Personal & Social Development Responsible Decision-Makingusually ages 7–9

Bystanders and Upstanders

Understand the bystander role — that when someone witnesses unkind or unfair behaviour, they have a choice: they can be a passive bystander (doing nothing), join in, or be an upstander (speaking up or getting help) — and develop the confidence to be an upstander

How to tell they’ve got it

Tick these off as you see them — no test required.

Explain the difference between a bystander and an upstander
Describe at least two safe actions an upstander can take
Give an example of a time they or someone they know stood up for someone else

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Try this together

If your child sees a group of children being mean to someone at school, do they have the courage to say something, walk away with the person being targeted, or tell a teacher — rather than just watching?

Where this sits on the map

Stuck here? Check the skills it builds on first. Confident? Here’s what it unlocks.

Builds on

Understanding Bullyingages 7–9Bystander/upstander builds on understanding what bullying is

Vocabulary: ethics and citizenshipages 7–11The bystander/upstander distinction is entirely vocabulary-dependent — these specific terms must be taught first

Everyday Kindness and Careages 5–7Being an upstander builds on caring for others

Bystanders and Upstandersthis skill · ages 7–9

Unlocks

Peer Pressure and Resisting Itages 9–11Peer pressure resistance builds on bystander/upstander awareness

Prejudice and Discriminationages 9–11Standing against discrimination benefits from upstander skills

solid = must come firstdashed = helps

Curriculum alignment

Candidate matches to official curriculum codes — machine-suggested, unreviewed (v0.1).

Show candidate curriculum codes · 1 VIC

Australian Curriculum v9 candidate

This skill sits outside the F–6 Australian Curriculum — no candidate code matched (v0.1).

Victorian Curriculum 2.0 codes & levels only

VC2HP2P06low confidenceHealth and Physical Education · Levels 1 and 2 · Personal, Social and Community Health – Health Education strand

These are candidate alignments generated by semantic matching — machine-suggested and unreviewed (v0.1), not official or verified mappings. For official curriculum content see australiancurriculum.edu.au, curriculum.nsw.edu.au and f10.vcaa.vic.edu.au. Don’t rely on them for registration or compliance purposes.

Nearby on the map

Basic digital citizenshipages 7–9 Stop, Think, Then Chooseages 7–9 Understanding Bullyingages 7–9 Vocabulary: ethics and citizenshipages 7–11

All Responsible Decision-Making skills →