Stamp Teachers' Notes

S.T.A.M.P is an acronym which stands for
S	Stay away.	Play with friends away from the bully. If the bully follows you, go and play near to the teacher on playground duty.
T	Tell someone.	Reporting a bully is not being a 'dobber'. Even if the bully has only bullied you once or twice, they may be bullying other children as well. So by you telling the teacher, the teacher will then know how serious the situation is.
A	Always help.	If you see someone being bullied ask them if they would like to play with you and your friends.
M	Make Friends.	Include children who are easily left out. It's not just good for the person you befriend but good for you to. You get another friend.
P	Play Nicely.	Make sure that you are not being a bully.

http://www.kidshelp.com.au
Once there click on "Other Stuff", "Kids stuff" then "Bullying". This site gives clear, to the point advice to kids. There are also good guide lines for teachers when dealing with, understanding and helping the bully.

http://www.scre.ac.uk/pdf/bullying/action.pdf
What I found most interesting about this PDF file was the case scenarios Pages 26 to 31. They give an account of what has happened to six students and the actions taken by teachers, which in most cases sounds appropriate. However in each case the situation deteriorated. You are asked to plot a further course of action. I found it challenging.

Bully Busting by Evelyn M. Field   Finch Publishing Sydney
    Deal with your feelings
    Understand why you are bullied
    Build your self-esteem
    Become a confident communicator
    Create your own power pack
    Develop a support network

Evelyn M Field also has a website www.bullying.com.au
There is provision on Evelyn's website for students to submit their own stories.

Back Off Bully by Mark Dobson Published by DoubleDay
A very easy book to read, concise with good information.
    How do you stand?
    Don't react
    Don't argue, just agree
    Don't throw stones
    Block their path
    The secret weapon: The journal

www.nobully.org.nz/advicek.htm I liked this site, and think it is useful for a couple of reasons.
1. It is, age appropriate for primary students, to the point and has the basic strategies.
2. It is a New Zealand website so making Australian children aware that bullying is not something that they alone suffer, the problem is world wide.

The Law of Averages - (This idea comes from the Book "Bully Busting" Page 81)
What you'll need - DICE, PAPER, PENCIL.
- If you can have dice, pencil and paper for each student the exercise is much more immediate for everyone.
- Or have the students work in pairs, one rolls the dice, the other keeps the tally.
This is a great way to show students that persistence pays.
While their first, second or even third or fourth attempt at stopping a Bully may not work, the law of averages suggests that persistence pays off.

In the game of dice everyone wants to roll a six. Six is the best, but no one rolls a six every time, but sixes do come up with persistence.
On a piece of paper have students write down the numbers one to six (one under the other down the left side of the page).
Now get them to roll the dice ten times placing a mark along side the number they get each time.
Check with the class to see who has scored sixes. According to the rule of averages - they should all have at least one (six).

But don't forget Murphy's Law (If it can go wrong it will) so if someone hasn't thrown a six, get the class to all throw another 10 times, and compare scores. Keep going until everyone has thrown at least one (six). Persistence pays! Even Persistence against bullies!

Does your school suggest a strategy for students to use? With older students discuss the strategies offered on some of the websites listed above, how do these differ from the strategies of the school. Do they contradict or are they complimentary of each other.

     Questions to discuss with students:
         What is the opposite to bullying?
            Is it possible to be friends with everyone?
            What is the different between someone's friend and being friendly to them?

3. Magic is used in STAMP and the performer will sometimes show the audience a magic trick during Question time. Impress your students with some VERY SIMPLE magic.
Our Page of Magic

The Characters in the Show:
Q. Why were there puppets in the show?
A. Lots of reasons. To make the show visually more interesting. To give Ben (the performer) other characters to talk and interact with in the play.

Q. How many Characters can the class remember from the show?
Q. How many of them were puppets?
A. Croc, Brice are both puppets,

Q. What type / styles of puppets were used in the play?
A. Both Brice and Croc are hand or glove puppets because the performer uses his hand to make their mouths work.

N.B. Requirements:
An indoor area 3.5 square mts. A min ceiling height of 2.6mts. and good vehicle access.