Leicester Tigers have been helping hundreds of children Kick Bullying Into Touch.
Tigers rugby development officer Richard Lang has visited 13 schools this week as part of National Anti-Bullying Week.
They included Catherine Junior School in Leicester, where Richard used tag rugby to get his anti-bullying message across to year 5 and 6 pupils.
Richard said: “The children loved it. We mix the anti-bullying message with tag rugby sessions and that helps to get it across.
“Rugby is played by all different shapes and sizes and they have to work together on the pitch for the benefit of the team. We want to get the message across that different is not necessarily bad.”
Catherine Junior School is one of 30 schools Richard will visit this season. It has received an Anti-bullying Community Award from Leicester City Council for the work it has been doing.
Headteacher Joy Denning said: “The children like to have visitors into school, they are interested in sport and it is a really positive example to see people from Leicester Tigers coming in to talk about how bullying is wrong.
“It is a different voice from their teachers or their parents and it supports the message we are giving.
“This week, as well as Leicester Tigers, we have had Leicester Riders and the police come in. The whole community is saying don’t put up with bullying.”
Pupil Jaydipe Narendralal, 10, said: “Bullying is bad because it hurts people’s feelings. Being different is not a bad thing.”
Classmate Natalie Taylor, 11, added: “Anyone, big or small, can be bullied. If I was being bullied I would go straight to a teacher.”
Rob Osborn, Leicester City Council’s anti-bullying consultant, said: “Bullying still affects the lives of far too many children and young people. It is great that Tigers are helping us to acknowledge and support the hard work of our schools.”
The work by Tigers community team is part of the Kick Bullying Into Touch programme, which has been specially designed by Premier Rugby and ChildLine. It involves all 12 Guinness Premiership clubs and will take the anti-bullying message into 780 primary schools across England.
Each club has nominated an anti-bullying ambassador with Tigers represented by their England Saxons second row Richard Blaze.
He said: “No one should put up with bullying, but you have to deal with it safely, and I hope by going into schools with ChildLine we can all play our part in tackling bullying.”
For more information on Tigers’ anti-bullying work contact rugby development officer Richard Lang in the Tigers community team on 0116 2171 283 or email [email protected]
ChildLine – on 0800 1111 – is the UK’s free, confidential 24-hour helpline for children and young people with trained counsellors available to offer comfort, advice and protection. More information on ChildLine and advice can be found at www.childline.org.uk
Tigers rugby development officer Richard Lang has visited 13 schools this week as part of National Anti-Bullying Week.
They included Catherine Junior School in Leicester, where Richard used tag rugby to get his anti-bullying message across to year 5 and 6 pupils.
Richard said: “The children loved it. We mix the anti-bullying message with tag rugby sessions and that helps to get it across.
“Rugby is played by all different shapes and sizes and they have to work together on the pitch for the benefit of the team. We want to get the message across that different is not necessarily bad.”
Catherine Junior School is one of 30 schools Richard will visit this season. It has received an Anti-bullying Community Award from Leicester City Council for the work it has been doing.
Headteacher Joy Denning said: “The children like to have visitors into school, they are interested in sport and it is a really positive example to see people from Leicester Tigers coming in to talk about how bullying is wrong.
“It is a different voice from their teachers or their parents and it supports the message we are giving.
“This week, as well as Leicester Tigers, we have had Leicester Riders and the police come in. The whole community is saying don’t put up with bullying.”
Pupil Jaydipe Narendralal, 10, said: “Bullying is bad because it hurts people’s feelings. Being different is not a bad thing.”
Classmate Natalie Taylor, 11, added: “Anyone, big or small, can be bullied. If I was being bullied I would go straight to a teacher.”
Rob Osborn, Leicester City Council’s anti-bullying consultant, said: “Bullying still affects the lives of far too many children and young people. It is great that Tigers are helping us to acknowledge and support the hard work of our schools.”
The work by Tigers community team is part of the Kick Bullying Into Touch programme, which has been specially designed by Premier Rugby and ChildLine. It involves all 12 Guinness Premiership clubs and will take the anti-bullying message into 780 primary schools across England.
Each club has nominated an anti-bullying ambassador with Tigers represented by their England Saxons second row Richard Blaze.
He said: “No one should put up with bullying, but you have to deal with it safely, and I hope by going into schools with ChildLine we can all play our part in tackling bullying.”
For more information on Tigers’ anti-bullying work contact rugby development officer Richard Lang in the Tigers community team on 0116 2171 283 or email [email protected]
ChildLine – on 0800 1111 – is the UK’s free, confidential 24-hour helpline for children and young people with trained counsellors available to offer comfort, advice and protection. More information on ChildLine and advice can be found at www.childline.org.uk
