Anti-Bullying Policy

Eglish NS-15027E
01/12/2023


1. 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 Eglish NS 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 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; involves collaboration among and between staff & pupils 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 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 ongoing 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:
'Unwanted negative behaviour, verbal, psychological or physical conducted, by an individual or group against another person (or persons) and which is repeated over time'.

Bullying can take many forms but its aim is always to make a person feel upset, intimidated or afraid. It is behaviour which is intentionally aggravating and
intimidating.

The following types of bullying behaviour are included in the definition of bullying:

-Teasing, taunting, threatening, hitting, malicious gossip, deliberate exclusion and extortion by one or more pupils against a victim and other forms of relational bullying
- Cyber-bullying
- Identity-based bullying.

Isolated or once-off incidents do not fall within the definition of bullying and should be dealt with, as appropriate, in accordance with the school's code of 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 and appears as Appendix 2 of this document.

4. The relevant teacher(s) for investigating and dealing with bullying are as follows:
  • The class teacher(s) initially
  • The principal thereafter if necessary
5. The following education and prevention strategies, at the appropriate and relevant level for each class, will be used by the school:

  • Prevention and awareness raising measures across all aspects of bullying and involves strategies to engage pupils in addressing problems when they arise. In particular, such strategies need to build empathy, respect and resilience in pupils.
  • Provide pupils with opportunities to develop a positive sense of self-worth.
  • Prevention and awareness raising measures focusing on cyber-bullying by educating pupils on appropriate online behaviour, how to stay safe while online. 
  • Members of the community, eg. An Garda Síochána will be invited in to talk to the students in the Senior Class regarding Cyber-Bullying.
  • The SPHE curriculum makes specific provision for exploring bullying as well as the inter-related areas of belonging and integrating, communication, conflict, friendship, personal safety and relationships. The Stay Safe & RSE programmes at primary level are personal safety skills programmes which seek to enhance children's self-protection skills including their ability to recognise and cope with bullying
  • Sporting activities in particular can provide excellent opportunities for channelling and learning how to control aggression.
Staff will strive to identify incidents of bullying at the earliest possible opportunity, by looking out for the following characteristics of a victim of bullying:

  • Unexplained bruises
  • Afraid and anxious when going to or coming from school
  • Unwillingness to go to school
  • School performance steadily getting worse
  • Being generally nervous, tense, unhappy
  • Not explaining suspicious incidents
  • Signs of being isolated from others of the same age
  • Signs of regular interference with personal property, books, etc. Unexplained changes in either mood/behaviour
  • Pattern of physical illness
  • Visible signs of anxiety/distress
  • Increased requests for (or stealing) money
  • Reluctance and/or refusal to say what is troubling him/her
  • Possessions missing
6. 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:

The primary aim 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). With this in mind the schools procedures are as follows:
(a) In investigating and dealing with bullying, the teacher(s) will exercise his/her/their professional judgement to determine whether bullying has occurred, what type if it has and how best the situation might be resolved
(b) All reports, including anonymous reports of bullying must be investigated and dealt with by the relevant teacher(s). 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
(c) Non-teaching staff such as special needs assistants (SNAs), secretaries, caretakers are encouraged to report any incidents of bullying behaviour witnessed by them, or mentioned to them, to the relevant teacher
(d) Reassure the victim that they are supported and clearly heard
(e) When challenging a bully, condemn the behaviour and not the person
(f) 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
(g) It is very important that all involved (including each set of pupils and parents) understand the above approach from the outset
(h) Teachers should take a calm unemotional problem-solving approach when dealing with incidents of alleged bullying behaviour reported by pupils, staff or
parents
(i) Initial investigations of bullying will be done in class where possible but some incidents might be best investigated outside the classroom situation to ensure the privacy of all involved
(j) 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
(k) When analysing incidents of bullying behaviour, the relevant teacher(s) 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
(1) 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
(m) Each member of a group should be supported through the possible pressures that may face them from the other members of the group after interview by the
teacher
(n) Where the relevant teacher(s) has / have 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 (0) It may also be appropriate or helpful to ask those involved to write down their account of the incident(s)
(p) 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.
(q) 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 and will be in accordance with the Code of Discipline
(r) Follow-up meetings with the relevant parties involved may be arranged to ensure that the matter has been resolved satisfactorily
(s) 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
(t) 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
(u) A record should be kept of how the matter was handled and the outcome. When the class moves on, the succeeding teacher should be informed of any problems
that existed.

Recording: Noting and reporting of bullying behaviour is to be documented using the template for recording bullying behaviour (Appendix 3) and filed in the school's
'Leabhar Bulaíocht'.
7. The school's programme of support for working with pupils affected by bullying involves a whole school approach. Given the complexity of bullying behaviour, no one intervention / support programme works in all situations. Therefore various approaches and intervention strategies may be used including suggesting that parents seek referrals to appropriate outside agencies if needed.

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 of Eglish National School on
01/12/2023

11. This policy has been made available to school personnel, is readily accessible to
parents and pupils on request and has been 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, be readily accessible to parents and pupils on request and the Parents' Association A record of the review and its outcome will be made available, if requested, to the patron and the Department.


Signed:
Ronan Mullen BOM  - Date: 1/12/2023
(Chairperson of Board of Management)

Signed:
Keith Kelly -  Date: 1/12/2023
(Principal)