Navigating the Maze

Outcomes of Conference

Bullying affects everybody and, therefore, there is a need for a national commitment to increase cybersafety and reduce bullying across the community. As a result of the conference, NCAB is calling for 10 key actions. These actions were endorsed by delegates at the closing of the confernece, with some amendments from the floor.

Opening addresses

The Hon Julia Gillard MP, Deputy Prime Minister addresses the Conference.

View The Hon Julia Gillard's speech

The Hon Alastair Nicholson, Chair of NCAB addresses the Conference.

View The Hon Alastair Nicholson's speech

The Hon. Alastair Nicholson AO RFD QC is the inaugural Chair of the National Centre Against Bullying. He was Australia's Chief Justice of the Family Court for 16 years before retiring in 2004, and is an Honorary Professorial Fellow at the Department of Criminology, University of Melbourne.

Professor Nicholson developed a keen interest in the welfare of children through this role. He also became concerned about the extent of bullying and abusive behaviour that all too often forms a part of Australian family life, at least when seen from a Family Court perspective.
He wondered about the causes of this behaviour and whether it is learned behaviour that came from childhood. His conclusion was that it almost certainly did so.

Working with the Foundation and the National Centre Against Bullying he is involved in positive steps to change this culture. Professor Nicholson was born in August 1938 and was raised on his parents' coffee plantation in the then Australian Territory of Papua New Guinea before boarding at Scotch College in Melbourne. After studying law at Melbourne University, he joined the Victorian Bar in 1963 and was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1979. Between 1982 and 1988 he served as a judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria before he succeeded the Hon Elizabeth Evatt as Chief Justice of the Family Court.  Professor Nicolson also served as the Australian Defence Force Judge Advocate General between 1987 and 1992.

According to Professor Nicholson it is often said that 'children are our future'. He prefers to express this as 'children are our present'. Either way, he believes the future of any society is determined by how it nutures, educates and protects its children.

Keynote Speakers

Mr Bill Belsey: Cyberbullying, an emerging threat to the 'always-on' generation

Bill Belsey from Alberta, Canada, is the president and creator of the award-winning website
www.bullying.org - the world's most-visited website about bullying. A former consultant on the Dr Phil Show, Mr Belsey is also the creator of www.cyberbullying.org, believed to be the world's first website about cyberbullying and the founder of Canada's annual Bullying Awareness Week.

Mr Belsey has received numerous awards for his work in education and technology including the Canadian Prime Minister's Award for Teaching Excellence. He has been nominated for the YMCA Peace Medal and named as a Fellow of the World Technology Network.

An anti-bullying educator, he is a regular speaker and presenter at conferences around the world and is currently teaching grade five at Springbank Middle School in Cochrane, Alberta.

At the 2010 NCAB Conference Mr Belsey engaged delegates with a multimedia presentation offering a deep understanding of the issues of cyberbullying, examples of how cyberbullying manifests itself in peoples' lives, current research on the topic, information about how cyberbullying might be prevented, as well as strategies and resources for those who are currently dealing with cyberbullying in their lives.  The presentation also offered an insightful and current introduction to what Mr Belsey calls the 'always-on' generation.

Follow-up notes from Bill Belsey's key note presentation are now available at cyberbullying forum.

Prof Shaheen Shariff - Cyber-bullying, Cyber-libel or Cyber Jokes ?

Dr Shariff is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec. Her appointment is in leadership, policy studies and education law, informed by human rights, legal pluralism, tort law and constitutional law. She has published numerous journal articles and has recently published a book on cyber-bullying.

Dr Shariff presented at the 2010 NCAB Conference via webcast from Montreal. Proudly supported by Independent Schools Victoria, this session was about how to navigate a balance between 'public' and 'private' online conversations among youth.

View the video 'A vision of students today' used in Prof Shaheen Shariff's presentation.

Prof Michel Boivin; When hell is other people: the early onset, devlopment and consequences of peer relation difficulties in childhood

Dr Michel Boivin is Professor of Psychology and Canada Research Chair on Child Social Development a the School of Psychology of Laval University in Quebec, Canada. He is a member of the executive committee and director of the Research Unit on Children's Psycho-Social Maladjustment, an interdisciplinary and inter-university research centre investigating risk and protective factors influencing children's development. He also chairs the Scientific Committee of the Knowledge Centre for Early Development.

Dr Boivin is an expert in peer relations; peer rejection and victimisation; aggressive behaviours; behaviour inhibition, social withdrawal and shyness; parenting; early socio-emotional development; school readiness and school adjustment, and behavior genetics.

At the 2010 NCAB Conference Dr Boivin's session examined the developmental importance of children's peer relationships and the implications of research findings for early prevention of peer relation difficulties.

Prof Donna Cross: Same dog but different fleas - How does cyberbullying compare to face-to-face bullying in Australia ?

Prof Donna Cross is a Professor of Child and Adolescent Health at Edith Cowan University in Western Australia and Director of the Child Health Promotion Research Centre. Her key research interest is youth-based health intervention research. She has conducted primary prevention and school-based intervention research throughout the USA as well as Canada, Russia, Estonia, Japan and Israel, with organisations such as WHO, UNICEF and the American Health Foundation.

Professors Cross's presentation at the 2010 NCAB conference provided an opportunity to review current research findings regarding young people's cyberbullying experiences, their possible effects, protective factors that appear to build the resilience of young people and examined practical strategies for schools and families that help to prevent or manage this insidious problem and its effects.

Click here to view Donna's presentation

Workshop Presenters

Dr Michael Carr-Gregg: The 'princess bitchface' syndrome at school- girl bullying and what can be done about it

Dr Michael Carr-Gregg is one of Australia's highest profile psychologists, specialising in the area of parenting adolescents and adolescent mental health and a founding member of NCAB.

He is a consultant psychologist to the Victorian Secondary Schools Principal's Association, Australian Boarding Staff Association, Australian Ballet School, St Catherine's School, and Melbourne Girls' College.

Dr Carr-Gregg also served on the advisory committee for the Federal Government's Boys' Education Lighthouse School Program. Educated in Kenya, England, New Zealand and Australia, Dr Carr-Gregg founded the world's first national teenage cancer patients support group CanTeen, in 1985. The father of two has worked as a family therapist, child psychologist, clinical psychologist, and also as an academic, researcher and political lobbyist, and currently works in private practice in Melbourne.

Dr Carr-Gregg has held a variety of appointments including Executive Director of the New Zealand Drug Foundation and Director of the Centre for Social Health at the University of Melbourne and Associate Professor in the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Melbourne.

Dr Carr-Gregg has a number of awards including the Australian Jaycees Outstanding Young Australian of the Year in 1987, and in 1997, he was made a Paul Harris Fellow by Rotary International in recognition of his work in the prevention of youth suicide. He is a regular on 3AW with Neil Mitchell's, and is a regular contributor to Girlfriend, Australian Doctor and the Herald Sun.

At the NCAB 2010 Conference, Dr Carr-Gregg's workshop examined the factors contributing to girl bullying in schools, both real life and virtual. He argued there are key characteristics contributing to girl bullying and outlines some solutions drawn from the field of positive psychology.

Dr Carr-Gregg also facilitated a Hypothetical at the conference, titled: 'Sex Lies and Cyberia - a day in the life of a modern highschool'. The session examined the moral, ethical and legal dilemmas facing school leaders, young people, parents and teachers in 2010 through panel members: Professor Donna Cross, Ms Evelyn Field, The Alannah and Madeline Foundation's  Cybersafety and Wellbeing Initiative's School's Services Project Manager Ms Mandy Ross, 3AW's Neil Mitchell,  Ms Susan McLean, Mr Jonathan Creek, Professor the Hon Alastair Nicholson AO RFD QC and Principal of St Dominic's Primary School, Mr Tony Levvett.

Dr Andrew Fuller: Tricky people

Dr Andrew Fuller is a clinical psychologist and family therapist consultant psychologist who works with many schools and communities in Australia and internationally, specialising in the wellbeing of young people and their families. He is a Fellow of the Department of Psychiatry and the Department of Learning and Educational Development at the University of Melbourne and a member of NCAB.

A principal consultant to the national drug prevention strategy REDI, Dr Fuller also consults to the ABC regarding children's television shows, and he is currently an Ambassador for Mind Matters. He is the author of best sellers: Tricky People- how to deal with horrible people before they ruin your life; Work Smarter not Harder; From Surviving to Thriving; Help Your Child Succeed at School; and Raising Real People and Beating Bullies. Dr Fuller has also co-authored a series of programs for the promotion of resilience and emotional intelligence used in over 3500 schools in Britain and Australia called The Heart Masters. He has also established programs to promote mental health in schools, prevent substance abuse, reduce violence and bullying, prevent suicide, and assist homeless youth.

Dr Fuller's workshop session at the 2010 NCAB Conference looked at a range of ways to deal with difficult, manipulative and frustrating people we encounter at home in our families, in our schools and classrooms, and in our social lives.

Mr Greg Gebhart: What are the main cybersafety issues in schools and communities in Australia and what can be done to reduce risks ?

Mr Greg Gebhart is one of Australia's leading experts in internet safety for children. Mr Gebhart is currently undertaking consultancy work for the Australian Communications and Media Authority and has a long background in education and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT).

He was named the ICT educators' professional association's "Leader of the Year" in 2007 and is a regular presenter at National and International conferences. Mr Gebhart's current role involves the delivery of internet safety awareness programs to schools, communities, education groups and law enforcement agencies across Australia, on emerging technologies in education, and teaching and learning using technology. He also assists schools with ICT reviews including curriculum focus, e-learning directions, policies and procedures, infrastructure and purchasing plans.

At the 2010 NCAB Conference Mr Gebhart's workshop provided an overview of the latest cybersafety trends and issues in Australia and also provided reference to resources and programs to address these, together with a first-hand account of what is happening in school communities across the nation.

Ms Sharon Trotter, Manager Cybersafety Programs Section, Australian Communications and Media Authority, joined Mr Greg Gebhart in a workshop entitled Providing a national cybersafety resource for every school, teacher, parent and student

Ms Trotter is currently Manager of Cybersafety Programs at the Australian Communications and Media Authority. Previously, she was Manager Content Assessment at Australian Communications and Media Authority and has served as  a Senior Classifier at the Office of Film and Literature Classification. She studied at the University of Otago.

Ms Coosje Griffiths: Peer conflict, bullying or violence - effective responses along the continuum and pathways to positive peer relations in schools

Ms Coosje Griffiths is a trained teacher and registered psychologist working as the Area Manager of Student Services for the Western Australian Department of Education and Training. Ms Griffiths has studied effective practices to counter bullying and violence in schools internationally through a Churchill Fellowship. She is a member of the National Safe and Supportive Schools committee, NCAB, Western Australian Internet Safety committee, and the KidsMatter and MindMatters committees.

Ms Griffiths translates research into practical application for schools and has developed a range of training materials for schools. She contributes regularly to research, the most recent being the Shared Concern Method Project with Prof. Ken Rigby funded by the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations.

Ms Griffith's workshop at the 2010 NCAB Conference showed how proactive whole school response can be made to issues of bullying, cyberbullying and violence as they occur in the context of peer relations.

Professor Helen McGrath: A whole-school response to cybersafety and wellbeing

Professor McGrath is an adjunct professor in the School of Education, RMIT University. She also lectures part time at Deakin University, has a practice as a counselling psychologist and consults with a wide range of organisations including schools, community, health and welfare groups, government agencies and educational systems.

Professor McGrath is an executive member of the National Centre Against Bullying and was the advisor for and evaluator of DEEWR's National Safe Schools Framework Best Practices Grants Programme (2004-2007). Currently she is part of a small research team that is reviewing and redeveloping the National Safe Schools Framework for DEEWR (Commonwealth Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relationships.

Professor McGrath was one of the original architects of the Alannah & Madeline Foundation's Cybersafety & Wellbeing Initiative. She is a regular media commentator on issues relating to student wellbeing and is the author or co-author of 18 books that translate research into practice for psychologists and educators. These include: Friendly Kids, Friendly Classrooms, Eight Ways at Once, Bullying Solutions; Evidence-based Approaches for Australian Schools and Bounce Back: A Classroom Resiliency Program.

At the 2010 NCAB Conference Professor McGrath's workshop examined a whole-school response to cybersafety and wellbeing.

Ms Kate Hawden: Are parents lost in cyberspace ?

Ms Kate Hadwen is Senior Research Fellow at the Child Health Promotion Research Centre, Edith Cowan University in Western Australia. Having worked in schools for a number of years, Ms Hadwen is an experienced commentator on education and has been involved in research projects on bullying, youth aggression and mental health, cyberbullying and other negative online behaviours and their impacts on the mental health of young people.

Currently Ms Hadwen is working with Professor Donna Cross on a parent education resource to reduce cyberbullying. This project was developed in response to an expressed need from parents of school-age children to enable them to help their children use virtual social networking technology more safely, and ideally, to prevent or help young people cope more effectively with cyberbullying.

At the 2010 NCAB Conference Ms Hawden presented The Cyber Friendly Parent Program which was written in response to research into what parents need. The focus of the program is on supporting families whose children have been cyberbullied or who are engaging in cyberbullying. It is a practical program that enables parents to access solution focused information in manageable amounts.

Professor Ken Rigby: Addressing cases of school bullying: an appraisal of six major methods of intervention and their implications for student wellbeing

Professor Rigby is an Adjunct Research Professor and an educational consultant based at the University of South Australia. He was educated in England where he obtained an honours degree in Economics (London University) and a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (Leicester University). Subsequently he worked as a teacher in schools in London and in Norfolk, (both secondary and primary) before immigrating to Australia, and finally as a School Guidance Officer.

Subsequently he was employed as a lecturer, then Associate Professor in Psychology and Research Methods at the University of South Australia. He completed a PhD in Psychology at the University of Adelaide in 1977.

Over the last fifteen years he has become a leading authority on bullying and peer victimisation with more than 100 refereed papers and other publications. His 1996 book "Bullying in schools and what to do about it" has been published in Australia, the UK and North America and is regarded as a standard text. His most recent book, Children and Bullying: How parents and educators can reduce bullying in school, published in 2008 by Blackwell, Wiley, was written largely to assist parents.

Professor Rigby has been invited to address numerous conferences and/or seminars in many countries, including Australia, New Zealand, Canada, United States, Singapore, Italy, Malaysia, Korea, Ireland, Israel, Belgium, Greece and South Africa, and to provide advice on the development of anti-bullying policies and procedures. He has conducted sessions at the University of Florence and the University of Cambridge. His work in progress is focussing upon methods of addressing cases of bullying in schools. 

At the 2010 NCAB Conference Professor Rigby's workshop examined six commonly used forms of intervention of bullying and the circumstances where each can be applied.

Ms Mandy Ross: Young people's self generated risk in the virtual world - just another public space

Born in New Zealand, Ms Ross moved to Australia with her family in 1991 and has worked on a range of initiatives to protect children here and overseas, including the UK’s Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre at the Serious Organised Crime Agency.

The Centre brought together law enforcement officers, child protection specialists, education and media specialists, NGO’s and industry to combat the online and offline sexual exploitation of children and young people.

Ms Ross has also helped to build the world-first Cybersafety programme, “Thinkuknow” in the UK, which is now run in Australia by the Australian Federal Police.

She has spoken about the issue of cybersafety education at the Washington Virtual Global Taskforce Conference, which brought together law enforcement officials from more than 26 countries, and at the annual Interpol conference in Lyon, France on e-crimes against Children.

Ms Ross has a Bachelor of Journalism from the University of Queensland and is completing her Masters in Policing Intelligence and Counter Terrorism – tackling Cyber Terrorism, from Macquarie University.

Ms Ross's workshop at the 2010 NCAB Conference examined the self-generated risk in the virtual world of young people.

Ms Megan Price: Online response to cyberbullying

Ms Megan Price is a Senior Research Officer at youth welfare and advocacy agency BoysTown, where her work involves issues impacting young people, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Her research interest lies in giving a voice to the marginalised, both in Australia and abroad and she is currently involved in a research project regarding help-seeking behaviour among young Indigenous Australians.

Ms Price has worked in the field of applied research for the past decade, both for commercial and nongovernment agencies. She is experienced in both qualitative and quantitative research techniques working across a range of sectors including health, tourism, technology, media, community and social welfare.

She holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Marketing) and a Certificate in Community Service Work, and is currently completing a Masters of Arts (Sociology) and Graduate Diploma of Social Science (Psychology).

Ms Price's workshop at the 2010 NCAB Conference presented the results of a recent Boystown online survey of under 25 year olds which identified the nature and types of online cyberbullying behaviour, its impact on young people and current interventions being used and their effectiveness.

Click here to view Megan's presentation

Dr Saule Raiziene: Emotional impact of cyberbullying on victims: do different contexts matter ?

Dr Saule Raiziene is Associate Professor of Psychology at Mykolas Romeris University, Lithuania.

Dr Raiziene conducts research in the areas of developmental psychology, social psychology, organisational psychology and has written extensively in the areas of business and child psychology.

She is a member of the European COST initiative (an intergovernmental framework for European Cooperation in Science and Technology); a group which has reciprocal arrangements with Australia to further work in a number of fields including cybersafety and has presented on this subject at conferences in Europe and elsewhere.

Dr Raiziene examined the different contexts of socialisation on the emotional impacts of bullying at the 2010 NCAB Conference, and the predictors of the emotional impact of cyberbullying were assessed in terms of adolescent's individual characteristics, relationships with peers, child-parent relationships and experience at schools.

Dr Sheryl Hemphill: Longitudinal predictors of cyberbullying perpetration and victimisation of Victorian secondary school students

Dr Sheryl Hemphill is Associate Professor of Paediatrics at the University of Melbourne and Royal Children’s Hospital, where she is Principal Research Fellow.

Dr Hemphill’s main research interests are in the development of adolescent violence and crime, substance use and prosocial behaviour. She is also interested in how schools and communities respond to adolescent problem behaviour and the impact of these responses on subsequent behaviour. Her recent work is focused on people who are socially excluded or disadvantaged, and how to remedy things for them.

Her most recent published research includes Alcohol use and related harms in school students in the USA and Australia; Longitudinal examination of physical and relational aggression as precursors to later problem behaviours in adolescents; and the impact of school suspensions - A student wellbeing issue.

Dr Hemphill's workshop at the 2010 NCAB Conference examined the experience of Victorian secondary school students in relation to longitudinal predictors of cyberbullying perpetration and victimisation.

Click here to view Sheryl's notes

Ms Sue Cahill: Values Education and service learning in a primary school - recipe for improved student wellbeing

Ms Sue Cahill is the Wellbeing Manager at St Charles Borromeo Primary School.

Ms Cahill chaired the former Manningham Youth and Family Services Board, is a member of the Catholic Aids Ministry Committee of Management, is on the School Focused Youth Services reference group and the Supporting Kids in Primary Schools reference group. Sue has also been active in working with students, investigating and taking action around values using a Student Action Team approach.

At the 2010 NCAB Conference Ms Cahill's workshop focussed on improving student wellbeing though values education and service learning.

Click here to view Sue's presentation

Dr Martyn Wild and Ms Suzanne Barr: Opportunities and risks for children online

Dr Wilde is Honorary Professor at La Trobe University and a Director at Intuitive Media, Australia. He has a background in universities, schools, and in business, having worked as a teacher and an Advisor in the UK; and more recently, as Founding Director of Best English, a $15m start-up elearning business with an offshore focus, funded by the Adult Multicultural Education Service, Melbourne (Australia). Prior to this he was a senior academic with a research and teaching expertise in elearning, first at Exeter University and then at Edith Cowan University, in Perth, Australia.

Ms Barr is Community Coordinator at Intuitive Media Australia. 

Dr Pam Bartholomaeus: Tackling cyberbullying: some insights from a school's journey

Dr Pam Bartholomaeus is a lecturer in the School of Education at Flinders University where she teaches in the middle school and secondary education courses, and is a member of a State School Governing Council. Her research is primarily in the fields of literacy and rural education, including student wellbeing, working for increased successful student learning outcomes, and sustainability of rural communities.

Dr Bartholomaeus is concerned that all students are well equipped for the future. For rural students she is interested in education that recognises the likely complexity of students' future lives, that the challenges that currently exist for rural students are well identified, and solutions both via policy and in the classroom are sought and achieved.

At the 2010 NCAB Conference Dr Bartholomaeus's workshop examined the schools perspective and experiences of addressing cyberbullying.

Dr Toni Noble: Connecting and Engaging Teaching and Learning Strategies for Safe and Supportive Classrooms

For this workshop Toni draws on her experience as a teacher, psychologist, researcher and teacher educator. She is Adjunct Professor at the Australian Catholic University and is widely known in the education arena as the co-author of many practical best selling teacher resource books. These books include Eight Ways At Once on differentiated instruction; Different Kids, Same Classroom, Bullying Solutions (co-editor: all royalties to NCAB) and BOUNCE BACK! Toni is currently working on the Australian Government’s (DEEWR) revised National Safe Schools Framework. This workshop draws on her newest book HITS and HOTS (available in July) with Helen McGrath on student engagement.

Ms Mary Tobin: The Place of Wellbeing: Building the Capacity of School Communities

Mary Tobin is the Manager of the Student Wellbeing team at the Catholic Education Office Melbourne and is Project Manager for the Schools as Core Social Centres (SACSC) Project. Mary is responsible for providing strategic advice on best practice related to student wellbeing and in the rollout of the CEOM’s Student Wellbeing strategy. In particular Mary has key responsibilities for articulating the link between the School Improvement Agenda and student wellbeing and overseeing operations of the work of the team in this key area. This includes the Research Phase of the SACSC project initiative which will focus on the links between student wellbeing and student learning outcomes.

She has had extensive experience in education for over 30 years across government and non government sectors. Her area of expertise and interest is in the wellbeing of young people and the role of schools in contributing to social cohesion. Mary has significant experience working with students at risk in the Western suburbs of Melbourne.  She has completed further studies in criminology and has also completed a Master of Education in the area of Educational Leadership.

Mary has a strong belief in the important place of schools in the lives of young people and their families and believes that schools can make a strong contribution to the development of healthy communities.

Click here to view Mary's presentation

Ms Rosie Thomas and Ms Lucy Thomas: PROJECT ROCKIT

PROJECT ROCKIT is the initiative of sister team, Rosie and Lucy Thomas. Rosie and Lucy are highly creative and innovative youth professionals, whose imaginative take on life is at the core of their abilities to facilitate the hopes and dreams of fellow young people.  Rosie and Lucy have now worked with over 15,000 students from a wide range of educational backgrounds.  The PROJECT ROCKIT sessions represent a 'show me, don't tell me' approach to learning. Using an array of dramatic role-plays, group activities, student performances, creative writing and real-life stories, each session embodies key messages and strategies that are most relevant to young people.

Click here to view Rosie and Lucy's presentation

Ms Phillipa Lovell: Restorative Practices in Catholic School Communities: A system-based approach

Education Officer, Student Wellbeing Unit in the Catholic Education Office Melbourne, Australia. Catholic Education in the Archdiocese of Melbourne Australia supports 254 co-educational primary schools (Prep – Year 6) which are parish-based in the local community. There are 66 co-ed and single sex secondary schools that are either regionally based under the governance of a cluster of parishes or religious order systemic schools. Phillipa supports the CEO wellbeing strategy and presents widely on subjects including as Values education and sexual health.

Click here to view Phillipa's presentation

Ms Megan Price: Online Response to Cyberbullying

Megan Price is a Senior Researcher at BoysTown. Her research involves issues affecting young people, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds. She holds B.Commerce (Marketing) and a Certificate in Community Service Work. She is also completing a Masters of Arts (Sociology) and Graduate Diploma of Social Science (Psychology).

Megan has worked in the field of applied research for the past decade, both for commercial and non-government agencies. She is experienced in both qualitative and quantitative research techniques working across a range of sectors including health, tourism, technology, media, community and social welfare. Her research interest lies in giving a voice to the marginalised, both in Australia and abroad. She is currently involved in a research project regarding help-seeking behaviour among young Indigenous Australians

Click here to view Megan's presentation 

More information about the conference

Never before, in the history of education, have more students had access to so many resources. The use of electronic communication technologies is expanding rapidly (instant messaging is growing at a rate 30% faster than email did at its inception). This wonderful range of new technologies offers enormous educational potential for both teachers and students but also some serious challenges.

Students are starting to develop a ‘moral compass’ with which to navigate their way through cyberspace, but have limited experience in assessing risk and predicting and weighing up the potential consequences of their behavioural choices. It’s important to provide schools with the support they need to address these challenges, risks and potentials.

Student wellbeing is an integral component of safe and connected environments where learning and social success flourish, and all forms of bullying are reduced.

What was on the Program?

The 2010 conference offered an informative, entertaining and thought-provoking two-day program of speakers, workshops and 'schools showcase', focusing on:

• What is cybersafety – and why it matters to students and families
• New research from Australia and overseas on cybersafety and cyberbullying
• Approaches to address and manage cyber risks in the school community
• Effective strategies to increase student wellbeing in your classroom and school
• Cyber safety and the law – where schools stand
• Peer relationships to enhance student wellbeing and reduce bullying
• Engaging parents and families
• Developing partnerships – the school community and beyond
• What is working in schools – stories from the classroom

Other conference benefits included

• Large trade display featuring the latest products and services for the education sector
• Networking opportunities with peers and experts
• Themed gala dinner (Friday evening)
• Excellent facilities and top-quality refreshments
• ‘Schools Showcase’ offers opportunities to experience innovative and successful approaches taken by schools as they have worked to build wellbeing and address negative behaviours on and offline

Who attended?

This conference was relevant for teachers, leaders and wellbeing coordinators from primary and secondary sectors, educational psychologists and school counsellors.

Sponsors