A major conference to highlight some of the pioneering work being carried out to tackle bullying in the region's schools was held yesterday in the North-East. Supported by The Journal's Be a Buddy not a Bully campaign, the conference was attended by more than 100 teachers, welfare officers, police, nurses, education and bullying experts from across the north of England to share ideas about how children's bullying can be tackled. Most importantly, the conference heard from groups of students from a number of North-East schools to listen to their ideas about bullying and the schemes they had helped to put in place to make their schools a happier and safer place. The conference was led by Dr Val Besag, a former teacher and educational psychologist from Jesmond, Newcastle, who is now recognised as one of the world's leading experts on bullying. Speaking after the conference she praised The Journal's campaign which she said had helped to bring the region together by highlighting good practice in North-East schools. She said: "The Journal has pulled people together in talking about bullying and sharing ideas," she said. "Instead of a negative campaign which makes people very defensive, the campaign has encouraged schools across the North-East to work as one. The conference was a total success and I want to thank The Journal for the role they have played." The schools who took part in the conference, held at the Swallow Hotel, Gateshead, included Norham Community College, North Tyneside, Ebchester Primary School, County Durham, Thomas Hepburn Community Comprehensive and Blaydon West Primary, both in Gateshead. Each group discussed different schemes such as peer mentoring and mediation and explained how their own schools were tackling bullying. Ms Besag, who now specialises in girl's bullying, said it had been "an excellent experience". "The North-East has always led the way when it comes to recognising and addressing bullying," she said. "As early as the 1980s we had a team working in schools in Gateshead - the first of its kind in the country. "The aim of the conference was to catch up on what has been happening. We heard about some really cutting edge stuff and what the event has shown very clearly is that the North-East is still ahead of the game in this area. I think everyone working to tackle bullying in the region can be justly proud of what they have achieved." In particular, she said, people were impressed with the attitude of the youngsters. "It's so important to listen to the ideas of young people and hear their views on the subject. They were really quite inspirational and I think the adults learnt a lot for them." Stamping out problems in school playground Youngsters at a North-East junior school are being buddies in the playground as part of a new scheme to stamp out bullying at the school. The new buddy system at Sacriston Junior School, County Durham, has been set up to make sure everybody has a friend to turn to at break time and no-one is left on their own. The 20 buddies are also there to spot signs of bullying in an effort to nip any problems in the bud before they become a major issue. Class teacher Jill Singleton, co-ordinating the buddies system at the 200-pupil school, said the buddy scheme had gradually developed over the past 12 months. "We have always had a kind of buddy system where the new children in the school are teamed up with someone from an older year group so they have a friendly face to turn to if they need support," she said. "But the actual buddy scheme was formally introduced last year when we took a group of children for a week's training. "Thankfully, bullying has never been a huge problem in this school but we would never get complacent and I think it's important to be open about the problem and continue to reinforce the message that bullying is wrong and cruel." The buddies have weekly meetings with staff to discuss any major problems that have been identified by the children and there is also a box in the school where the children can post their problems anonymously. Any serious problems are dealt with by the staff. Praising The Journal's campaign which was launched in February, she added: "The children were very keen to sign up to the campaign. It's an excellent way of highlighting such an important issue." Is your school taking the pledge Our campaign aims to get every child in years five to eight across the North to "Be a Buddy not a Bully" by signing our pledge. So far more than 16,000 children have signed up to the pledge and many more are participating in anti-bullying schemes and initiatives. Forms are being sent to every school in the region and as soon as they have been filled in, we need you to return them to us so we can put your school's name in The Journal. At the same time, we want to highlight some of the excellent anti-bullying schemes that are already being run in schools across the region. WE WANT TO KNOW: We have also launched an exciting competition, inviting all youngsters in school years five, six, seven and eight to write a poem or a short piece about bullying and send it to us at The Journal. The best pieces to be submitted will be published. For more information about how your school can get involved in the campaign or to tell us about your own schemes or experiences, contact The Journal on (0191) 201-6290, or if you prefer, you can e-mail louella.houldcroft@ncj media.co.uk. Send your poems and short pieces to Be a Buddy not a Bully, The Journal, Groat Market, Newcastle, NE1 1ED. | 
Northumberland