative for youth, currently runs the Olweus Bullying Prevention Programme at Lester Vaughan, Frederick Smith Secondary, Wesley Hall Infants School and Grantley Adams.
Clarke noted that with backing from officials at the Olweus Head Office in the United States, the award was presented.
The presentation formed part of SCPD’s “Celebrate Kindness: No Name-calling Day” initiative, which was launched yesterday across the four schools taking part in the bullying prevention programme, with approval from the Ministry of Education.
“From the time we started the Olweus Bullying Prevention Programme, Grantley Adams has taken it [on board]. They ran with it and it’s the school that is doing everything in its power [to push it]. I am not saying that the other schools are not, but I think Grantley Adams really stands out in terms of having regular class meetings; in terms of the principal or other teachers at prayers and so on preaching a message of no-bullying,” Clarke told The Barbados Advocate.
“They are very quick to respond at any reports that they get of bullying and the students themselves are also a big part of the initiative. We believe because of that, the school really needs to be recognised as the flagstaff of the Bullying Prevention Programme in Barbados. So I spoke to the head office in the United States and I shared the idea with them as to what I wanted to do and they gave us their blessings,” Clarke explained.
In addition, he revealed that a poster competition was held in which the student who produced the winning design, “Be a Buddy, Not a Bully” in a previous logo competition for the shirts now worn by students, also took the top prize in the second competition. His artwork will be used to paint a mural on a wall near the school’s canteen, to reinforce the no-bullying message.
Next year, Clarke says, he hopes to go bigger and better with a “Celebrate Kindness: No Name Calling Week” as opposed to just one day, so more schools can be motivated to strive to win the Olweus School of the Year award and get more children involved in pushing anti-bullying messages.