Key Policies

Bullying

Thornbury High School does not tolerate any form of harassment or bullying. Every year all students complete a bullying survey.

In fact in the recent student survey the school is in the top 10% of secondary schools for student safety in the state and in the parent survey we are in the top 5%.

Harassment is any behaviour, verbal or physical, which is unwelcome, dangerous, intrusive, violent, abusive or discriminatory in nature or offensive to a person.

Harassment and Bullying is defined as:

Teasing
Name calling and put downs
Accusations about family members
Rumours
Comments about a persons sexuality or sex life
Unwanted physical contact
Sexual jokes
Comments in another language
Comments about a person’s appearance, race, culture or beliefs
Graffiti about people
Possession and/or distribution of offensive pictures and written material
Demands for money, possessions or unreasonable favours
Excluding someone out of activities on purpose
Damaging, removing or hiding belongings
Other activities which are meant to hurt

WHAT TO DO IF YOU ARE BEING HARASSED or BULLIED

Tell the person that their behaviour offends you – the person may not realize that their behaviour is causing distress.
Walk tall with your head held high
If confronted, stay calm and confidently walk away
Tell someone if they don’t help you, tell someone else until it is dealt with. This includes incidents which involved someone else as a victim, not just yourself.
Fill in an incident report and give it to your coordinator
Avoid joining in. Being part of a group which is harassing someone is just as bad as harassing someone yourself.