Today is Ficino School Bully Free day. This is a day when we are all reminded of what bullying is, acknowledge how harmful it is and ensure we know what to do if we see it happening. Research conducted on the subject of bullying prevention points towards the importance of school-wide explanations and understanding, so that everyone knows that everyone else is aware when a line has been crossed.
Bullying is not simply hurtful behaviour; it is repeated and targeted harm through words or actions. Ficino School has a very clear policy for dealing with bullying which we have found to be highly effective. However, we do need to know when bullying is taking place because, as we all know, bullies tend to operate in the shadows. The children have been explicitly told to bring bullying to the attention of a teacher or a parent, and it was made clear that this is not ‘telling tales’. If you have any concerns in this area, please do contact your class teacher so that we can act quickly and effectively.
In our assembly this morning, the children were shown that bullying breaks every one of our School Values. They were also reminded that everyone has strengths and weaknesses and that while a bully sees our insecurities and highlights them, someone acting with wisdom sees the whole person and honours them.
At Ficino School, we teach that beneath all our differences there is one deeper reality and that, although we may have different names, ages, backgrounds and interests, we share the same essence. The children have the opportunity to realise that when they harm another person, they are not seeing them clearly. There is a useful definition of the word ‘respect’, from our third school value, Respect all, which is to ‘Look again’. The prefix Re usually means ‘again’ and Spect is a root word relating to sight. When we look, we must keep looking again and again until we can see the inherent goodness in us all. The same light of consciousness that shines in us also shines in others.
I wish you all a refreshing weekend in this clear, autumnal weather. Rejoice in the present.
Peter Crompton, Principal
