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 Abbeyleix South National 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;
  • 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.

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
• 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.
See Appendix 1 – Types of Bullying
See Appendix 2 – Examples of bullying behaviours.

A pupil or parent may bring a bullying concern to any teacher in the school. Individual teachers must take appropriate measures regarding reports of bullying behaviour in accordance with the school’s anti bullying policy.

• In the procedures the relevant teacher will be the class teacher
• Non-teaching staff such as the secretary / receptionist, Special Needs Assistant (SNA) and cleaner are encouraged to report any incidents of bullying behaviour witnessed by them, or mentioned to them, to the relevant teacher

The education and prevention strategies for anti-bullying and cyber bullying that will be used by Abbeyleix South National School are as follows:

Anti-bullying Prevention Stategies:
Teachers

• All staff are aware of the Anti-bullying Policy available in the school
• The topic of bullying is dealt with in the classroom through the Social, Personal and Health Education Programme, the Stay Safe Programme and the Religious Education Programme

We listen to children and encourage them to tell about bullying
We are fair
Differences between individuals are celebrated
We raise children’s self esteem
We are assertive, not aggressive, role models
Anti-bullying policies and procedures are devised and implemented
We act immediately to stop and condemn bullying, fighting or cruelty
We make it clear to pupils that there will be consequences for bullying
We keep records of incidents
We do not blame victims for being bullied
We encourage and reward good behaviour
(Stop Bullying Pocketbook 2nd Edition Outside the Box. Page 29)

• At the start of each term, the topic of bullying is covered in Assembly. During these assemblies, the definition of bullying is explained and revised. Strategies are explained to children as to what to do if they feel they are being bullied
• All teaching staff are actively involved in the supervision of pupils during both break periods
• Minor misdemeanours as per our Code of Behaviour are recorded by teachers in the Weekly Reward Book and signed by parents

Anti-bullying Prevention Strategies :
Pupils

• Pupils will have read The Code of Behaviour, Classroom Rules and The Anti-Bullying Policy
• Pupils will participate in classes related to “Bullying” as outlined in The Stay Safe Programme

Anti-bullying Prevention Strategies :
Parents

Parents will

• Read the schools Code of Behaviour and Anti-Bullying Policy and encourage his / her child to be respectful of others and to follow all rules and guidelines laid down in these policies
• Ensure that Reward Books are read and signed each week
• Discuss S.P.H.E. (Stay Safe) homework worksheets with his / her child to reinforce classroom teaching

Cyber-bullying Prevention Strategies:
Teachers

All teachers will

• Explain what cyber-bullying is and what forms it can take
• Encourage children and young people to take responsibility for their words and actions online and sensitise children and young people to the impact that their words and actions online can have
• Support children and young people to fully appreciate the damaging and sometimes
  devastating consequences of cyber-bullying on victims
• Highlight to children and young people that there can also be adverse consequences for those who engage in cyber-bullying, including the existence of a permanent record of their actions, which they may regret in the future when they are no longer involved in this kind of behaviour
• Advise children and young people about what they should do if they experience or come across cyber-bullying – for example, save the comments / emails; speak to a parent, teacher or another trusted adult about it; and report it immediately to the service provider (Dealing with Bullying in Schools by Ombudsman Page 23)
• Inform pupils of appropriate websites that they may access during school time
• Allocate a specific laptop (each laptop is numbered) to senior pupils to ensure safe monitoring of internet

Cyber-bullying Prevention & Education Strategies:
Pupils

Pupils will be encouraged during S.P.H.E. classes to:

• Ask permission before using the internet
• Refrain from sending personal information about themselves or family to anyone they encounter on line
• Tell their parents or teachers about any upsetting or frightening material they may find on-line
• Share all fun material they find on-line with their parents / guardians
• Keep their password a secret and not even tell their best friend
• Not meet in person any one they meet on-line unless their parents / guardians are with them
• Treat others on-line the way they would like to be treated
  (Webwise Primary Teachers’ Handbook NCTE )

Cyber-bullying Prevention Strategies:
Parents

• Parents will Discover the internet with their child
• Encourage his / her child to be respectful of others online
• Outline rules of internet use to his / her child at home
• Monitor his / her child’s use of the internet
• Instruct his / her child how to react to unwanted e-mails
• Encourage his / her child to be careful when disclosing personal information online
• Talk about the risks associated with meeting online friends
• Teach his / her child about “Source Criticism” on the internet (not all information online is correct)
• Not be too critical towards his / her child’s exploration of the internet (it’s not always their fault if they come across inappropriate content on the web)
• Report online material he / she may consider illegal to the appropriate authorities
• Remember that the positive aspects of the internet out-weigh the negative aspects

(Websise – Primary Teachers’ Handbook NCTE )
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:

Investigation Outline

• In the event of a report of bullying, the investigation, follow-up and recording procedures will be outlined to each set of pupils and parents from the onset, by the relevant teacher and principal
• The relevant teacher investigates the report of bullying to resolve any issues and to restore, as far as practicable, the relationships of the parties involved (rather than to apportion blame)
• The teacher will exercise his / her professional judgement to determine whether bullying has occurred and to determine how best the situation might be resolved
• All reports, including anonymous reports of bullying will be investigated and dealt with by the relevant teacher
• It will 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
• Parents and pupils are required to co-operative with the investigation procedure and to assist the school in resolving any issues

Investigation Procedures:

• Incidents of bullying will be investigated outside the classroom situation to ensure the privacy of all involved and will be conducted with sensitivity and with due regard to the rights of all pupils concerned
• The relevant teacher will seek answers to questions of what, where, when, who and why
• Each individual pupil will be asked to write down his / her account of the incident(s)
• If a group is involved, each member will be interviewed individually at first. Then those involved will be met as a group. At this group meeting, each member is asked for his / her account of what happened to ensure that everyone in the group is clear about each other’s statement
• Each member of a group will be supported through the possible pressures that they may face from the other members of the group after interview by the teacher
• The parents of the parties involved will be contacted once it has been determined by the relevant teacher that bullying behaviour has occurred, to inform them of the matter and to explain the actions being taken

Follow – Up:

• Parents will be given the opportunity of discussing the action being taken by the school and ways of supporting this action
• It will be made clear to the pupil who has engaged in the bullying behaviour, that he / she is in breach of the school’s anti-bullying policy
• Efforts will be made by the relevant teacher and parents to get the pupil who has engaged in the bullying behaviour to see the situation from the perspective of the pupil being bullied
• It will 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
• Follow-up meetings with the relevant parties involved will be arranged separately with a view to possibly bringing them together at a later date if the pupil who has been bullied is ready and agreeable. This can have a therapeutic effect

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 and provided to the Parents’ Association 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 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: __________

Date of next review: _______________

Abbeyleix South National School
School Anti-Bullying Policy 2014
Appendix 1

Types of bullying
The following are some of the types of bullying behaviour that can occur amongst
pupils:

1. Physical aggression: This behaviour includes pushing, shoving, punching, kicking,
poking and tripping people. It may also take the form of severe physical assault. While
pupils often engage in ‘mess fights’, they can sometimes be used as a disguise for
physical harassment or inflicting pain.

2. Intimidation:Some bullying behaviour takes the form of intimidation: it may be based on the use of very aggressive body language with the voice being used as a weapon. Particularly upsetting can be a facial expression which conveys aggression and/or dislike.

Isolation/exclusion and other relational bullying: This occurs where a certain person is
deliberately isolated, excluded or ignored by some or all of the class group.
This practice is usually initiated by the person engaged in bullying behaviour and can
be difficult to detect. It may be accompanied by writing insulting remarks about the
pupil in public places, by passing around notes about or drawings of the pupil or by
whispering insults about them loud enough to be heard. Relational bullying occurs
when a person’s attempts to socialise and form relationships with peers are repeatedly
rejected or undermined. One of the most common forms includes control “Do this or
I won’t be your friend anymore” (implied or stated); a group ganging up against one
person (girl or boy); non-verbal gesturing; malicious gossip; spreading rumours about a
person or giving them the “silent treatment”.
3. Cyber -bullying: This type of bullying is increasingly common and is continuously
evolving. It is bullying carried out through the use of information and communication
technologies such as text, social network sites, e-mail, instant messaging (IM), apps gaming sites, chat – rooms and other online technologies. Being the target of inappropriate
or hurtful messages is the most common form of online bullying. As cyber – bullying uses
technology to perpetrate bullying behaviour and does not require face to face contact, cyber -bullying can occur at any time (day or night) Many forms of bullying can be facilitated
through cyber – bullying. For example, a target may be sent homophobic text messages or
pictures may be posted with negative comments about a person’s sexuality, appearance etc.

4. Name calling: Persistent name -calling directed at the same individual(s) which hurts, insults or humiliates should be regarded as a form of bullying behaviour. Often name – calling of this type refers to physical appearance, e.g., size or clothes worn. Accent or distinctive voice characteristics may attract negative attention. Academic ability can also provoke name calling. This tends to operate at two extremes. There are those who are singled out for attention because they are perceived to be weak academically. At the other extreme there are those who, because they are perceived as high achievers, are also targeted.
5. Damage to property: Personal property can be the focus of attention for bullying behaviour. This may result in damage to clothing, mobile phone or other devices, school books and other learning material or interference with a pupil’s locker or bicycle. The contents of school bags and pencil cases may be scattered on the floor. Items of personal property may be defaced, broken, stolen or hidden.

6. Extortion : Demands for money may be made, often accompanied by threats (sometimes carried out in the event of the targeted pupil not delivering on the demand). A pupil may also be forced into theft of property for delivery to another who is engaged in bullying behaviour.