In St.Tiarnach’s we work tirelessly to ensure that differences in interest, ability, colour of skin, culture and creed are celebrated and embraced and that each child is valued as a unique member of the school community.
We have adopted a whole school approach to tackling bullying and promoting positive mental health. St.Tiarnach’s was the first school in the county to be awarded the ISPCC ‘Shield Our School’ Flag for our work in this area. Every Tuesday at midday the whole school participates in lessons based on KiVa, Anti-Bullying Campaign, Friends for Life, Embedding Tolerance and Media Initiatives among others.
The KiVa programme is a school based programme which was developed in the University of Turku in Finland and is being currently piloted in Ireland. It is an evidence based programme to prevent bullying and tackle cases of bullying effectively. The children participate in lessons and online games which create an awareness of others and how to prevent bullying occurring in our schools.
The ‘Anti Bullying Campaign’ raises awareness about bullying through lessons and empowers children to Recognise, Reject and Report incidents of bullying to ensure it becomes unacceptable in our school community. The Embedding Tolerance and Media Initiatives educate the children about all cultures and backgrounds and encourages them to embrace difference.
The ‘Friends for Life’ programme promotes positive mental health and educates children as to how to deal with feelings and emotions in a positive way. It teaches them techniques and strategies, such as mindfulness and relaxation exercises, to help them cope with difficult situations which they may experience.
Throughout the year we run competitions for poems, songs and slogans based on the friendship theme. Every year we organise a ‘Friendship Week’. During this week there are daily lessons based on respect for others, kindness and promoting positive mental health. Each day begins with a ‘Happy Thought for the Day’ and some mindfulness activities. In the hall we erect a ‘Random Act of Kindness’ board and encourage all pupils and staff to fill the board with as many Random Acts as they can during the week. Other activities throughout the week include breakfast mornings, buddy reading, friendship bracelet making and whole school picnics. The week concludes with a whole school ‘Friendship Assembly’ where each class performs their friendship poem or song they prepared during the week.
The Unique Faces of St.Tiarnach’s- Our Whole School Monochromatic Portrait Project.
Feel Good Friday! This week we had a ‘Random Act of Kindness Day’
Everyone tried to do a R.A.K for someone during the day and recorded it on our board in the hall.
Feel Good Friday! Today we got some exercise and fresh air and went on a whole school mindful walk.
St.Tiarnach’s where friendship rules!!
St.Tiarnach’s we don’t want to have any bullying, so the teachers and the pupils organise Friendship Week and Anti-bullying lessons. Friendship/Anti-bullying lessons teach us how to treat people and what you would do if somebody or you are getting bullied. We have learned that it is wrong to pick on someone just because they have different talents, skin colour, religious beliefs or appearances. During friendship week we encourage pupils to include everyone. We make buddy bracelets to represent that everyone is friends. Friendship is so important to everyone because they know they have someone to trust, to be honest and to be kind to them.
Every Tuesday at 12 o’clock we have our Friendship lessons. In these lessons we learn about staying safe and knowing how to avoid and not be a bully. We also practise relaxation exercises such as milkshake breathing. We all enjoy our Friendship/ Anti-Bullying lessons!