The following ideas and activities, developed by our School Safety Team at the beginning of the school year, are currently being implemented within the school community over the course of the school year.

Normandy Park Character Tree

The Normandy Park Character is displayed at the front of the school. Leaves will continue to be added as students demonstrate good character around the school.

Normandy Park has Character…

Each month a different word will be emphasized in the school. Each word will represent a branch on our Normandy Park Character Tree. During that month, a banner of the word will be posted on the office window and will be incorporated into classroom discussions when applicable. The words by month are:

October: Respect

November: Acceptance

December: Gratitude

January: Citizenship

February: Caring

March: Fairness

April: Responsibility

May: Cooperation

June: Trustworthiness

Books about that word will also be displayed in the library for that respective month.

Activities for Respect Week (October 3^rd-7^th)

Each classroom will introduce lessons from the NJ Bar Foundation Bully-Busting curriculum.

Peer Mediators

A small group of 5^th graders will periodically visit classrooms conducting brief role-plays highlighting the Character Word of the month. They also will be making presentations on NPN News during morning broadcasts.

Evening Character Showcase for Families

An evening program for parents is tentatively planned for the spring. Details to come.

In addition, to all of the school-wide character education programming noted above. The following are concepts and terms from the No More Bullies! Curriculum that will continue to be infused and reinforced throughout the Normandy Park School community.

There’s a difference between a bully and a mean-mistake. 

Children learn that everybody makes “mean-mistakes,” actions that hurt someone’s feelings.  When they do, they must say they’re sorry.  “What does sorry mean?” “You feel bad that you hurt someone else!  You’ll try not to do it again,” A bully is a person who is not sorry. A bully hurts other people’s body and feelings over and over again.

“Inside stuff” is more important than “outside stuff.” 

Children learn “outside stuff”—how we look and act – is not as important as our “inside stuff” or feelings.  Tolerance for our differences is emphasized.  If someone is short, or tall, that’s OK.  But if someone teases them, or hurts them for being different, it’s not OK.

What to do when confronted by a bully.

Calmly say one of the Big 3 non-confrontational statements:  “What I do is not about you.” OR “You think what you think and I think what I think.”  OR “Why do you care what I wear?”  Then walk away to find a caring majority or a grownup.

How to form a “Caring Majority.” 

Children learn what to do when they see someone being bullied.  On the playground, they stop their game and form a caring majority to go over and invite the victim to play with them.  On a bus, they can help the victim find a different seat, away from a bully.  If there is the threat of violence, they can send someone to “GGG” –go get a grownup.  They can also accompany the victim to find help and report the incident.

2011-12 school year