P-05-924 Ensure that every school in Wales has Wellbeing Ambassadors
P-05-924 Ensure that every school in Wales has Wellbeing Ambassadors
This
petition was submitted by Dŵr Y Felin School Wellbeing Ambassadors having
collected a total of 297 signatures on paper.
Text of Petition
We call on the
National Assembly for Wales to ensure that every school in Wales introduces
trained Wellbeing Ambassadors, so that every child has an opportunity to
receive peer support from role model students who have been trained to be a buddy
to pupils who are vulnerable at break and lunchtimes, who will report issues of
bullying and just be there as a friend to pupils who maybe feel lonely at
specific times throughout the day. We hope the Well being Ambassadors' Roles
will develop/evolve to run initiatives
in schools, within county and nationally, to ensure that a clear message of
zero tolerance to bullying is campaigned and that the well being of all pupils
is placed at the highest of importance at each school, to further support the
rights of the child. We hope that this
initiative will go to further support reducing the amount of bullying witnessed
in school across Wales, to ensure every child feels safe and happy at schools
throughout Wales.
Additional Information
In 2016, we were chosen
to represent Wales as part of the ENABLE project, a UK initiative to pilot
lessons on anti-bullying. Part of the initiative involved training pupils to
peer support others. However, we decided to take this a step further by
training pupils to become anti-bullying ambassadors. After much discussion with
our Senedd Ysgol, we evolved the ambassador scheme, changing its name to
wellbeing ambassadors. We wanted to move away from using the word bullying too
often as we felt pupils didn’t understand the difference between conflict and
bullying. We also wanted pupils to know that at the forefront, wellbeing is our
priority. Pupils who are part of the scheme surf areas around the school,
spotting pupils who are alone or if they see bullying happening they report to
the closest adult that they find, from Headteacher to dinner supervisors.
We meet once a month as a
group and every year we evolve the scheme further. Currently we are looking at
buddy benches so pupils who do feel alone can take a seat and a wellbeing
ambassador will be there to support them. Many of our ambassadors also sit on
the Junior Safeguarding Board as a result.
Status
This petition was
considered completed by the Petitions Committee at its meeting on 11/07/2022.
The Committee considered correspondence
on the petition, and whilst Members agreed that this is a very important issue,
they accept that Welsh Government are already undertaking work to improve the
anti-bullying strategy. Members agreed
there is little further they can do as a Committee, but noted that they can
individually raise awareness of this
important issue and the good practice shared. In closing the petition Members
praised the young people for their commitment and engagement with the Petitions
Committee throughout, including both past and present students, and the
Committee congratulated them on the work they are doing in their own community.
Full details of the
consideration of this petition by the Committee and related documents can be
seen on the Meetings tab above.
It was first considered by
the Petitions Committee on 21/01/2020.
Senedd Constituency and
Region
- Neath
- South Wales West
Further
information
Business type: Petition
Reason considered: Senedd Business;
Status: For consideration
First published: 21/11/2019