How this Sutherland Shire high school is putting repeat bullying offenders on notice
One high school has pioneered a new anti-bullying system that's showing good results, as the federal government demands all schools improve their tracking of playground incidents.
Schools are being urged to improve their data collection and transparency when it comes to bullying behaviour, as part of a nationwide effort to curb the crisis in playgrounds and chat groups.
The federal government’s anti-bullying rapid review, handed down earlier this month, stated “schools should keep robust records on every report or known incident of bullying and other harmful behaviours”.
It also said schools should be recording details like the type of bullying, the evidence presented, and the people involved.
Records should also be kept of “the actions and communication undertaken by the school, including time frames,” the 120-page review found.
Meanwhile, a separate state-based task-force convened in response to the suicide death of Charlotte O’Brien is due to hand down its own findings in December.
The taskforce brought together the Catholic, independent and public school sectors under the leadership of former NSW Chief Behaviour Adviser Donna Cross, to develop a research-led and statewide approach to bullying.
In Sydney’s Sutherland Shire, Sylvania High School is already leading the charge to combat the ongoing crisis by developing a new way to track incidents of anti-social behaviour in the classroom.
The proactive approach, which tracks behaviour across multiple classrooms, is already paying off. A recent survey conducted by the school showed a decrease in anti-social behaviour across all year groups.
Principal Renee Holz said building a culture that allows kids to stand up for each other is the way forward when trying to stop bullying, and breaking down negative associations around ‘snitching’.
“The kids don’t want a parent or a teacher standing up for you, they want an older friend, sibling to stand up and say, that’s not OK,” she said.
“It’s hard because I think snitching is embedded in society.
“All schools will know how to manage that sensitively, and we always do with … (not) giving away who gave us the information, but just responding to it.”
Professor Cross previously said her consultation with students had identified “snitching” as a major concern for young people, who are asking for more ways to report bullying anonymously.
She also revealed year 7 students are at greater risk of being subjected to bullying, in their transition to high school, than any other secondary school-aged cohort.
Sylvania High School captains Brodie Leimontas and Chloe Schiro have been actively involved in efforts to curb bullying since being inducted as captains, participating in a peer support project pairing year 11 students with year 7s.
Ms Schiro said “We’re trying to help both the victims and the person who’s bullying another person … Our school’s trying to do a proactive rather than a reactive approach.”
Mr Leimontas explained how the new tracking system at his school worked.
“Once a student is seen to be picking on somebody else, that’s now put into a system so we can track everything on a more repeat offender basis,” he said.
“We want to take more of an empathetic approach, because a lot of the time bullies don’t know that they’re actually hurting other’s feelings.”
Federal and state education ministers have agreed to implement a national standard in all schools, including faster responses to bullying incidents and trauma-informed training for teachers.
It comes a year after a Sunday Telegraph investigation uncovered a deadly patchwork of school policies that revealed widespread failures to support victims of bullying.
The campaign was driven by the suicide of 12-year-old Charlotte O’Brien, whose parents struggled to get support from her school before her death despite repeated complaints.
If this story raised concerns for you, help is available. Call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800.
More Coverage
Originally published as How this Sutherland Shire high school is putting repeat bullying offenders on notice
Public or private? What the 2025 NAPLAN results tell parents
