News from Robert – 3/18

Last month, the Parent Network hosted a guest speaker who addressed the topic of “peer mistreatment” commonly known to many as bullying. (Click here for the video.) It was a very interesting presentation with several notable points. For example, many of the behaviors attributed to bullying are behaviors that children experiment with as they grow up. They are behaviors common to the various phases of child development. It was also stressed that one of the most effective ways to address peer mistreatment is with a community approach.

Throughout this school year, we have been working with students on peer interaction skills and expectations by focusing on the IB Learner Profile. We have been explicitly focusing on Learner Profile attributes during assemblies and in the classrooms though books, activities and discussions. We believe this is very important for students’ social-emotional development and for our community, so we will be increasing our attention to it.

This May, we will be hosting award winning author Trudy Ludwig, who is also a nationally acclaimed speaker on the topics of friendship, bullying and cyber bullying. She will present to students in three different developmentally targeted assemblies. Additionally, she will present a ninety-minute workshop for teachers. These initiatives are appetizers preparing the ground for a yearlong effort focused on peer interaction beginning in September 2013. It will be through this sustained endeavor that we will be able to better serve our children and assist in their social-emotional development and peer relations.

Robert Woods, Head of School, RobertW@intlschool.org, 503-226-2496 x122