Last spring we conducted a school climate survey of students from Grades 3 – 6 and determined some areas of focus for our planning for the 2012 school year. We also surveyed staff and parents. Using this data as well as anecdotal evidence from day to day issues that had arisen, we confirmed that generally students were happy at Allenby, but there were some areas of concern. They felt safest in their classrooms, but sometimes felt unsafe in the lunch room, in washrooms and change rooms and in the school yard.
They identified some ways in which they had been made to feel unsafe that included taunting, teasing with an increasing gender based component, exclusion, comments about appearance and texting/email messages.
Accordingly, the school has taken the following steps:
Increased supervision in the Lunch Room, so that there are
- 2 teaching staff in the lunch room for the first 15 minutes and the last 15 minutes of the lunch hour
- 1 support staff added for each half of the lunch hour
- 1 teaching staff near the washrooms for the first and last 15 minutes of each lunch hour
- Teaching staff in the school yard also for the first and last 15 minutes of the lunch hour
As a result, the lunch room is much calmer and fewer incidents are being reported.
Supporting this are ongoing classroom conversations and occasional visits to classes by administrators to reinforce respect of personal space and other issues related to change rooms and washrooms.
Of course, we have had, over the years, ongoing conversations about anti bullying, and Allenby students are very good at articulating the “right way” to act and respond. However, it is hard to make the step into personal action. A concept that is hard for young children to grasp is the difference between being a “tattle-tale” and reporting unsafe or bullying behaviour. It would be helpful if you had conversations about this distinction at home, as often situations do not come to our attention until things have gone too far. The way this is characterized at school, is to label/think about the intention. If you are tattling, you are usually trying to get someone into trouble. If you are reporting unsafe or bullying behaviour, you are trying to help someone who has been hurt.
In addition, to our ongoing practice, in the fall we had staff professional dialogue sessions facilitated by the TDSB Equity department to help with classroom conversations and lessons that raise student awareness of gender based topics. As hard as it is to believe, gender based issues begin in our youngest grades. Our Caring and Safe Schools team also have planned parent sessions, the first of which was on Monday January 21st for Grade 1 and 2 parents. The session for Grade 5 & 6 parents is on February 13th and for Grade3 & 4 parents is on March 20th. If you are not able to attend a session for your particular grade group, we encourage you to attend another.