- 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 Pobalscoil Iosolde 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) 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.
- Effective supervision and monitoring of pupils;
- Supports for staff;
- 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 is (are) as follows: (see Section 6.8 of the Anti-Bullying Procedures for Primary and Post-Primary Schools):
The Year Head of the relevant year group(s) in conjunction with the chaplain and career guidance counsellor will investigate and deal with incidents of bullying behaviour
- 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 (see Section 6.5 of the Anti-Bullying Procedures for Primary and Post-Primary Schools):
The school mission statement instils respect for the individual, others and the environment, thus acting as a preventative measure towards bullying
A comprehensive transition programme insures students entering our school are equipped will all of the information and skills necessary to become part of our positive school community
The Code of Behaviour promotes good behaviour and provides sanctions for unacceptable behaviour
All staff, students and parents are provided with a copy of and are fully aware of the contents of the anti-bullying policy and procedures
Staff will be given training regarding all forms of bullying: How to prevent, recognise and deal with bullying behaviour
Outside agencies are used to provide relevant in-service/modules to staff, students and parents
School systems and practices such as the Year Head Tutor system promote good behaviour and a positive attitude towards school
The buddy programme provides students with positive role models and a means of confiding any bullying incidents, which can then be dealt with using agreed procedures
Within the teaching of all subjects teachers promote an attitude of respect for all
The Social Personal Health Programme delivered in our school provides modules relevant to bullying. These include all forms of bullying, a knowledge of what constitutes bullying, how to prevent bullying behaviour, measures to be taking when bullying behaviour occurs, how incidents of alleged bullying will be dealt with, and sanctions and interventions to be put in place.
Comprehensive supervision and monitoring measuring are in place to prevent and deal with bullying behaviour
- 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) :
All students and staff will be encouraged to report all bullying incidents
No bullying incident will be ignored
All bullying incidents will be recorded using the form for recording bullying behaviour
All reported incidents of bullying will be investigated
The primary aim of the investigating relevant teacher is to resolve any issue and restore, as far as is practicable, the relationships of the parties involved
Parents and pupils are required to co-operate with any investigation and assist the school in resolving any issues
Incidents will generally be investigated outside the classroom situation with due regard to the rights of all pupils involved
Pupils who are not directly involved may also be asked to provide useful information
When analysing incidents the relevant teacher will seek answers to who, what, when, where and why. It may be appropriate to ask those involved to write down their account of the incident(s)
If a group is involved, each member will be interviewed individually at first, followed by all those involved meet as a group if appropriate. Each member will be given the opportunity to give his/her account of what happened and supported thereafter
In cases where the relevant teacher has ascertained that bullying behaviour has occurred, the parents of the parties involved should be contacted to inform them of the matter and explain the actions being taken. Parents will be given the opportunity of discussing ways in which they can reinforce or support the actions being taken by the school and the supports for their pupils
The interventions, sanctions and measures put in place to ensure that there are no further incidents of bullying will be discussed with all relevant parties
Any situation where disciplinary sanction is required, this is a private matter between the pupil being disciplined, his or her parents and the school
Agreed measures will be monitored and reviewed to ensure that any unacceptable behaviour does not re-occur and students affected are being supported using the most appropriate intervention(s)
In cases where the relevant teacher considers that the bullying incident has not been resolved within 20 days after he/she has determined that bullying behaviour has occurred, it must be reported to the Deputy Principal/Principal with all relevant information, using the form for recording bullying behaviour. The Deputy Principal/Principal will consider what further action is appropriate in order to resolve any outstanding issues
Where a parent is not satisfied that the school has dealt with a bullying incident in accordance with the above procedures, the parents may request a meeting with the relevant Year Head, Deputy Principal/ Principal in an attempt to resolve the outstanding issues
If having exhausted the above procedures the parents remain dissatisfied with the outcome they may bring the matter to the Board of Management for their consideration
In the event that a parent has exhausted the school’s complaints procedure and is still not satisfied, the school will advise the parents of their right to make a complaint to the Ombudsman for Children
- The school’s programme of support for working with pupils affected by bullying is as follows (see Section 6.8 of the Anti-Bullying Procedures for Primary and Post-Primary Schools) :
Interventions will be put in place for all those affected by bullying.
Those affected include pupils who have been bullied, pupils involved in bullying behaviour and pupils who witness incidents of bullying behaviour
These will be predominantly provided by the chaplain/career guidance counsellor, to include counselling, activities at improving self-esteem, social skills, develop friendships and build resilience
The interventions will be discussed with all parties involved to ensure that the most appropriate measures are utilised to support the affected student(s)
- 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 ________________ [date].
- This policy has been made available to school personnel, published on the school website (or where none exists, is otherwise readily accessible to parents and pupils on request) and provided to the Parents’ Association (where one exists). 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, published on the school website (or where none exists, be otherwise readily accessible to parents and pupils on request) and provided to the Parents’ Association (where one exists). A record of the review and its outcome will be made available, if requested, to the patron and the Department.
Signed: ____________________________________ Signed: ___________________________
(Chairperson of Board of Management) (Principal)
Date: ______________ Date: __________________
Date of next review: _______________
- Name of pupil being bullied and class group
- Name(s) and class(es) of pupil(s) engaged in bullying behaviour
- Name of person(s) who reported the bullying concern
- Type of Bullying Behaviour (tick relevant box(es)) *
|Damage to Property||Intimidation|
|Name Calling||Other (specify)|
- Where behaviour is regarded as identity-based bullying, indicate the relevant category:
|Homophobic||Disability/SEN related||Racist||Membership of Traveller community||Other (specify)|
- Brief Description of bullying behaviour and its impact
Signed ______________________________ (Relevant Teacher) Date __________________
Date submitted to Principal/Deputy Principal