St. Conleth’s Infant school,
Newbridge,
Co.Kildare
Anti-Bullying Policy
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 St. Conleth’s Infant 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.
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 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 and
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) 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 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.
4. 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 :
Three Important rules will be taught
Say No 2. Move Away 3. Tell a Trusted Adult
Learning strategies should allow for the enhancement of each pupils self-worth- Stay Safe Programme, Circle Time, R.S.E.
The children do not have access to mobile phones or email and Internet Usage is only with teacher supervision
5. 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 :
Calm, unemotional problem-solving approach
Incidents best investigated outside the classroom situation
Teacher should speak separately to the pupils involved.
Answers should be sought to questions of What, Where, When, Who and Why.
Members of a gang should be met individually and as a group
Meet parents of parties involved to seek a solution.
If bullying continues, the matter will be brought to the attention of Board of Management.
A delegation from the Board of Management (usually Chairperson and Principal) will meet with both sets of Parents/Guardians separately. Invitations to this meeting will be sent to Parents/Guardians in writing and a copy of the letter will be kept in the school records
The incidence of bullying will be discussed at the meeting and possible resolutions will be put forward and with the co-operation of Parents/Guardians these resolutions will be put in place. The situation will be monitored on an on-going basis to ensure a positive outcome. Failure to resolve the problem will result in the matter being referred back to the Board of Management. Minutes of the meeting will be kept in the school records.
7. The school’s programme of support for working with pupils affected by bullying is as follows
Class lessons designed to raise their self -esteem and to develop their friendships and social skills
Counselling
Rainbows
Play Therapy
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 26/11/13.
11. This policy has been made available to school personnel, 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: Pat Lonergan Signed:_Margaret Harnett
(Chairperson of Board of Management) (Principal)
Date: __26/11/13