Leeds Rhinos mascot Ronnie the Rhino is starring in a new short film to help tackle bullying in schools as part of national anti-bullying week which begins on 14th November.
The film will form part of a new anti-bullying assembly that will be delivered by Leeds Rhinos Foundation staff in their Ambassador Schools throughout the school year. To launch the film and to raise awareness of Anti-Bullying week Ronnie will be visiting Colton Primary School on Wednesday 16th November.
Anti-Bullying week, which is coordinated by the Anti-Bullying Alliance, each year raises the profile of bullying across the UK, shining a light on the effect bullying can have on the lives of children, young people and adults by working with organisations to create safe environments where people can live, grow, play and learn.
Leeds Rhinos Foundation’s Anti-Bullying Assembly, which will be offered to the charity’s 100 Ambassador School, covers common areas of bullying such as cyber, physical and emotional bullying and how to get help if you’ve been affected or witnessed bullying happening in your school.
The assembly will incorporate the film starring Ronnie the Rhino, who is shown as the victim of bullying, and advice will be given to children who may be dealing with similar experiences covered in the film on how they can deal with it.
Leeds Rhinos Foundation Community Manager, Gareth Cook commented on the importance of supporting issues in schools such as bullying through the charity’s ambassador schools.
“We are delighted to be able to launch our new anti-bullying assembly which we hope will help pupils across the city to better understand the problem of bullying and how they can overcome it,” said Cook.
“Our team of staff have put together an assembly which uses club mascot Ronnie the Rhino to explore the different forms of bullying but critically how young people can seek support if they see bullying going on or have been affected personally by it. Ronnie the Rhino is such a familiar character for young children and we think him starring in the film will help them to relate to the messages and advice we are offering,”
“We’d like to thank Colton Primary for allowing us to launch the assembly as part of Anti-Bullying week which will be available to the rest of our Ambassador and Partner schools throughout the year.”
Anti-bullying week’s theme for 2016 is using the ‘Power for Good’ to help children and young people to understand the ways in which they are powerful and encouraging individual and collective action to stop bullying.
View Leeds Rhinos Foundation’s Anti-Bullying video starring Ronnie the Rhino below:
For more information on Anti-Bullying week and how you can get involved visit the website at http://www.anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk/anti-bullying-week/
If you would like to know more about the Leeds Rhinos Foundation’s School Sport Plan visit http://www.leedsrhinosfoundation.org/sport/school-sport-offer.php or contact Gareth.Cook@leedsrhinosfoundation.org