Scoil Mhuire Anti Bullying Policy November 2023
Introduction
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 Scoil Mhuire 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 and was ratified by the Board in November 2023.
Contents
1. This Policy is Fully Compliant
2. Key Principles of Best Practice
3. What is Bullying – Our Definition
4. Who is Responsible For Doing What
5. Our Strategies for Education and Prevention
6. Our Procedures re Bullying Behaviour
7. Our Programme of Support for Pupils
8. Cyber Bullying and Key Measures
9. What the Board of Management Confirms
10. The School Will Act To Stop Any Harassment
11. When The Board Approved This Policy
12. Where You Can Find This Policy
13. How We’ll Review This Policy
1. Full Compliance
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 Scoil Mhuire 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.
2. Key Principles of Best Practice
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:
o is welcoming of difference and diversity and is based on inclusivity;
o encourages pupils to disclose and discuss incidents of
bullying behaviour in a non-threatening environment;
o 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:
o build empathy, respect and resilience in pupils; and
o 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)
∙ On-going evaluation of the effectiveness of the anti-bullying policy.
3. The Definition of Bullying
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, extortion, isolation, and persistent name calling,
∙ cyber bullying
∙ 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 our 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.
4. Who Is Responsible For Doing What
The Principal will ensure that all staff (teachers and SNA’s) are familiar with this policy.
During the 1st term of every academic year the Principal will set up a review group to review this policy. For 2023/24 this group is the Principal, Conor Egan, Jade Morris and Karen Nugent.
The relevant teacher(s) for investigating and dealing with bullying allegations are as follows:
∙ The relevant class teacher and / or the relevant teacher on yard duty with the assistance of an SNA(s) is necessary.
5. Our Strategies for Education and Prevention. (see section 6.5 of the Anti-Bullying Procedures for Primary and Post Primary Schools for further details)
A schoolwide approach (involving school management, staff, parents and pupils) to deal with the problem of bullying behaviour is a key element of effective practice. Bullying behaviour affects not only those immediately involved. It can affect everyone in the classroom, in the school and ultimately, in the wider community.
The school, as appropriate, will seek to involve and receive support from the other partners in community education i.e. those members of the wider community who come directly in daily contact with pupils. This could include the wider parent body, the Parents’ Association, traffic wardens, ancillary staff, local shopkeepers and local library staff. In certain cases, however, it may be necessary for the school to seek the assistance of other local persons and formal agencies such as NEPS, HSE social workers, community workers, Gardaí, local sports organisations etc.
- The school’s anti-bullying code (see appendix 1) will be displayed in every class from 2nd up and in public areas. This can be referred to by class teachers regularly throughout the school year.
- Emphasis throughout the school on nurturing children’s talents through provision of a diverse range of curricular and extra-curricular opportunities and pursuits.
- Positive reinforcement of participation and achievements through the year e.g. displays. Posting on website and general recognition. Emphasis on generating positive self-worth through formal and informal interactions.
- School-wide awareness raising on all aspects of bullying, to include pupils, parents/guardians and the wider school community. Such school-wide awareness raising may include, for example: reference to positive behaviour and relevant strategies via school newsletters / website / meetings; occasional displays; occasional guest speaker (e.g. Garda talk on cyber-bullying and internet safety); Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for staff; discussions with children at Assembly time in class and on an informal occasional basis. This list is neither exhaustive nor prescriptive – school-wide awareness raising will take a variety of forms as opportunities and needs present themselves, and as time and resources permit, bearing in mind the overall priorities and resources of the school as they evolve.
- Twice a year the children from 2nd to 6th will complete an anonymous online survey to ascertain the level of bullying in the school, if any.
- On an annual basis, parents are reminded of the following: the importance of parental supervision re their child/rens use of social media; the minimum age for children using Social Media platforms is currently 13 years of age; the importance of familiarising themselves with anti-bullying material/information made available by the school – this may include websites, emails or talks, depending on available resources and opportunities.
- Supervision and monitoring of classrooms, corridors and school in general, school tours and extracurricular activities. Non-teaching , ancillary and support staff will be made aware of this policy and will be expected to report issues to relevant teachers.
- The school’s anti-bullying policy is drawn to the attention of children (in an age appropriate way) and parents each year. It is also circulated to parents of incoming pupils and is available on the school website.
- A culture of telling, which includes emphasis on the importance of bystanders, is promoted. This culture is reinforced by teachers through the SPHE programme. Through encouraging this culture of telling, pupils will gain confidence in “telling”. The confidence factor is of vital importance. It is made clear to all pupils that when they report incidents of bullying they are not considered to be telling tales but are behaving responsibly.
- Simple and age-appropriate restorative practice procedures are drawn on in resolving conflicts e.g. yard incidents.
- Ensuring that pupils know who to tell and how to tell, e.g.: speaking directly to a teacher or SNA, getting a parent to tell on their behalf, ensure that bystanders understand the importance of telling if they witness or know that bullying is taking place or using a worry box if appropriate.
- Focus on building self-esteem, resilience, overall emotional wellbeing, self-respect and respect for others through the three strands of Social & Personal Health Education (SPHE) programme Me; Myself and Others; Myself and the Wider World. Supporting this through the routine dealings of the school.
- Teachers may use other elements of the Primary Curriculum, such as Drama, to explore themes related to bullying/ anti-bullying.
- Implementation of the Stay Safe Programme in all classes each year.
- Clear protocols around in-school usage of internet, mobile phones and ICT in general – refer to our Internet Acceptable Usage Policy (AUP) – including an emphasis on careful monitoring of access to technology within the school.
- Internet safety guidance and tips for parents.
- Inclusive approach re Special Educational Needs. Strong emphasis on an atmosphere of mutual respect.
- Supplementary programmes may be used with children with SEN – according to need e.g social stories, “Friends for Life”. The school will specifically consider the additional needs of pupils with SEN with regard to programme implementation and development of skills and strategies to enable all pupils to respond appropriately.
- A bank of anti-bullying resources is retained and developed in the school for teacher use in preventing bullying and addressing it.
- Child Protection procedures are adhered to in the school – refer to our school’s Child Protection Policy – available at www.scoilmhuire.ie
6. Our Procedures Re 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:
a. Since the failure to report bullying can lead to a continuation or a deterioration of bullying, the school and parents encourage children to disclose and discuss incidents of bullying behaviour. This can be with the class teacher, the teacher on yard duty at the time, Special Needs Assistants, and the principal or with parents. This is a “telling school” as defined in the Stay Safe Programme. Children will therefore be constantly assured that their reports of bullying either for themselves or peers will be treated with
sensitivity.
b. An allegation of bullying behaviour will be noted and recorded by the class teacher or the teacher on duty/yard duty, using the green template form (appendix 2) which is available on the staffroom noticeboard.
c. The allegation will be investigated – what, who, when, where, why?
d. An effort will be made to resolve any issues and to restore as far as practicable, the relationships.
e. The teacher will conduct an investigation into the bullying allegation. He / she will then consult with the Principal / Deputy Principal / bullying review group to determine whether bullying has occurred and as to how it can be resolved. At this point the green form (Appendix 2) will have been completed by the class teacher.
f. Parents and pupils are required to cooperate with any investigation.
g. The principal / deputy principal will then speak with the class and conduct a questionnaire using the ABC (Anti Bullying Campaign) resources. This is used as a part of the investigation process.
h. If a group is involved, they will be met both individually and as a group. Each member will be asked for his/her account of what happened to ensure that everyone is clear about what everyone else has said.
i. Pupils who are not directly involved can also provide very useful information in this way, and will be expected to assist the investigation.
Children should understand there are no innocent bystanders where bullying is concerned.
J. Incidents of bullying, or a pattern of bullying behaviour which has in the opinion of the teacher after an investigation been proven and hasn’t been adequately or appropriately resolved within 20 school days will then be recorded on the DES template (appendix 3) and shall be reported to the principal / deputy principal. The teacher will also use the DES recording template where he/she considers the bullying behaviour to constitute serious misconduct.
k. The child against whom the allegation has been made will be asked to reflect on his/her behaviour and its consequences for himself/herself and for the person who is the victim.
l. Parents will be made aware of this behaviour and requested to come and discuss it with the teacher/principal with a view to solving the problem. If necessary the child against whom the allegation has been made will be asked to sign an undertaking that “this behaviour will not reoccur.”
m. The situation will continue to be monitored to ensure that the problem has been resolved. Actions taken will be recorded in a template for recording anti- bullying behaviour.Records will be reviewed and analysed.
n. The code of behaviour will be invoked in circumstances where it is deemed prudent by the relevant teacher and school principal.
o. If a case remains unresolved the matter will be referred to the school’s Board of Management. The Board will also be briefed in relation to the number, if any, of templates which have been completed.
p. 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;
q. 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.
7. The School’s Programme of Support
The school’s Programme of Support for working with pupils affected by bullying is as follows:
1. Regular reference to the Shield Statements (Anti Bullying Statement)….during class lessons and assemblies.
2. Circle time.
3. Friends for Life programme
4. Our support teachers will facilitate self-esteem building with a pupil if needed. Work with small groups will also be facilitated.
5. Through the means of curricular and extracurricular activities (e.g. representing the school through sports, concerts, choirs etc) to develop positive self worth.
6. Developing pupil’s awareness of identity-based bullying and in particular trans-phobic bullying, i.e. the “Growing Up” lesson in SPHE. Particular account will also be taken of the important role pupils with Special Educational Needs have to play. 7.
8. Cyber Bullying
Cyber bullying includes (but is not limited to) communicating via electronic means with the objective of causing hurt, fear,
embarrassment, humiliation, alarm and/or distress to one or more persons, or being reckless as to whether or not such harm could occur.
Cyber bullying includes the use of mobile phones and the internet with the objective of upsetting someone.
It may take the form of general insults or impersonation, defamation or prejudice-based bullying.
Unlike other forms of bullying a once-off posting can constitute bullying.
While this policy addresses issues related to cyber bullying of students (i.e. situations in which one or more students are the victim[s] of bullying), the policy also applies to teaching and other school staff.
This policy applies to activities and events which include but are not limited to the following:
∙ During school time (including break times)
∙ Going to and from school
∙ School tours/trips
∙ Extra-curricular activities
- Activities outside of the school which might have a negative effect on the wellbeing of any pupil
Key Measures re Cyber Bullying
∙ A speaker will be invited annually into the 3rd to 6th classes to inform the children about the dangers of reckless online activity and in particular about cyber bullying.
∙ A code of advice will be developed, periodically reviewed, and communicated to help students protect themselves from being involved in bullying (as perpetrator or as victim) and to advise them on reporting any incidents.
∙ Students will be informed about cyber bullying in the course of their education at the school.
∙ Lessons on cyber bullying on an age appropriate level will be taught by teachers
∙ Parents will on a biennial basis be invited to a talk on cyber bullying.
∙ Parents will be provided with information and advice on cyber bullying.
∙ Parents and students are advised that the digital age of consent in Ireland is 16.
∙ Teachers will investigate record and report all incidents of cyber bullying.
∙ Scoil Mhuire endeavours to block access to inappropriate web sites, using firewalls, antivirus protection and filtering systems and no pupil is allowed to work on the Internet without a member of staff present.
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. Date This Policy Was Adopted
This policy was updated by staff in November 2023. The parents were emailed a copy of the policy for their views also. It is due for ratification at the Board meeting in November 2023:
Date: ________________
12. Availability of This Policy
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.
13. Review of This Policy
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: ____________________ Signed: ___________________________ (Chairperson of Board of Management) (Principal)
Date: ______________________ Date: ____________________________
Appendix (1): Scoil Mhuire Anti Bullying Code
Our Child-Friendly Version of our anti – Bullying Statements
- Bullying can happen, anywhere.
- We at Scoil Mhuire have thought about this. We have a plan to limit and stop bullying. Our plan is on our website.
- We do what we say in our plan. We work together to stop bullying. We make a record of bullying events. Every now and again we try to improve our plan.
- Scoil Mhuire’s students, parents, staff, and community shared ideas to create the plan, and will keep talking together to make sure the plan works.
- We at Scoil Mhuire love and appreciate that we’re all different and equal.
- We all – staff and students – keep our eyes and ears open for bullying and we take action to stop it.
- We all – staff and students – keep learning how best to respond to bullying. We must keep trying to improve.
- In class we talk about bullying with the whole class at least once a term. We also learn about how to deal with situations through SPHE. We look for the good in everyone. We aim to build each other up and never knock anyone down.
- Any child at Scoil Mhuire can talk to a trusted adult at Scoil Mhuire about their feelings and worries. Adults will listen to and support every child.
- All children including bystanders can report any bullying behaviour to any adult at Scoil Mhuire
Appendix (2): Allegation of Bullying Report Form
Allegation of bullying, or initial suspicion of bullying (an isolated incident or more, which could lead into bullying)
| Date of first report | |
| Name of person reporting | |
| Name of alleged victim | |
| Class | |
| Name of alleged aggressor | |
| Class | |
| Nature of harassment | |
| Details of particular incidents | |
| Has anything like this happened before? | |
| Outcome of conversation |
Signed Date
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 4. Location of incidents Tick Relevant Box(es) (Tick relevant box)(es)
| Pupil Concerned | |
| Other Pupil | |
| Parent | |
| Teacher | |
| Other |
Playground | |
| Classroom | |
| Corridor | |
| Toilets | |
| 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 action taken
Signed: _________________________ (Relevant Teacher) Date: ___________________ Date Submitted to Principal/ Deputy Principal: _____________________________
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