National Anti-Bullying Conference

Recently, Saint Martin’s, Stoke Golding was proud to host the National Anti-Bullying Conference and spread the word to say a resounding ‘No!’ to bullying. Welcoming a range of schools from both near and far, students at the Academy, were invited to host the conference as former winners of the Award in 2011.

The Diana Awards run the Anti-Bullying Ambassadors programme. It is a nationwide peer-led initiative with over 6000 trained Ambassadors in over 600 schools. The Diana Award was established in 1999 in memory of Diana,

Princess of Wales, as a legacy to her belief in the power of young people to change the world. Each student received training to support them in raising awareness in the prevention of bullying at their schools and in their local communities.

The training day, organised and co-ordinated by the dedicated Mrs Rose, united young people from secondary schools, of all ages and abilities, from across the region and counties to be trained as Anti-Bullying Ambassadors. The issue of bullying was creatively addressed by the young people through a multitude of different activities, for example exploring different aspects of bullying through drama. The young people spent time learning together, everyone leaving with an action plan to address and help them to prevent bullying in their school.

Alex Holmes, Programme Manager noted ‘As a former victim of bullying I know how isolated and unhappy a young person can feel when they’re being targeted, so I am passionate about empowering these people. The Anti-Bullying Ambassadors programme gives people the confidence to stand together against bullies and support one another. We give Ambassadors the skills and tools to successfully spread the message – bullying will not be tolerated.’

One student at Saint Martin’s Catholic Voluntary Academy added ‘It was amazing to have the opportunity to host the Diana Awards Anti-Bullying Ambassador Conference. It was a brilliant day which gave us inspiration to further develop out Anti-bullying team’s approach to communicating with our school community. We are tailoring these new ideas for our action plan and are looking forward to implementing them.’

In Saint Martin’s 50th Anniversary Year, it is inspirational to see young people committed to protecting and supporting each other. Just what Diana intended.