Bullies put on notice

By KATH GANNAWAY

YARRA Junction and Hoddles Creek primary schools will receive State Government funding under announcements made in September.
Hoddles Creek Primary School will receive an additional $15,675 to refurbish the school’s B Block under a $514,000 funding boost for Eildon electorate schools.
Minister for Education Martin Dixon announced the funding as part of a $23million addition to budget funds.
In another announcement the Victorian Coalition Government is teaming up with Facebook to launch a new advertising campaign, encouraging teenagers and parents to Speak Up Against Cyberbullying.
Announcing that Yarra Junction Primary School is one of two schools in the Eildon electorate to receive a share of $400,000 in grants for the campaign, current Seymour Liberal MP and Eildon candidate Cindy McLeish said the campaign was about empowering young people to speak up if they were being bullied online and helping parents and teachers to identify the signs of those at risk.
Ms McLeish said the school would use the grants to run programs to tackle cyber bullying, or focus on peer mediation and bystander intervention, two of the key pillars of the Bully Stoppers campaign.