Students at a North-East girls' school are pioneering an initiative to tackle bullying.
Sacred Heart RC Comprehensive, in Fenham, Newcastle, is a split-site school for pupils aged between 11 and 18.
Until now there have been few links between the two campuses and the pupils say that moving from the lower to upper school was a daunting prospect.
Now the sixth-formers are launching a buddy scheme which they hope will bridge the gap between the two sites as well as offering help and support to any student who needs it.
Katherine Brown, 17, said: "The idea is to offer a shoulder to cry on for anyone who feels they need it. Sometimes it's easier for a pupil to speak to another student rather than being seen as a grass if they go to a teacher."
Laura Fellowes-Prynne, 16, said: "We're really surprised by how quickly the idea has taken off but I think we're all very positive about the changes we can make. We just hope that through the buddy scheme we can make a difference and help to make every girl's experience of Sacred Heart a positive one." The idea for the scheme came from the school council.
One pupil from each class represents her colleagues on the council and from this, bullying was seen as a major issue that needed to be tackled. Alexandra Crawley, 16, said: "Girls can be really horrible to each other and this is a girls' school so we did see it as a problem that needed dealing with.
"What we learnt as part of our training was to establish the difference between bullying and one-off falling out." Kayleigh McMahon, 16, said: "We had a big problem with text messages, which can be really hurtful.
"But I think now we've sat down and looked at the problem and started to understand what bullying is it's made a real difference."
The girls are being trained by a world expert in combating bullying, Val Besag, and so far they have been taught to recognise the signs of bullying, understand what it is and trained in the basics of counselling and confidentiality.
In their second session the aim is to prepare them to take classes for the Year Sevens in an effort to make starting a new school less frightening.
So far, 24 students are taking part in the training but the aim is for these to train new buddies so that the scheme snowballs throughout the school and continues long after the sixth formers have left Sacred Heart.
Roisin O'Donnell, 16, said: "In the future we're planning a buddy box where anyone who doesn't feel confident enough to approach can post their concerns anonymously and then we can find them and offer help.
"It's just about making sure everyone has someone they feel they can talk to and so that no-one has to deal with their problems on their own."
Upper school head Angela Anstee said she was extremely proud of what the girls had achieved. "The potential to bully is in all of us. That is why this must be a school-wide issue and why we need to be proactive in our approach."
