The Big Conversation Thursday 13 th February 2014

Why do we have The Big Conversation?

We shared David Hughes’ storybook, “Bully”… … and talked about how and why our school is different from the one in the story. We also thought about how we could make our school a better place to be.

What did we say at our last Big Conversation? How and why our school is different from the one in the story? “We don’t bully as much as them.” “We don’t let bullying carry on.” “We have supervisors.” “We have peer mediators.” “We let children get involved in the learning.” “We play nicely.” “We don’t argue a lot.”

What did we say at our last Big Conversation? How and why our school is different from the one in the story? “We use the 7Rs.” “We have school and class rules.” “We have peer mediators we can talk about our problems and sort it out with.” “Assemblies help us know about bullying and why it is wrong.” “Staff and teachers help and use sanctions.”

What did we say at our last Big Conversation? How and why our school is different from the one in the story? “We have a better playground.” “Our school has better equipment.” “We have playtime with all different ages.” “Peer Mediation.” “We are nice.” “We don’t bully or vandalise property.” “Helping each other.” “Play with everybody.”

What did we say at our last Big Conversation? How and why our school is different from the one in the story? “There is somebody you can tell.” “You can tell the teacher.” “The bully goes straight to the Head teacher.” “We are more friendly than the school in the story.” “We are always in sight of an adult.” “We have the option of peer mediation.” “We can beat bullying before it starts.” “We have changed our playground.”

What did we say at our last Big Conversation? How and why our school is different from the one in the story? “We’ve been taught that bullying is wrong.” “Peer mediators help us.” “We earn smileys when we behave.” “We have fair punishments id needed.” “¾ or more of our children are well behaved.” “We stand up for our friends.” “We can tell a Peer Mediator or an adult.” “We are not allowed to play “play-fighting”, in case it leads to bullying.”

What did we say at our last Big Conversation? How and why our school is different from the one in the story? “We have calm-down corner.” “We get letters home, which is good because your parents know if you’ve been in trouble so you try to avoid that.” “If people do fight, it’s because they have fallen out, not because someone is picking on someone just to be unkind.” “We respect and care for each other.” “We don’t tolerate bullying.”

What did we say at our last Big Conversation? How could we make our school be even better? “We could have anti-bullying mentors.” “We could have more information about how to be nice.” “We could have more supervised play and games.” “We could have more staff on the playground to see what is going on.” “We could take our problem to someone else who is not involved with us.” “We could have a rota for playing particular games.” “Always be kind to each other.”

What did we say at our last Big Conversation? How could we make our school be even better? “Have more peer mediators on duty.” “We can always tell someone!” “We could have an indoor club for the winter when people get cold.” “We could be reminded if needed about our manners.” “We could have “Golden Time on a Friday.” “We could ban football.” “We could have a manners matter chart with prizes.” “We could have a bigger playground or more resources.”

What did we say at our last Big Conversation? How could we make our school be even better? “More letters home.” “Rules displayed more.”

Staff, School Council Representatives and Peer Mediators will be looking at your suggestions about how we can help to make our school an even better place to be. Then we will tell you what we have decided to do. What is happening as a result of what we said at our last Big Conversation?

What are we enjoying about school this year? What would we like to do / do more of? What is Today’s Topic?

Be practical – use your reasoning! In our last Big Conversation, Some people thought that having a swimming pool, or farm animals or Trampoline might make our school even better. Why are these suggestions not practical or possible?

After the Big Conversation, all of the staff, School Council Representatives and Peer Mediators will look at your ideas and think about how we can help to make our school an even better place to be. We will tell you next term we thought. What will happen as a result of today’s Big Conversation?

Ground rules Take turns and listen Give good listening signals Respect other people’s ideas and feelings Help each other Everyone take part