A Message from the Northside Christian College Principal Mr Leighton Kuss
Schools have been in the media a lot recently. Over the weekend the Courier Mail again published their Top 50 Schools list based on the percentage of students achieving an OP 1-5. It was pleasing for Northside to again be recognised in this list (League Tables are still alive and well).
On top of this, the 2018 NAPLAN data placed Northside in the top 2% of schools, Junior and Secondary, on the Northside of Brisbane. With our knowledge that every cohort is different, the pleasing aspect from these results is the consistent trend over many years of student achievement.
Consistency in maintaining our positive and supportive environment, remaining opposed to bullying tendencies, which seem to dominate our media news reports on a daily basis, is also a priority.
In addition to our College student anti-bullying policy and our ongoing Pastoral Care programs, the website Bullying. No Way! provides a range of useful resources for school communities.
Bullying tendencies can occur in any group of people and so it is vital to understand what bullying is and how to discuss it together. The ‘Bullying. No Way!’ website outlines this in a concise way:
The national definition of bullying for Australian schools says:
"Bullying is an ongoing misuse of power in relationships through repeated verbal, physical and/or social behaviour that causes physical and/or psychological harm. It can involve an individual or a group misusing their power over one or more persons. Bullying can happen in person or online, and it can be obvious (overt) or hidden (covert).
Single incidents and conflict or fights between equals, whether in person or online, are not defined as bullying.
Behaviours that do not constitute bullying include:
- mutual arguments and disagreements (where there is no power imbalance)
- not liking someone or a single act of social rejection
- one-off acts of meanness or spite
- isolated incidents of aggression, intimidation or violence.
However, these conflicts still need to be addressed and resolved."
If at any time you do have any questions or concerns, please contact your child’s teacher or Year Level Co-ordinators. Our partnership together is always the strongest when concerns are shared quickly with each other.
Look for the feature on our Junior School Bridge Builder Program in the upcoming March newsletter to learn more about our proactive approach to anti-bullying and conflict/resolution strategies.