The Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC) are delighted to announce that St. Oliver’s Community School Drogheda have reached Shield Flag Status! The flag is today being presented by ISPCC CEO Grainia Long in recognition of the work done by the school in developing a robust anti-bullying policy and building a climate of openness and support in responding to any bullying concerns that may arise. St. Oliver’s is also the first Secondary School in Ireland to be awarded the flag. Click on the image below to view the Flag raising Ceremony

The ISPCC is currently running its “Shield My School” programme which is designed to assist schools and wider community groups in responding proactively and positively to bullying behaviours. In recognition of the hard work that schools invest into this programme the ISPCC now awards its “Blue Shield Flag” to schools that complete a strict set of criteria.

Andrew Jackson, National Anti-Bullying Co-ordinator, stated: “St. Oliver’s Community School is now the largest Secondary School in the Country. The fact that they are the first secondary school to be awarded Flag Status demonstrates that there are no longer any excuses when it comes to tackling the issue of bullying” .

This year’s ISPCC Shield Campaign which was launched on the 9th March will directly help parents through a range of new online resources and our existing Parent Mentoring Service. 2015 will also see the roll out of our Anti-Bullying Toolkit to clubs and community groups across Ireland. We are aiming to increase the number of schools who are awarded the Shield Flag and the ISPCC will provide direct expert advice to them to “Fly the Flag” against bullying. Bullying is everyone’s business, we are standing up against bullying – are you?

for more details of the ISPCC Blue Shield Anti-Bullying programme see www.ispcc.ie/shield