Anti-Bullying Policy
(reviewed February 2014 and on-going)
1. In accordance with the
requirements of the Education (Welfare) Act 2000 and the code of behaviour guidelines
issued by the NEWB, the Board of Management (BOM) of Scoil Chaitríona Junior
Primary School has adopted the following anti-bullying policy within the
framework of the school's overall code of behaviour. The policy fully complies
with the requirements of the Anti- bullying Procedures for Primary and Post
-Primary Schools which were published in September 2013
2. The BOM recognises the very
serious nature of bullying and the negative impact that it can have on the
lives of pupils and is therefore fully committed to the following key
principles in preventing and tackling bullying behaviour:
The following types of bullying behaviour are included in the definition of
bullying:
Isolated or once off incidents of intentional negative behaviour, including a
once off offensive or hurtful text message or other private messaging, do not
fall within the definition of bullying and will be dealt with as in accordance
with the school's code of behaviour.
However, in the context of this policy, placing a once off offensive or hurtful
public message, image or statement on a social network site or other public
forum where that message , image or statement can be viewed and /or repeated by
other people will be regarded as bullying behaviour.
Negative behaviour that does not meet this definition of bullying will be dealt
with in accordance with the school's code of behaviour.
4. The relevant teachers for
investigating and dealing with bullying are the class teacher, Mrs. Teresa
Carleton, Deputy Principal, Mrs. Patricia Coleman, Principal. The relevant LSRT
/ EAL teacher will also be involved with the specific class. HSCL will be
involved where necessary.
5. The education and prevention
strategies (including strategies specifically aimed at cyber bullying and
identity-based bullying including in particular, homophobic and transphobic
bullying) will be as follows:
Create a culture of "telling".
Raising the awareness of bullying as a form of unacceptable behaviour by -
Other Strategies:
6. The school's procedure for
investigation, follow up and recording of bullying behaviour and the
established intervention strategies used by the school for dealing with cases
of bullying are as follows:
Incidents of Bullying will be dealt with on a staged basis.
All reports of bullying must be dealt with initially by the class teacher.
Stage 2
If this child breaks the promise and re-offends then the Deputy Principal or
Assistant Principal with the class teacher will interview the child/children
again. It is explained to them that this is their second time offending and
that they have not committed to their promise. Again attempts will be made to
resolve the situation. Once more students will sign the "Pupil Behaviour
Promise 2". This time this has to be signed by their parents. They are now
advised that if they break this promise again , they will have a meeting with
the principal and their parents in the office and could face suspension.
Stage 3
If a child breaks their promise twice then the matter is referred to the
Principal. The Principal meets with the child and the parent. The child may be
suspended for up to 3 days. The Principal has the permission of the Board of
Management to suspend for up to 3 days.
Recording of incidents: All incidents will be logged by class teacher. Incidents
which have not been adequately and appropriately addressed within 20 school
days will be recorded by the class teacher on the recording template as in
Appendix 3 (Anti bullying Procedures for Primary and Post -Primary Schools).
This template will be completed in full and a copy given to the Deputy
Principal and Principal. At least once every school term the Principal will
provide a report to the BOM setting out the overall number of bullying cases
reported by means of this template and confirmation that all cases are being
dealt with in accordance with procedure.
7. The school's programme of support
for working with pupils affected by bullying is as follows:
Victims
o Victims are reassured from the outset that they are not to blame.
o Strategies for restoring self-esteem are explored between teacher and parents/guardians.
o Where deemed necessary, the child in consultation with parents may be
referred for counselling.
o Staged approach- class support, school support( as per Continuum
-Behavioural, Emotional and Social difficulties- NEPS).
o Victims may be chosen for Drama Therapy sessions.
o The parents of the pupils concerned will be advised to contact the local Gardai
if appropriate.
Bullies
o Where deemed necessary, the child in consultation with parents may be
referred for counselling. They may need to learn other ways of meeting their
needs without violating the rights of others. Empathy awareness needs to be
developed.
o Bullies may be chosen for Drama Therapy sessions and personal development
groups.
o Clinical referral and assessment may be necessary.
o Staged approach - class support, school support (as per
Continuum-Behavioural, Emotional and Social Difficulties- NEPS)
8. Supervision and Monitoring of
pupils:
The BOM confirms that appropriate supervision and monitoring policies and
practices are in place to both prevent and deal with bullying behaviour and to
facilitate early intervention where possible.
9. Prevention of Harassment:
The BOM confirms that the school will, in accordance with its obligations under
equality legislation, take all such steps that are reasonably practical to
prevent the sexual harassment of pupils or staff or the harassment of pupils or
staff on any of the nine grounds specified i.e. gender including transgender,
civil status, family status, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability,
race and membership of the Travelling community.
10. Evaluation of the effectiveness
of the policy:
The evaluation of the policy will happen on both an informal (through teacher
observation) and formal basis (use of surveys and questionnaires).
Success Criteria:
11. This policy was adopted by the
Board of Management on April 8th,
2014.
12. This policy has been made
available to school personnel, published on the school website and provided to
the Parent's Association. A copy of the policy will be made available to the
Department and patron if requested.
13. This policy and its
implementation will be reviewed by the BOM once in every school year. Written
notification that the review has been completed will be made available to
school personnel, published on the school website and provided to the Parent's
association. A record of the review and its outcome will be made available, if
requested, to the patron and to the Department.
The following are some practical tips for immediate actions that can be taken to help build a positive school culture and climate and to help prevent and tackle bullying behaviour.
Model respectful
behaviour to
all members
of the
school community at all times.
Explicitly teach pupils what respectful language and respectful behaviour looks like, acts like,
sounds like and feels
like in class and around the school.
Explicitly teach pupils about the appropriate use of social media.
Positively encourage pupils to comply with the school rules on mobile phone and internet use.
Follow up
and follow through
with pupils who
ignore the rules.
Actively involve parents and/or the Parents’ Association in awareness raising campaigns around social media.
Actively promote the right of every member of the school community to be safe and secure in school.
All staff can actively watch out for signs of bullying behaviour.
Ensure there is adequate playground/school yard/outdoor supervision.
School staff can
get
pupils to help them to identify bullying “hot spots” and
“hot
times” for
bullying in the school.
o Hot spots tend to be
in
the playground/school yard/outdoor areas, changing rooms, corridors and
other areas of unstructured supervision.
Anti-Bullying Policy
(reviewed February 2014 and on-going)
1. In accordance with the requirements of the Education (Welfare) Act 2000 and the code of behaviour guidelines issued by the NEWB, the Board of Management (BOM) of Scoil Chaitríona Junior Primary School has adopted the following anti-bullying policy within the framework of the school's overall code of behaviour. The policy fully complies with the requirements of the Anti- bullying Procedures for Primary and Post -Primary Schools which were published in September 2013
2. The BOM recognises the very serious nature of bullying and the negative impact that it can have on the lives of pupils and is therefore fully committed to the following key principles in preventing and tackling bullying behaviour:
·
A
positive school culture and climate which
Ø is welcoming of difference and diversity and
is based on inclusivity;
Ø encourages pupils to disclose and
discuss incidents of bullying behaviour in a non-threatening environment; and
Ø promotes respectful relationships
across the whole school community
·
Effective
leadership
·
A school
wide approach
·
A shared
understanding of what bullying is and its impact
·
Implementation
of education and prevention strategies ( including awareness raising measures)
that
Ø
build empathy,
respect and resilience in pupils and explicitly address the issues of cyber
bullying and
Ø
identity based bullying including in
particular, homophobic and transphobic bullying
·
Effective
supervision and monitoring of pupils;
·
Supports
for staff
·
Consistent
recording, investigating and follow up of bullying behaviour (including use of
established intervention strategies); and
·
On-going
evaluation of the effectiveness of the anti- bullying policy
3. In accordance with the Anti
bullying Procedures for Primary and Post -Primary Schools bullying is defined
as unwanted negative behaviour, verbal, psychological or physical conduct, by
an individual or group against another person (or persons) and which is
repeated over time.
The following types of bullying behaviour are included in the definition of bullying:
·
Deliberate
exclusion, malicious gossip and other forms of relational bullying
·
Cyber
bullying
·
Identity
based bullying such as homophobic bullying, bullying based on a person's ethnicity
and bullying of those with disabilities or special educational needs
Isolated or once off incidents of intentional negative behaviour, including a once off offensive or hurtful text message or other private messaging, do not fall within the definition of bullying and will be dealt with as in accordance with the school's code of behaviour.
However, in the context of this policy, placing a once off offensive or hurtful public message, image or statement on a social network site or other public forum where that message , image or statement can be viewed and /or repeated by other people will be regarded as bullying behaviour.
Negative behaviour that does not meet this definition of bullying will be dealt with in accordance with the school's code of behaviour.
4. The relevant teachers for investigating and dealing with bullying are the class teacher, Mrs. Teresa Carleton, Deputy Principal, Mrs. Patricia Coleman, Principal. The relevant LSRT / EAL teacher will also be involved with the specific class. HSCL will be involved where necessary.
5. The education and prevention strategies (including strategies specifically aimed at cyber bullying and identity-based bullying including in particular, homophobic and transphobic bullying) will be as follows:
Create a culture of "telling".
·
Teachers
should repeatedly reinforce the message that if anyone is the victim of
bullying behaviour, they should not retaliate in any way, but they should tell
an adult. Victims should be reassured that if they tell, something will be done
about the bullying in a safe manner and all reported incidents will be dealt
with.
·
Class
lessons to be provided to enable pupils "how to tell" (telling
protocol)
·
Bystanders
can be the key to resolving bullying and if anyone witnesses bullying
behaviour, they should always tell a teacher. This is not telling tales but a
means of protecting victims.
Raising the awareness of bullying as a form of unacceptable behaviour by -
·
Displaying
school's anti-bullying statement (Bullying
is wrong and is not tolerated in Scoil Chaitrona Junior. We are a telling
school) in school foyer and other prominent places around the school
environment; Addressing aspects of bullying at morning assemblies. (What is
bullying? What is not bullying? What to do if you feel you are being bullied?
What to do if you see somebody else being bullied?)
·
Engaging
in formal teaching within the class setting through SPHE, Stay Safe, Incredible
years programme, Junior Dina and RE programmes. (school to research materials
on identity bullying)
·
Creating
an annual awareness week for school community about bullying. (The date for
this week to be decided at September Staff meeting). This will involve
discussion, anti - bullying games, poster/slogan competitions appropriate to
class level.
Other Strategies:
·
Formal
programmes of work are a vital element in raising children's self-esteem and
equipping children to cope with bullying behaviour e.g. Walk Tall, RSE,
Alive-O, Webwise, Stay safe, Incredible Years Programme, Junior Dina. Positive
reinforcement by teachers in classroom setting (Treasure Ticks, Students of the
week, Golden time, Golden ticket; Spot Prizes, Stars, Stickers etc.)
·
Modelling
of respectful behaviour and language by teachers and staff.
·
Promotion
of extra-curricular activities which encourage co-operation among pupils (to extend this beyond sport eg drama, dance,
music) eg Art, Gardening.
·
Rewarding
incidents of good and improved behaviour and showing acts of kindness at class
level and whole-school through Class of the Week.
·
Encouraging
students to look out for each other and to be responsible for their own
behaviour.
·
All
teachers are required to be vigilant on yard duty- record all significant incidences
in the Yard Book - monitor repeat offenders
·
Immediate
affirmation of children who report incidents of bullying which they have
witnessed.
·
Circle-time
sessions, role-play, Socially Speaking programmes and puppetry are
methodologies which are used to discuss and explore issues of bullying through
LS / resource work.
·
Each
class to have a set of class rules which compliment the school's Code of
Behaviour.
·
A buddy programme for 2nd classes in
June to aid transition to senior school.
·
Ensure
Code of behaviour is received and signed
by all parents
·
Renew the
signs around the school.
·
Supervision
at all times when pupils can access the internet.
·
Teacher's
face-book accounts should be private
·
Sanctions
for unauthorised use of the internet/electronic devices will be imposed as per
the Code of Behaviour and AUP .
·
All
teachers to do a lesson on internet safety- coincide with Internet Safety Day.
·
To focus
on the topic of bullying on at least one school assembly ( Nov. of each school
year as per the recommendations from Dealing with Bullying in Schools (Office
of the Ombudsman for Children 2013).
·
Parent
workshop on anti- bully with a focus on cyber bullying.
6. The school's procedure for investigation, follow up and recording of bullying behaviour and the established intervention strategies used by the school for dealing with cases of bullying are as follows:
Incidents of Bullying will be dealt with on a staged basis.
Stage 1
All reports of bullying must be dealt with initially by the class teacher.
All reports of bullying must be dealt with initially by the class teacher.
·
When a
pupil tells a teacher s/he is being bullied, it is important to gather all of
the facts from both sides (What, where, when, who, why?). This will involve an
interview with the alleged bully using template in Appendices.
·
In
investigating and dealing with bullying, the teacher will exercise his/her
professional judgement to determine whether bullying has occurred and how best
to resolve the situation.
·
The aim
for the class teacher in investigating and dealing with bullying is to resolve
any issues and to restore, as far as is practicable, the relationships of the
parties involved (rather than to apportion blame).
·
Non-
teaching staff will be encouraged to report any incidents of bullying behaviour
witnessed by them, or mentioned to them to the relevant teacher.
·
The teacher
should take a calm, unemotional, problem-solving approach.
·
All sides
are listened to separately and notes are taken.
·
The notes
are brief, factual and should be void of emotional, or judgemental language.
·
Instances
are investigated outside the classroom to avoid public humiliations.
·
All
interviews should be conducted with sensitivity and with due regards to the
rights of all pupils concerned. Pupils who are not directly involved can also
provide very useful information in this way. (See Anti bullying Procedures for
Primary and Post -Primary Schools 6.8.9 page 30-31) for further suggestions.
·
Where
possible, a witness is present.
·
It is
explained to the alleged bully how hurtful their behaviour is and attempts are
made to encourage them to empathise with the alleged victim.
·
The
child/ children involved will be asked to sign "Pupil Behaviour Promise
1".
·
Parents
of both parties to be verbally informed.
Stage 2
If this child breaks the promise and re-offends then the Deputy Principal or Assistant Principal with the class teacher will interview the child/children again. It is explained to them that this is their second time offending and that they have not committed to their promise. Again attempts will be made to resolve the situation. Once more students will sign the "Pupil Behaviour Promise 2". This time this has to be signed by their parents. They are now advised that if they break this promise again , they will have a meeting with the principal and their parents in the office and could face suspension.
·
Parents
and pupils are required to co-operate with any investigations and assist the
school in resolving any issues and restoring, as far is practicable, the
relationships of the parties involved as quickly as possible.
·
Information
spoken about should not become available, so that the victim would not be
further tormented. (Need to know basis)
Stage 3
If a child breaks their promise twice then the matter is referred to the Principal. The Principal meets with the child and the parent. The child may be suspended for up to 3 days. The Principal has the permission of the Board of Management to suspend for up to 3 days.
Recording of incidents: All incidents will be logged by class teacher. Incidents which have not been adequately and appropriately addressed within 20 school days will be recorded by the class teacher on the recording template as in Appendix 3 (Anti bullying Procedures for Primary and Post -Primary Schools). This template will be completed in full and a copy given to the Deputy Principal and Principal. At least once every school term the Principal will provide a report to the BOM setting out the overall number of bullying cases reported by means of this template and confirmation that all cases are being dealt with in accordance with procedure.
7. The school's programme of support for working with pupils affected by bullying is as follows:
Victims
o Victims are reassured from the outset that they are not to blame.
o Strategies for restoring self-esteem are explored between teacher and parents/guardians.
o Where deemed necessary, the child in consultation with parents may be referred for counselling.
o Staged approach- class support, school support( as per Continuum -Behavioural, Emotional and Social difficulties- NEPS).
o Victims may be chosen for Drama Therapy sessions.
o The parents of the pupils concerned will be advised to contact the local Gardai if appropriate.
Bullies
o Where deemed necessary, the child in consultation with parents may be referred for counselling. They may need to learn other ways of meeting their needs without violating the rights of others. Empathy awareness needs to be developed.
o Bullies may be chosen for Drama Therapy sessions and personal development groups.
o Clinical referral and assessment may be necessary.
o Staged approach - class support, school support (as per Continuum-Behavioural, Emotional and Social Difficulties- NEPS)
·
Incidents
of bullying can extend beyond the school and the journey to and from school is
one which can provide particular opportunities for bullying to occur. The
school's policy may be given to those who are closely involved at this stage so
that if bullying behaviour is witnessed by them, that they may report it to the
school.
·
In
certain cases too it may be necessary to invite assistance from formal agencies
such as Gardai,(J.L.O) Health Board, Local Youth Groups etc.
·
The
school will constantly remind parents of the dangers of "cyber-
bullying" as can happen with the use of social networking sites and mobile
phones. We also direct their attention to the school's internet Acceptable Use
Policy (AUP).
The
school cannot be responsible for disagreements between pupils that happen
outside the school grounds but will make reasonable efforts to cooperate with
parents in assisting them to resolve the issues.
The
suggestions of The Cool School’s Programme developed by the North Eastern
Health Board will be implemented when working with both victims and bullies.
8. Supervision and Monitoring of pupils:
The BOM confirms that appropriate supervision and monitoring policies and practices are in place to both prevent and deal with bullying behaviour and to facilitate early intervention where possible.
9. Prevention of Harassment:
The BOM confirms that the school will, in accordance with its obligations under equality legislation, take all such steps that are reasonably practical to prevent the sexual harassment of pupils or staff or the harassment of pupils or staff on any of the nine grounds specified i.e. gender including transgender, civil status, family status, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, race and membership of the Travelling community.
10. Evaluation of the effectiveness of the policy:
The evaluation of the policy will happen on both an informal (through teacher observation) and formal basis (use of surveys and questionnaires).
Success Criteria:
8. Supervision and Monitoring of pupils:
The BOM confirms that appropriate supervision and monitoring policies and practices are in place to both prevent and deal with bullying behaviour and to facilitate early intervention where possible.
9. Prevention of Harassment:
The BOM confirms that the school will, in accordance with its obligations under equality legislation, take all such steps that are reasonably practical to prevent the sexual harassment of pupils or staff or the harassment of pupils or staff on any of the nine grounds specified i.e. gender including transgender, civil status, family status, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, race and membership of the Travelling community.
10. Evaluation of the effectiveness of the policy:
The evaluation of the policy will happen on both an informal (through teacher observation) and formal basis (use of surveys and questionnaires).
Success Criteria:
·
Positive
feedback from teachers, parents and pupils
·
Well-being
and happiness of the whole school community in the light of incidents of
bullying behaviour encountered and fewer problems in the yard.
·
Increase
in numbers of children reporting
11. This policy was adopted by the Board of Management on April 8th, 2014.
12. This policy has been made available to school personnel, published on the school website and provided to the Parent's Association. A copy of the policy will be made available to the Department and patron if requested.
13. This policy and its implementation will be reviewed by the BOM once in every school year. Written notification that the review has been completed will be made available to school personnel, published on the school website and provided to the Parent's association. A record of the review and its outcome will be made available, if requested, to the patron and to the Department.
Model respectful
behaviour to
all members
of the
school community at all times.
Explicitly teach pupils what respectful language and respectful behaviour looks like, acts like,
sounds like and feels
like in class and around the school.
Display key respect messages in classrooms, in assembly areas and around the school. Involve
pupils in the development of these
messages.
Catch them being good - notice and acknowledge desired respectful behaviour by providing positive
attention.
Consistently
tackle
the
use of discriminatory and derogatory
language in the school – this includes homophobic and racist language
and language that is belittling of pupils with
a disability or SEN.
Give
constructive feedback to pupils when respectful behaviour and respectful language are absent.
Have a system of encouragement and rewards to promote desired behaviour and compliance with
the school rules and routines.
Explicitly teach pupils about the appropriate use of social media.
Positively encourage pupils to comply with the school rules on mobile phone and internet use.
Follow up
and follow through
with pupils who
ignore the rules. Actively involve parents and/or the Parents’ Association in awareness raising campaigns around social media.
Actively promote the right of every member of the school community to be safe and secure in school.
Highlight and explicitly teach school rules in pupil friendly language in the classroom and in
common
areas.
All staff can actively watch out for signs of bullying behaviour.
Ensure there is adequate playground/school yard/outdoor supervision.
School staff can
get
pupils to help them to identify bullying “hot spots” and
“hot
times” for
bullying in the school.
Support the establishment and work of student councils.
Appendix 3 Template for
recording bullying behaviour
1. Name of pupil being bullied and class group
Name
_________________________________________Class__________________
2. Name(s) and class(es) of pupil(s) engaged in bullying
behaviour
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
|
|||||
3. Source of bullying concern/report (tick relevant box(es))*
|
4. Location of incidents (tick relevant box(es))*
|
||||
Pupil concerned
|
Playground
|
||||
Other Pupil
|
Classroom
|
||||
Parent
|
Corridor
|
||||
Teacher
|
Toilets
|
||||
Other
|
School Bus
|
||||
Other
|
|||||
5. Name of person(s) who reported the bullying concern
6. Type of Bullying Behaviour (tick relevant box(es)) *
Physical
Aggression
|
Cyber-bullying
|
||
Damage to
Property
|
Intimidation
|
||
Isolation/Exclusion
|
Malicious Gossip
|
||
Name Calling
|
Other (specify)
|
7. Where behaviour
is regarded as identity-based bullying, indicate the relevant category:
Homophobic
|
Disability/SEN
related
|
Racist
|
Membership of Traveller
community
|
Other (specify)
|
8. Brief Description of bullying behaviour and its impact
9. Details
of actions taken
Signed
______________________________ (Relevant Teacher) Date ___________________________
Date submitted to
Principal/Deputy Principal ___________________
* Note: The categories listed in the tables 3, 4 & 6 are
suggested and schools may add to or amend these to suit their own
circumstances.
Appendix 4 Checklist for annual review of the anti-bullying
policy and its
implementation
The Board of Management (the Board) must undertake
an annual review of the school’s anti-bullying policy and its implementation. The
following checklist must be used for this purpose. The checklist is an aid to
conducting this review and is not intended as an exhaustive list. In order to complete the checklist, an
examination and review involving both quantitative and qualitative analysis, as
appropriate across the various elements of the implementation of the school’s anti-bullying
policy will be required.
Yes /No
Has the Board formally adopted an anti-bullying
policy that fully complies with the requirements of the Anti-Bullying Procedures for Primary and Post-Primary Schools?
|
|
Has the Board published the policy on the school
website and provided a copy to the parents’ association?
|
|
Has the Board ensured that the policy has been made
available to school staff (including new staff)?
|
|
Is the Board satisfied that school staff are
sufficiently familiar with the policy and procedures to enable them to
effectively and consistently apply the policy and procedures in their day to
day work?
|
|
Has the Board ensured that the policy has been
adequately communicated to all pupils?
|
|
Has the policy documented the prevention and
education strategies that the school applies?
|
|
Have all of the prevention and education strategies
been implemented?
|
|
Has the effectiveness of the prevention and
education strategies that have been implemented been examined?
|
|
Is the Board satisfied that all teachers are
recording and dealing with incidents in accordance with the policy?
|
|
Has the Board received and minuted the periodic
summary reports of the Principal?
|
|
Has the Board discussed how well the school is
handling all reports of bullying including those addressed at an early stage
and not therefore included in the Principal’s periodic report to the Board?
|
|
Has the Board received any complaints from parents
regarding the school’s handling of bullying incidents?
|
|
Have any parents withdrawn their child from the
school citing dissatisfaction with the school’s handling of a bullying
situation?
|
|
Have any Ombudsman for Children investigations into
the school’s handling of a bullying case been initiated or completed?
|
|
Has the data available from cases reported to the
Principal (by the bullying recording template) been analysed to identify any
issues, trends or patterns in bullying behaviour?
|
|
Has the Board identified any aspects of the school’s
policy and/or its implementation that require further improvement?
|
|
Has the Board put in place an action plan to address
any areas for improvement?
|
Signed _____________________________________ Date ________________
Chairperson, Board of Management
Signed _____________________________________ Date ________________
Principal
Notification regarding
the Board of Management’s annual review of the anti-bullying policy
To: _____________________________________
The Board of Management of ____________________ wishes
to inform you that:
o The Board
of Management’s annual review of the school’s anti-bullying policy and its
implementation was completed at the Board meeting of _______________ [date].
o This review
was conducted in accordance with the checklist set out in Appendix 4 of the Department’s Anti-Bullying
Procedures for Primary and Post-Primary Schools.
Signed _____________________________________ Date ________________
Chairperson, Board of Management
Signed _____________________________________ Date ________________
Principal
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