Temora High School in NSW will be joining thousands of Australians in saying no to bullying and supporting this year’s Do It For Dolly Day.
Committed to changing the culture of bullying and online bullying, Temora High School is participating in a thought-provoking casual clothing day in support of Do It For Dolly Day. To combat bullying and promote kindness, students and staff will wear blue, Dolly’s favourite colour, and be able to purchase blue cupcakes at an accompanying BBQ lunch, with all money raised going towards Dolly’s Dream.
The school’s community of 320 people will be involved in different activities on the day, all to support Dolly’s Dream and ensure that students feel supported and cared for in the face of rampant bullying across the country.
Student representative council coordinator, Brenton Hawken was proud to acknowledge that participating in Do It For Dolly Day is a student-led initiative.
“The planned activities are student-driven and have been designed to start powerful conversations about kindness and supporting others, while addressing the impacts of bullying. As bullying affects a large proportion of Australian society, it is truly special to see the effort our students are going to in creating this day for the school.”
A key activity of the day will see Years seven to 10 participate in a lesson focusing on kindness, compassion and understanding to aid students with the tools to speak out against bullying within the school and broader Temora community. Following this, messages of kindness in the shape of butterflies will glitter the windows of the school as an encouraging reminder that students must ‘do it for Dolly’.
“We never know what difficult times and circumstances someone else may be experiencing. The messages on the butterflies are intended to act as a reminder and place emphasis on spreading support and kindness to our peers. The blue butterflies will line the windows in the administration office, as a reminder to staff and students that support is available, and those who are experiencing difficulties that they are not alone,” Brenton said.
While Do It For Dolly Day is an important reminder as to the effects of bullying and the importance of kindness, Hawken explained that Temora High School places a significant importance on teaching kindness year-round.
“Kindness is embedded throughout the programs that we run, our student leadership and Aboriginal Education teams and classroom practices. It is spoken about and routinely practised throughout the school year.”