Bullying-Free NZ Week 2017

What schools did

Hundreds of schools up and down the country took part in Bullying-Free NZ Week. Students worked hard at a variety of bullying prevention-themed activities and many schools took the opportunity to look at their policies.

Some took the whole week to talk about bullying, teaching different aspects each day to build on students' understanding of what bullying is and how to play an active role in preventing bullying at their school.

Other schools marked the week with random acts of kindness, sharing positive comments on post-it notes, special school assemblies, and open mic sessions.

At Carterton School in the Wairarapa, there was a focus on the role of the bystander and empowering students to act when they saw bullying happening. The school’s Team Kowhai (external link)work group produced an anti-bullying video (external link)with their teacher which was viewed widely on social media. Many other schools made videos portraying the impact of bullying on the target, giving students the chance to explore and understand how it feels.

From the air

Several schools employed drone technology to capture the bullying-free message from the skies. Here Stonefield School, Auckland spell it out, Thames Valley School in the Coromandel shout it loud and clear, and Rolleston College, Christchurch, say it with heart.

Bullying-Free NZ Week Awards

We asked schools to share what their students did during Bullying-Free NZ Week 2017. Congratulations to everyone who entered. The standard of entries was high and demonstrated the tremendous work and effort by students and staff. The judges were impressed with the level of understanding of what bullying is, and the clarity of the messages included in the entries.

Pink Shirt Day 2017

Led by the Mental Health Foundation, Pink Shirt Day rounded off the week. From discos to fun runs, mufti-days, morning teas and awards ceremonies, thousands of activites celebrated diversity and raised awareness of bullying behaviour.

Celebrated annually around the world, this year a record 494 schools registered to take part, with a whole range of companies, organisations and individuals joining schools in showing their support for a bullying-free New Zealand. On 26 May #pinkshirtday was second highest trending hashtag on Twitter after the #Budget2017.

At Heaton Normal Intermediate School, all six schools houses took part in a day organised by BeTheChange, whilst at Rathkeale Senior College, Wairarapa, biology experiments took on a distinctly pink hue.

Children's Commissioner on Pink Shirt Day

The Children's Commissioner Judge Andrew Becroft and staff at the Office of the Children's Commissioner supported Bullying-Free NZ Week and Pink Shirt Day by listening to what kids had to say about bullying.