What a Great Start to the Year!

Welcome to the 2016-2017 school year!

It has been a busy and fun-filled start for all of us here at ASW. The students have been walking through the hallways laughing, catching up with friends, meeting new ones and learning where all their classrooms are... It has been wonderful to see all the first day jitters turn to smiles. 

Here in the Counselors' Corner we have been enjoying getting into classrooms to start the year off with some community building activities. In some classrooms we've enjoyed playing "name games," in others we are learning what "fills up a bucket" and in all classrooms the counselors have been discussing how to think about keeping our school safe by recognizing bullying behaviors and putting a stop to them. 

Bullying can be a serious issue in schools, but often the media, the community, parents and students use the word ‘bullying’ incorrectly. A definition of bullying is: Bullying is unwanted, aggressive behaviour that involves a power imbalance. The behaviour is repeated over time. Bullying can include actions such as teasing, making threats, spreading rumours, attacking someone physically or verbally or excluding someone from a group on purpose. However, it cannot be termed ‘bullying’ unless there is a power imbalance and the action is repeated. It is really important that parents and teachers encourage children to tell someone when incidents of this nature happen to them so that the victim can be supported and the perpetrator can be given consequences and further supported to realise the seriousness of their actions. 

Please take a look at some of the videos and books that we have been using while coming into the classrooms. You can enjoy the resources with your child at home and have a discussion about what we have been talking about in their classrooms. 

​See you on Thursday!

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