Helping a child to deal with unfriendly behaviour from their peers is a challenge every parent faces at some point.

We asked Lisa Conroy, Deputy Principal, Student Engagement & Wellbeing at Norwood Primary School for her top 5 tips.

• Keep positive and stay calm. It can be upsetting when you think your child may be experiencing unfriendly behaviour. It is important to keep positive and stay calm as you think about how to work out a solution with your child. Let your child know that talking about it is the right thing to do and ask them how they would like you to help. 
• Talk with your child. Ask them what happened, who was involved, where it happened and if anyone else saw, read or heard it. Discuss if it is a one off incident or if it has happened again and again.
• Discuss strategies with your child. Would they like to deal with it themselves or do they need adult help? Encourage your child to walk away, say “stop” or “no, that’s not cool”, talk it out with the person calmly and/or tell a trusted adult such as a teacher
• If the situation does not improve make a time to discuss your concerns in a calm and constructive way with your child’s teacher. They will work with you to resolve the issue. Keep in touch with the teacher to let them know if it continues.
• If the situation is not resolved  make a time to meet with the Principal or another senior staff member who will work with you and your child to develop a plan with home and school strategies.