5 ways to take on bullying
The government and anti-bullying charities are very clear that the best schools are those that take decisive action to prevent and respond to bullying - not the schools that say ‘we have no bullying here’.
The start of a term and a new year is a good opportunity to relaunch your school approach to tackling bullying. This guest article from our partners at the anti-bullying charity Kidscape, looks at ways to do just that.
Take the bull by the horns and in the long run you will see a positive change in culture and behaviour, and be spared hours and hours dealing with the fall out of bullying and conflict.
Your anti-bullying policy may have been gathering dust for some time, and this is your chance to bring it back to life. Behaviour changes over time and you may need to get up to speed with current trends such as the impact of social media on bullying, the rise in racist incidents since Brexit, or your response to sexism and sexual harassment. Here are our five top tips for launching an anti-bullying action plan in your school:
One. Go big or go home.
Explain to your governing board and senior leadership team that you are going to take this on together and that this is a key priority. Then announce to all members of the school community that you are going to relaunch the school anti-bullying strategy and that you need their help to make sure your school is the best and safest place to be. Parents and children will thank you for it - and if there is any spark of controversy over whether this means you have a problem, use as an opportunity to explain that you are following government guidance and proudly taking action.
Two. Agree together what you mean by bullying.
This is a brilliant opportunity to come up with a shared definition of bullying and finally put to bed the difference between relationship fall-outs, one-off incidents of difficult behaviour, and bullying behaviour (which is distinct in that it is meant to hurt, is repeated and it’s hard for the student on the receiving end to defend themselves).
This is also your opportunity to reinforce your duty under the Equality Act 2010 to prevent all forms of harassment on the basis of sexuality, gender, race and religion and disability. Be clear that you will not tolerate discrimination of any kind, be clear what discrimination looks like (including the use of language and unwanted touch) and what your collective response will be if you hear it or see it.
Three. Find out what’s happening.
Start by surveying students and staff to see how safe they feel. It can also help to work with small groups to map out any bullying/conflict hot spots in your school and the surrounding area. Don’t underestimate the impact of environment. You might find there is one corridor where all the action is taking place and with a bit of extra supervision, you can deal with the problem. Work particularly hard to find out how those children who are statistically most likely to be bullied are feeling about school life (e.g. disabled children and those with SEN, children in receipt of FSM, ethnic minorities, gender non-conforming, young people identifying as LGBT+, gifted and talented, young carers).
Four. Work with students to come up with a 5-point action plan.
This could include how you will raise awareness of bullying with all ages (e.g assemblies, class work and displays), any training needed for staff and students (e.g. peer mentoring), how you will improve how bullying is reported, and clear action you will take if there is evidence of bullying behaviour. Make sure there are no surprises. Agree when you would be likely to involve parents, what behaviour might mean support from the police or children’s services, the sort of sanctions you might give and how your priority is always for the bullying to stop.
Five. Put measures in place to see how you are doing.
A decent reporting and recording system which shows action taken is vital for measuring patterns of bullying behaviour. An annual survey will show the progress made. Remember if you are doing this well, your reports of bullying are likely to rise at least in the short term. Children reporting bullying is a good thing - it means it’s no longer underground and you can deal with it.
Take our online training course - Preventing Bullying written in partnership with Kidscape
The over-riding principle to guide you in 2019 is to make sure that you learn from every incident of bullying. Is it just about what’s going on between individual students or is it about a wider peer culture? Does it point to prejudicial attitudes in the community that need to be addressed? Bullying is never ‘dealt with’. Keep your eyes and ears open, keep listening to students and learning and together we will make our schools safe for all children.
This article was written by Kidscape, our partners for our Preventing Bullying training course. For more help with bullying visit Kidscape's website today.
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The Preventing Bullying training course is included in EduCare's complete safeguarding service for schools. The service contains thirty essential safeguarding and duty of care training courses and includes a reporting suite to evidence learning to inspectors.
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Related content:
Preventing Bullying
The purpose of the course is to help you understand, recognise and prevent bullying behaviour.
Read morePreventing Bullying
At the end of the course, learners will:
- Understand what bullying is, including the five components of bullying behaviour
- Identify who may be affected by bullying, as there are some groups of people who are likely to be more affected than others
- Understand the role technology can play in bullying behaviour (cyberbullying)
- Be able to recognise a child who may be being bullied and understand the damaging physical and emotional effects
- Be able to put actions in place to tackle bullying in their organisation or setting
Partner Spotlight: Kidscape
Kidscape are an anti-bullying charity and one of our expert partners for our Preventing Bullying online training course.
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