Anti-bullying Policy

Anti-Bullying Policy

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 of Citywest Educate Together National School has adopted the following anti-bullying policy within the framework of the school’s overall Code of Conduct. This 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 Board of Management 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 of best practice in preventing and tackling bullying behaviour:
(a) A positive school culture and climate which

is welcoming of difference and diversity and is based on inclusivity;
encourages pupils to disclose and discuss incidents of bullying behaviour in a non-threatening environment; and
promotes respectful relationships across the school community;

(b) Effective leadership
(c) A school-wide approach
(d) A shared understanding of what bullying is and its impact
(e) Implementation of education and prevention strategies (including awareness raising measures) that-

build empathy, respect and resilience in pupils; and
explicitly address the issues of cyber-bullying and identity-based bullying including in particular, homophobic and transphobic bullying;

(f) Effective supervision and monitoring of pupils
(g) Supports for staff
(h) Consistent recording, investigation and follow up of bullying behaviour (including use of established intervention strategies); and
(i) 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 follows:
Bullying is unwanted negative behaviour, verbal, psychological or physical conducted, 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 and
identity-based bullying such as homophobic bullying, racist bullying, bullying based on a person’s membership of the Traveller community and bullying of those with disabilities or additional 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 should be dealt with, as appropriate, 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.
Additional information on different types of bullying is set out in Section 2 of the Anti-Bullying Procedures for Primary and Post-Primary Schools.

Examples of bullying behaviours

General  behaviours which apply to all types of bullying

Harassment based on any of the nine grounds in the equality legislation e.g. sexual harassment, homophobic bullying, racist bullying etc.
Physical aggression
Damage to property
Name calling
Slagging
The production, display or circulation of written words, pictures or other materials aimed at intimidating another person
Offensive graffiti
Extortion
Intimidation
Insulting or offensive gestures
The “look”
Invasion of personal space
A combination of any of the types listed.

Cyber

Denigration: Spreading rumors, lies or gossip to hurt a person’s reputation
Harassment: Continually sending vicious, mean or disturbing messages to an individual
Impersonation: Posting offensive or aggressive messages under another person’s name
Flaming: Using inflammatory or vulgar words to provoke an online fight
Trickery: Fooling someone into sharing personal information which you then post online
Outing: Posting or sharing confidential or compromising information or images
Exclusion: Purposefully excluding someone from an online group
Cyber stalking: Ongoing harassment and denigration that causes a person considerable fear for his/her safety
Silent telephone/mobile phone call
Abusive telephone/mobile phone calls
Abusive text messages
Abusive email
Abusive communication on social networks e.g. Facebook/Ask.fm/ Twitter/You Tube or on games consoles
Abusive website comments/Blogs/Pictures
Abusive posts on any form of communication technology

Identity Based Behaviours
Including any of the nine discriminatory grounds mentioned in Equality Legislation (gender including transgender, civil status, family status, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, race and membership of the Traveller community).



Homophobic and Transgender

Spreading rumours about a person’s sexual orientation
Taunting a person of a different sexual orientation
Name calling e.g. Gay, queer, lesbian...used in a derogatory manner
Physical intimidation or attacks
Threats

Race, nationality, ethnic background and membership of the Traveller community

Discrimination, prejudice, comments or insults about colour, nationality, culture, social class, religious beliefs, ethnic or traveller background
Exclusion on the basis of any of the above

Relational

This involves manipulating relationships as a means of bullying. Behaviours include:

Malicious gossip
Isolation & exclusion
Ignoring
Excluding from the group
Taking someone’s friends away
“Bitching”
Spreading rumours
Breaking confidence
Talking loud enough so that the victim can hear
The “look”
Use or terminology such as ‘nerd’ in a derogatory way

Sexual

Unwelcome or inappropriate sexual comments or touching
Harassment

Additional Educational Needs,
Disability

Name calling
Taunting others because of their disability or learning needs
Taking advantage of some pupils’ vulnerabilities and limited capacity to recognise and defend themselves against bullying
Taking advantage of some pupils’ vulnerabilities and limited capacity to understand social situations and social cues.
Mimicking a person’s disability
Setting others up for ridicule

4. The relevant teacher(s) for investigating and dealing with bullying is (are) as follows:
Principal and all teachers
Any teacher may act as a relevant teacher if circumstances warrant it.

5. The education and prevention strategies (including strategies specifically aimed at cyber-
bullying, homophobic and transphobic bullying) that will be used by the school are as follows (see Section 6.5 of the Anti-Bullying Procedures for Primary and Post-Primary Schools):

School-wide approach

A school-wide approach to the fostering of respect for all members of the school community.
The promotion of the value of diversity to address issues of prejudice and stereotyping, and highlight the unacceptability of bullying behaviour.
The fostering and enhancing of the self-esteem of all our pupils through both curricular and extracurricular activities. Pupils will be provided with opportunities to develop a positive sense of self-worth through formal and informal interactions.
Whole staff professional development on bullying to ensure that all staff develops an awareness of what bullying is, how it impacts on pupils’ lives and the need to respond to it-prevention and intervention.

An annual audit of professional development needs with a view to assessing staff requirements through internal staff knowledge/expertise and external sources
Professional development with specific focus on the training of the relevant teacher(s)
School wide awareness raising and training on all aspects of bullying, to include pupils, parent(s)/guardian(s) and the wider school community.
Supervision and monitoring of classrooms, corridors, school grounds, school tours and extra- curricular activities. Non-teaching and ancillary staff will be encouraged to be vigilant and report issues to relevant teachers. Supervision will also apply to monitoring student use of communication technology within the school.
Development and promotion of an Anti-Bullying code for the school-to displayed publicly in classrooms and in common areas of the school.

The school’s anti-bullying policy is discussed with pupils and all parent(s)/guardian(s) are informed about all school policies and their availability upon enrolment. It is the responsibility of parents and guardians to familiarise themselves with all policies.
The implementation of an annual whole-school anti-bullying awareness campaign will be organised by the relevant teacher. This will include the promotion of friendship and bullying prevention.
Encourage a culture of telling, with particular emphasis on the importance of bystanders. In that way pupils will gain confidence in ‘telling’. This confidence factor is of vital importance. It should be made clear to all pupils that when they report incidents of bullying they are not considered to be telling tales but are behaving responsibly.
Ensuring that pupils know who to tell and how to tell, e.g.:
Direct approach to teacher at an appropriate time, for example after class.

Hand note up with homework.
Make a phone call to the school or to a trusted teacher in the school.
Anti-bully or Niggle box
Get a parent(s)/guardian(s) or friend to tell on your behalf.
Tell if they witness or know that bullying is taking place.

Identify clear protocols to encourage parent(s)/guardian(s) to approach the school if they suspect that their child is being bullied - see protocol below.
The development of an Acceptable Use Policy in the school to include the necessary steps to ensure that the access to technology within the school is strictly monitored, as is the pupils’ use of mobile phones. This policy will be in place by June 2017.
The listing of supports currently being used in the school and the identification of other supports available to the school e.g. GLEN www.glen.ie, BeLonGTo www.belongto.org. This list will be in place by May 2017.

Implementation of curricula

The full implementation of the SPHE curricula and the RSE and Stay Safe Programmes.

Continuous Professional Development for staff in delivering these programmes, if available.
School wide delivery of lessons on anti-bullying from evidence based programmes, e.g. Cool School Lessons, #UP2US, Stay Safe Programme, The Walk Tall Programme, On My Own Two Feet.
School wide delivery of lessons on Relational aggression (Cool School Programme: A Friend in Deed), Cyber Bullying (#UP2US, Be Safe-Be Web wise, Think Before you Click, Let’s Fight it Together, Web wise Primary teachers’ resources), Homophobic and Transphobic Bullying (Growing up LGBT, Stand Up Programme, The Trust pack )Diversity and Interculturalism, Yellow Flag Programme. The school should list every resource related to the SPHE curriculum, and make a list of supports. This list will be in place by May 2017.
The school will specifically consider the additional needs of SEN pupils with regard to programme implementation and the development of skills and strategies to enable all pupils to respond appropriately.
The school will implement the advice in “Sexual Orientation advice for schools” (RSE Primary, see booklet).

Links to other policies

This policy is part of our Code of Conduct and should be read in conjunction with all Code of Conduct policies.
Child Protection policy
Acceptable Use policy

6. The school’s procedures for investigation, follow-up and recording of bullying behaviour and the established intervention strategies used by the school for dealing with cases of bullying  behaviour are as follows (see Section 6.8 of the Anti-Bullying Procedures for Primary and Post-Primary Schools):
The primary aim 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);
The school’s procedures must be consistent with the following approach.
Every effort will be made to ensure that all involved (including pupils, parent(s) and guardian(s)) understand this approach from the outset.

Reporting bullying behaviour

Any pupil or parent(s)/guardian(s) may bring a bullying incident to any teacher in the school.
All reports, including anonymous reports of bullying, will be investigated and dealt with by the relevant teacher.
Teaching and non-teaching staff such as secretaries, special needs assistants (SNAs), bus escorts, caretakers, cleaners must report any incidents of bullying behaviour witnessed by them, or mentioned to them, to the relevant teacher;

Investigating and dealing with incidents: Style of approach

In investigating and dealing with bullying, the teacher will exercise his/her professional judgement to determine whether bullying has occurred and how best the situation might be resolved;
Parent(s)/guardian(s) and pupils are required to co-operate with any investigation and assist the school in resolving any issues and restoring, as far as is practicable, the relationships of the parties involved as quickly as possible;
Teachers should take a calm, unemotional problem-solving approach.
Where possible incidents should be investigated outside the classroom situation to ensure the privacy of all involved;

All interviews should be conducted with sensitivity and with due regard to the rights of all pupils concerned. Pupils who are not directly involved can also provide very useful information in this way;
When analysing incidents of bullying behaviour, the relevant teacher should seek answers to questions of what, where, when, who and why. This should be done in a calm manner, setting an example in dealing effectively with a conflict in a non-aggressive manner;
If a group is involved, each member should be interviewed individually at first. Thereafter, all those involved should be met as a group. At the group meeting, each member should be asked for his/her account of what happened to ensure that everyone in the group is clear about each other’s statements;
Each member of a group should be supported through the possible pressures that may face them from the other members of the group after the interview by the teacher;

It may also be appropriate or helpful to ask those involved to write down their account of the incident(s)

In cases where it has been determined by the relevant teacher that bullying behaviour has occurred, the parent(s)/guardian(s) of the parties involved should be contacted at an early stage to inform them of the matter and explain the actions being taken (by reference to the school policy). The school should give parent(s)/guardian(s) an opportunity of discussing ways in which they can reinforce or support the actions being taken by the school and the supports provided to the pupils;
Where the relevant teacher has determined that a pupil has been engaged in bullying behaviour, it should be made clear to him/her how he/she is in breach of the school’s anti-bullying policy and efforts should be made to try to get him/her to see the situation from the perspective of the pupil being bullied;
It must also be made clear to all involved (each set of pupils and parent(s)/guardian(s)) that in any situation where disciplinary sanctions are required, this is a private matter between the pupil being disciplined, his or her parent(s)/guardian(s) and the school;

Follow up and recording

In determining whether a bullying case has been adequately and appropriately addressed the relevant teacher must, as part of his/her professional judgement, take the following factors into account:

- Whether the bullying behaviour has ceased;
- Whether any issues between the parties have been resolved as far as is practicable;
- Whether the relationships between the parties have been restored as far as is practicable;
- Any feedback received from the parties involved, their parent(s)/guardian(s)s or the school Principal or Deputy Principal

Follow-up meetings with the relevant parties involved should be arranged separately with a view to possibly bringing them together at a later date if the pupil who has been bullied is ready and agreeable.

Where a parent(s)/guardian(s) is not satisfied that the school has dealt with a bullying case in accordance with these procedures, the parent(s)/guardian(s) must be referred, as appropriate, to the school’s complaints procedures.
In the event that a parent(s)/guardian(s) has exhausted the school's complaints procedures and is still not satisfied, the school must advise the parent(s)/guardian(s) of their right to make a complaint to the Ombudsman for Children.

Recording of bullying behaviour
It is imperative that all recording of bullying incidents must be done in an objective and factual manner.
The school’s procedures for noting and reporting bullying behaviour are as follows:
       Informal pre-determination that bullying has occurred
All staff must keep a written record of any incidents witnessed by them or notified to them. Consideration needs to be given to where the records will be made e.g. incident book. All incidents must be reported to the relevant teacher
While all reports, including anonymous reports of bullying must be investigated and dealt with by the relevant teacher, the relevant teacher must keep a written record of the reports, the actions taken and any discussions with those involved regarding same
The relevant teacher must inform the principal of all incidents being investigated.
Formal Stage 1-determination that bullying has occurred
If it is established by the relevant teacher that bullying has occurred, the relevant teacher must keep appropriate written records which will assist his/her efforts to resolve the issues and restore, as far as is practicable, the relationships of the parties involved.
The school in consultation with the relevant teacher/s should develop a protocol for the storage of all records retained by the relevant teacher.
        Formal Stage 2-Appendix 3 (From DES Procedures)
The relevant teacher must use the recording template at Appendix 3 to record the bullying behaviour in the following circumstances:

a) in cases where he/she considers that the bullying behaviour has not been adequately and appropriately addressed within 20 school days after he/she has determined that bullying behaviour occurred; and
b) In certain circumstances, bullying behaviour must be recorded and reported immediately to the Principal or Deputy Principal as applicable. These circumstances will be listed by February 2015. In the meantime, all behaviour deemed all bullying must be reported to the Principal or Deputy Principal.
When the recording template is used, it must be retained by the relevant teacher in question and a copy maintained by the principal. Due consideration needs to be given to where these records are kept, who has access to them, and how long they will be retained. Decisions around record keeping will be noted in this policy by November 2017. In the meantime, the Principal, Deputy Principal and/or relevant teacher will maintain records and allow access as appropriate.
Established intervention strategies
Teacher interviews with all pupils
Negotiating agreements between pupils and following these up by monitoring progress. This can be on an informal basis or implemented through a more structured mediation process
Working with parent(s)/guardian(s)s to support school interventions
No Blame Approach
Circle Time
Restorative interviews
Restorative conferencing
Implementing sociogram questionnaires
Peer mediation where suitable training has been given
The Procedures mention the following intervention strategies and reference Ken Rigby;
www.bullyingawarenessweek.org/pdf/BullyingPreventionStrategiesinSchools Ken Rigby.pdfhttp://www.bullyingawarenessweek.org/pdf/BullyingPreventionStrategiesinSchools%20Ken%20Rigby.pdf
The traditional disciplinary approach
Strengthening the victim
Mediation
Restorative Practice
The Support Group Method
The Method of Shared Concern
7. The school’s programme of support for working with pupils affected by bullying is as follows
(see Section 6.8.16 of the Anti-Bullying Procedures for Primary and Post-Primary Schools) :
All in-school supports and opportunities will be provided for the pupils affected by bullying to participate in activities designed to raise their self-esteem, to develop friendships and social skills and build resilience e.g.
         - Buddy / Peer mentoring system
                     - Care team / Student Support Team
                     - Group work such as circle time
If pupils require counselling or further supports, the school will endeavour to liaise with the appropriate agencies to organise same. This may be for the pupil affected by bullying or involved in the bullying behaviour.
Pupils should understand that there are no innocent bystanders and that all incidents of bullying behaviour must be reported to a teacher.
8. Supervision and Monitoring of Pupils
The Board of Management 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 Board of Management confirms that the school will, in accordance with its obligations under equality legislation, take all such steps that are reasonably practicable 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 Traveller community.

10. This policy was adopted by the Board of Management on 24th October 2017.

11. This policy has been made available to school personnel, published on the school website and provided to the Parents’ Association. A copy of this policy will be made available to the Department and the patron if requested.

12. This policy and its implementation will be reviewed by the Board of Management 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 Parents’ Association. A record of the review and its outcome will be made available, if requested, to the patron and the Department.

Signed: _________________________ Chairperson of Board of Management
Date: __________________________
Signed: __________________________ Principal
Date: __________________________

Date of next review: October 2018

Aspects of theAnti-Bullying Policy that were identified as requiring improvement at the last review – report:
1. Buddy system for new school staff to be rolled out for staff who commence work with us during the school year
2. Buddies in the staff buddy system to be specifically instructed to communicate the school's anti-bullying policy to new school personnel
3. Anti-bullying training to be provided for all school staff
4. Checklist for class teachers to be developed to ensure that the policy has been communicated to all pupils
5. Checklist to be developed to ensure that prevention and education strategies have been implemented each year.
6. Review of the effectiveness of the strategies to be developed
7. Specific filing system to be established in relation to child protection
8. Folder containing Board minutes to be set up and presented to each Board meeting
9. System to be set up to evaluate 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 and also to analyse the data available from cases reported to the Principal to identify any issues, trends or patterns in bullying behaviour
10. Parents' Association to be provided with the school's anti-bullying policy
Action Plan

Item Number  - Person responsible  - To be completed by  - Completed

1  - Caitriona and Claire  - August 2017   - Yes
2  - Caitriona and Claire  - August 2017 - Yes
3  - Caitriona  - October 2017  - Some, not all
4  - Caitriona   - August 2017  - No
5  - Caitriona  - January 2017  - No
6  - Caitriona  - June 2017  - Case-by-case and strategy-by-strategy, not a formal review
7  - Caitriona  - January 2017  - Yes
8  - Caitriona and Austin  - January 2017  - Yes, using Sharepoint
9  - Caitriona and Austin  - October 2017  - No
10  - Caitriona and Austin - January 2017  - Yes

Aspects of the Anti-Bullying Policy that require improvement between October 2017 and October 2018
1. Anti-bullying training to be provided for all school staff
2. Checklist for class teachers to be developed to ensure that the policy has been communicated to all pupils
3. Checklist to be developed to ensure that prevention and education strategies have been implemented each year.
4. Keep a written record of any review of the effectiveness of strategies
5. System to be set up to evaluate 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 and also to analyse the data available from cases reported to the Principal to identify any issues, trends or patterns in bullying behaviour
6. Update the school website to include most up-to-date Anti-Bullying policy
7. Create a procedure for seating survey practice
8. Undertake weekly seating surveys with sample classes
9. Board to discuss how well the school is handling all reports of bullying including those addressed at an early stage
Action Plan
Item Number  - Person responsible  - To be completed by  - Completed

1  - Caitriona  - September 2018
2  - Caitriona and Aisling - March 2018
3  - Caitriona and Aisling - March 2018

4  - Caitriona   - November 2017
5  - Caitriona and Austin - January 2018
6  - Caitriona  - November 2017
7 - Caitriona and staff members - December 2017
8 - Staff members - March 2018
9 - Austin and Caitriona - January 2018