Sandwell Council’s SHAPE programme is delivering its annual Anti-Bullying Week roadshow this week (Monday 14 November to Monday 21 November).
The programme is delivered in partnership with the council’s youth services and West Midlands Police to children and young people in selected Sandwell schools.
The theme of this year’s roadshow is ‘Reach out’, encouraging children and young people to have the confidence to speak to a trusted adult if they have concerns, and the SHAPE team is visiting twelve schools in Sandwell – eight primary, two secondary and two special schools.
To support the roadshow, and its workshops, six videos have been created as a training resource as part of the anti-bullying training which is being delivered to school teaching professionals.
The videos have been developed by the SHAPE Youth Forum and Sandwell College students, working with Open Lens Media, and Gazebo Education and Theatre, with funding from the Better Mental Health Fund
Councillor Simon Hackett, Sandwell Council’s cabinet member for children and education, said: “Our Anti-Bullying Roadshow offers a great opportunity for schools to raise children’s awareness of bullying and highlight this issue.
“I want to make sure the anti-bullying message remains a priority with schools, families and most importantly children and young people, all year round. Please follow the messages of this year’s campaign and ‘Reach out’ if you or your child is being bullied.”
Dr Lisa McNally, Sandwell’s director for public health, added: “The anti-bullying workshops now in their seventh year, have always been a great success, reaching thousands of young people. We hope that the messages given during the workshops will stay with the children and give them the help and confidence to speak out to a trusted adult, if they are being bullied.
“It’s important for them to know that they are not alone, and we can only tackle bullying if we all take a personal responsibility to help stamp it out.”
The SHAPE Programme organises events and opportunities throughout the year for children and young people to engage in positive activities.
SHAPE’s objective is to listen to the voice of children and young people in Sandwell using five themes:
- Staying safe;
- Being healthy;
- Enjoying and achieving;
- Making a positive contribution;
- Economic wellbeing.