Anti-bullying Policy
Drumgallagh
N.S.
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 Drumgallagh N.S.
School has adopted the following anti-bullying policy within the framework of
the school’s overall code of behaviour. This policy fully complies with the
requirements of the Anti-Bullying Procedures for Primary and Post-Primary
Schools which were published in September 2013.
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 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;
§ 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)
An Garda Síochána visit the school as an anti-bullying strategy
§ build
empathy, respect and resilience in pupils; and
§ explicitly
address the issues of cyber-bullying and identity-based bullying
§ Effective
supervision and monitoring of pupils;
§ Consistent
recording, investigation and follow up of bullying behaviour (including use of
established intervention strategies); and
§ On-going evaluation of the effectiveness of the anti-bullying
policy.
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 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
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.
The relevant teacher(s) for investigating and
dealing with bullying are as follows:
Mary Calvey
(Principal) Maura Kilbane (Deputy Principal) Elizabeth Mulloy (LS Teacher)
The education and prevention strategies
(including strategies specifically aimed at cyber- bullying and identity-based
bullying including in particular, homophobic and transphobic bullying) that
will be used by the school are as follows:
§ An
Garda Síochána visit the school annually as an anti-bullying strategy
§ The senior
class children accompanied by their parents attend RSE training with Cathal
Kearney over two nights and the area of cyber bullying is also addressed and
discussed
§ Through
drama classes the children can role play and have opportunities to develop a
positive sense of self-worth thus raising their self-esteem
§ All children
are included in annual school concerts and sports for all day to boost
self-confidence and to encourage personal development
§ The topic of
bullying is addressed in the whole school approach to the teaching of SPHE. The
Stay Safe programme is part of the school’s SPHE programme. This is a personal
safety skills programme which seeks to enhance children’s self-protection
skills including their ability to recognise and cope with bullying
§ The schools
SEN policy promotes inclusion and focuses on developing social skills
§ Our school’s
policy takes into account that prevention and awareness raising measures need
to be appropriate to the type of bullying and take into account the age and
gender of the pupils involved
§ Appropriate
supervision and monitoring policies and practices are in place to prevent and
deal with bullying behaviour i.e. children are supervised both inside and
outside school at all times during school hours (including staff supervision
rota) parents are notified at the start of each school year of the opening and
closing times of school so as to prevent children been left unsupervised
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:
§ Speak separately to the person who appears to be bullying, the
person who appears to be the victim and if possible somebody not directly
involved, but who saw what happened. It can be useful to get all those involved
to write an account of what happened. This is best done in private.
§ If the teacher considers the incident to be serious, it should be
written down on a bullying incident form and also reported to the deputy
principal/principal.
§ The deputy principal/principal should make contact with the
parents if they consider it necessary
§ The teacher should assure the person who has been the victim of
bullying of ongoing support with the encouragement to report back any further
attempts at intimidation
§ Speak to the bully and inform him/her firmly but in a
non-aggressive manner that such behaviour will not be tolerated. Remind him/her
of the existing anti-bullying code. Any other action should form part of the
over anti-bullying policy
§ The person who has been the victim of bullying should be kept
informed of all developments after the incident(s) have been reported and of
any further action that is going to ensure
§ Teacher should talk to colleagues, particularly when difficult
situations arise
§ The primary aim for the relevant 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);
§ 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;
§ All reports, including anonymous reports of bullying must be
investigated and dealt with by the relevant teacher. 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;
§ Non-teaching staff such as
secretaries, special needs assistants (SNAs), bus escorts, caretakers, cleaners
must be encouraged to report any incidents of bullying behaviour witnessed by
them, or mentioned to them, to the relevant teacher;
§ Parents 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;
§ It is very important that all involved (including each set of
pupils and parents) understand the above approach from the outset;
§ Teachers should take a calm, unemotional problem-solving approach
when dealing with incidents of alleged bullying behaviour reported by pupils,
staff or parents;
§ Incidents are generally best 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 they may face them from the other members of the group after
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 parents 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
parents an opportunity of discussing ways in which they can reinforce or
support the actions being taken by the school and the supports for their
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
parents) that in any situation where disciplinary sanctions are required, this
is a private matter between the pupil being disciplined, his or her parents and
the school;
§ 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. This can have a
therapeutic effect;
§ In cases where the relevant teacher considers that the bullying
behaviour has not been adequately and appropriately addressed within 20 school
days after he/she has determined that bullying behaviour has occurred, it must
be recorded by the relevant teacher in the recording template at Appendix 3
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;
and
§ Any feedback
received from the parties involved, their parents or the school Principal or
Deputy Principal;
§
Where a parent is not satisfied that the
school has dealt with a bullying case in accordance with these procedures, the
parents must be referred, as appropriate, to the school’s complaints
procedures;
In the event that a parent has exhausted the
school's complaints procedures and is still not satisfied, the school must
advise the parents of their right to make a complaint to the Ombudsman for
Children.
Procedures
for Recording Bullying Behaviour
The Board of Management must ensure that the
school has clear procedures for the formal noting and reporting of bullying
behaviour and these must be documented in the school’s anti-bullying policy.
All records must be maintained in accordance with relevant data protection
legislation. The school’s procedures for noting and reporting bullying
behaviour must adhere to the following:
(i)
While all reports, including anonymous reports of bullying must be
investigated and dealt with by the relevant teacher, the relevant teacher will
use his/her professional judgement in relation to the records to be kept of
these reports, the actions taken and any discussions with those involved
regarding same; 33
(ii)
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.
(iii)
The relevant teacher must use the recording
template at Appendix 3 to record the bullying behaviour in the following
circumstances:
Where the school has decided
as part of its anti-bullying policy that in certain circumstances bullying
behaviour must be recorded and reported immediately to the Principal or Deputy
Principal as applicable.
The
recording template at Appendix 3 must be completed in full and retained
by the teacher in question and a copy provided to the Principal or Deputy
Principal as applicable. It should also be noted that the timeline for
recording bullying behaviour in the recording template at Appendix 3 does
not in any way preclude the relevant teacher from consulting the Principal or
Deputy Principal at an earlier stage in relation to a case.
The school’s programme of support for working
with pupils affected by bullying is as follows
School authorities must ensure that the
school has clear procedures for investigating and dealing with bullying and
that these are set out in the school’s anti-bullying policy. The school’s
procedures must be consistent with the following:
§ inform all
school staff of any bullying incident
§ address the
area of bullying through SPHE whole class approaches
§ speak
discretely to the child involved i.e. the victim to see if the situation has
improved
§ follow up
call to parents to see if the situation has improved
§ follow up
meeting with the bully
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.
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.
This policy was adopted by the Board of Management
on 27/03/2014
This policy has been made available to school
personnel, and is readily accessible to parents and pupils on request. A copy
of this policy will be made available to the Department and the patron if
requested.
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, parents and pupils on request. A record of the review and its
outcome will be made available, if requested, to the patron and the Department.
Signed: Tom Butler Signed: Mary Calvey
(Chairperson of Board of Management)
(Principal)
Date:
Date of next
review: Annually
Notification
regarding the Board of Management’s annual review of the anti-bullying policy
To: Parent’s of Drumgallagh National School
The Board of
Management of Drumgallagh National School 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 16/05/2023
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: Tom Butler Date: 16th of May 2023
Chairperson, Board of Management
Signed: Mary Calvey Date: 16th May 2023
Principal
No comments:
Post a Comment