On Thursday 22 November 2018 Mr Reynolds and the talented group of pupils, who featured in the Anti Bullying Week film, visited Hollycombe School to talk about the effects of bullying and show them the ‘Beautiful’ film recently produced. Eagle Radio and BBC News South Today took great interest in the project and covered the story.
Not only has the film received over 18,900 views on YouTube, celebrities Amanda Holden, Ben Cohen and Christina Aguilera, who originally sang the song, all tweeted about the film.
Amesbury School has worked closely with local schools to produce a moving film which marked Anti Bullying Week 2018. View YouTube Film
Using the stunning back drop of The Devils Punchbowl, Hindhead, Surrey, a group of 30 children from 7 different Independent and State Schools worked collaboratively to produce a highly emotional performance of Christina Aguilera’s ‘Beautiful’ song.
The brainchild of Amesbury School’s Head of Performing Arts, Mark Reynolds, the film was designed to emphasise the importance of standing together, as a community, against bullying. For this reason, a wide selection of schools were involved. Sadly, bullying isn’t isolated just in school life. It can happen anywhere and to anyone.
The children involved in making the film have been chosen for one very important reason only – they are all exceptionally kind and caring people who are proud to make a stance again bullying.
The effects of bullying can be enormous for those involved. By uniting together, strengthening community friendships and making a stand against bullying Amesbury School are actively and collaboratively working to stop bullying and create safer environments in which children and young people can live, grow, play and learn.
Amesbury is a member of the Anti Bullying Alliance (ABA).
The ABA has three main objectives. They are:
o To raise the profile of bullying and the effect it has on the lives of children and young people
o To create a climate in which everyone agrees that bullying is unacceptable
o To make sure that teachers, youth practitioners, parents, carers, children and young people have the skills and knowledge to address bullying effectively
All teachers at Amesbury complete on-line training provided by ABA. The organisation also provides excellent on-line training for parents. This training provides a common framework and language for pupils, teachers and parents, which is extremely helpful when discussing relational conflict and bullying.
This is the second time Amesbury School has produced a music film to emphasis the issue of bullying. In 2016 Mark Reynolds worked with 14 Amesbury pupils who performed ‘Something Inside So Strong’.
