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Young people at Westhoughton High School are tackling hate — with kindness. Promoting these values are the school's anti-bullying ambassadors — also known as the Kindness Army - of which three are part of the National Anti-Bullying Alliance grou p and have attend regular meetings in London. The ambassadors have been part of national initiatives including designing odd socks for MPs to wear to Parliament for Anti-Bullying week, doing voiceover work for the Anti-Bullying Alliance, and participating in podcasts to promote the importance of young people being upstanders and not bystanders when it comes to standing up against abuse in school.
Ambassador Pippa Taylor, Year Nine, said: “I first got involved in Anti-bullying Alliance because I’d been bullied myself, and I never wanted anyone else to have to feel like that. I wanted to make sure that school was a happy and safe place for everyone, that they felt comfortable in school. READ MORE: 'Happy smiling faces' at Westhoughton High School on GCSE results day The Chase star Jenny Ryan put through her paces by Westhoughton High School pupils GCSE RESULTS: Students celebrate record grades at Westhoughton school "I love being part of this group, because it makes me feel like we can also share experiences as well as help others who are struggling.
"I think the peer mentoring has helped me as much as my mentee, and I feel good knowing I’m making a difference”. The ambassadors were given a shout out by the Wizard of Oz when they were gifted tickets to see Wicked in the West End as a thank you for their work. Headteacher, Neil Coe said: “The culture of kindness and respect is really growing in our school.
I see something in school each day that makes me proud. We are not perfect, but there is a genuine willingness to show care for each other across our community. In the last term I had a parent of a new starter from out of the area tell me that her daughter's first observations on her new school was that 'people are much kinder here' - this made my day! "The work of our anti-bulling ambassadors is exceptional, and worthy of the national recognition that we have enjoyed.
What stands out the most is that it is driven by our young people themselves. This is not a staff driven initiative. It's just brilliant and has had such a positive impact on many members of our community.
" The ambassadors are currently working on a newsletter to inform people about the signs and effects of bullying and offer practical advice to parents, students, and teachers on how to manage bullying. Alongside this, the school’s student council have been consulted and delivered some training to all staff on how to consistently challenge the use of derogatory language in lessons. In turn, the school community are also reaching out to support one another, with the hugely successful peer mentoring programme that includes more than 30 peer mentors who support and advise younger mentees about challenges that they face.
The school was part of a live webcast with Mala Tribich MBE, a holocaust survivor who was in Ravensbruck and Bergen-Belsen as a child. She shared her story with 32 Key Stage Four students to encourage young people to stand against hate and be 'upstanders' in their communities Mr Coe said: "Our work doesn't stop here. Our senior prefects and their army have recently started some work to educate the community in the use of casual derogatory language.
They will execute their strategic plan through assemblies, delivering staff training and challenging derogatory language at social times. This is going to be a brilliant piece of work, and again, driven by the young people in our school. "Look After Each Other" is the first of our five school values, and for me, the most important.
They are so much more than words on a website in our school.” He added: "A special shout out and huge congratulations to Katie Smillie in Year 10 who was presented with the Youth Civic Award by the two Mayors of Bolton and Andrew Brickle MP on Friday. Katie undertakes lots of community work in and out of school and her dedication to her charitable causes and kindness has been recognised by this prestigious award.
Well done Katie!".
