Euroa Secondary College Case Study

EuroaSecondary College

Students made an anti-bullying pledge and created a brick with a personal symbol engraved on it to contribute to the construction of a school labyrinth.

Tell us about Euroa Secondary College

Euroa Secondary Collegehas a total of 402 students from Years 7-12.

What is the project?

‘Pathways to compassion‘ is a whole school project that aimed to draw attention to bullying and its effects by showing the film “Bully”, and having classroom discussions about the film. It also used art as a catalyst to represent each student’s perception of positive behaviour and increase their sense of connection to the school.

What were the key objectives?

The project’s main aim was to engage the whole school in discussions and awareness around bullying and to try to change the school “culture” with particular focus on the “bystander” and the individual’s power to make a difference. The project aimed to raise staff and students’awareness of the school’s anti-bullying policy, and to use the discussions generated to help improve or build on existing strategies the school employs. The permanent artworks generated act as a visual reminder of these discussions

How was it implemented?

The ‘Pathways to compassion’ project was introduced to the staff in Term 3 and staff feedback helped inform how we ran the project in Term 4. We ran the project between Week 2 and Week 9 with a different year level participating each week.

Students watched the film Bully by director Lee Hirsch as an entire year level with staff and the school nurse present. Afterwards they split into smaller home groups and had a discussion about the themes in the film. Then they created a handprint artwork which included words which represented how they personally could help build a positive school culture.

Students also carved and glazed an individual brick which will be used to create a school labyrinth. After this stage of the labyrinth was complete, students had the opportunity to participate in a street art workshop at the school, where they created permanent murals on the schools walls.

Aside from the Bully Stoppers grant, Euroa Clay Products donated goods and labour.

Has the project been a success?

The filmencouraged students to reflecton the impact of bullying and identify steps that could be taken to create a positive school environment.After viewing the film, students made an anti-bullying pledge in the form of a hand print and created a brick with a personal symbol engraved on it to contribute to the construction of a school labyrinth. Students also worked with professional street artists to create permanent murals on the school walls.

What is the future of the project?

Bricks, firing and glaze were donated but we underestimated the overall cost of installing the labyrinth. The Year 12 student leadership team has enthusiastically taken up the challenge of raising funds to complete the labyrinth.

Once finished, the labyrinth will be used by the health and wellbeing team and the whole school community to continue to raise awareness of our commitment to mental health and creating a culture where bullying has no place.

Contact

Suzie Bates -