ANTI - BULLYING POLICY
POLICY STATEMENT
Blaxland Public School is an inclusive environment, diversity is affirmed and individuality is respected.
Quality Education is delivered in a safe, secure and supportive setting. Student welfare is at the core of policies, practices and teaching and learning at Blaxland.
Partnerships within the school community are valued and central to the learning and development of students, their self – esteem, confidence and success of this school as a learning community.
Bullying, in any form will not be accepted or tolerated at Blaxland Public School
Students have a right to come to school happily and without fear of harassment or intimidation.
Bullying can devalue, isolate and frighten individuals. Students can experience loss in confidence, self-esteem and learning.
“Children’s peer relations are important, not only because they can and do bring happiness or misery to particular children, but also because they help to set the pattern of human interaction between adults in years to come, and have far reaching implications for the healthy functioning of men, women and families.”
Ken Rigby, Director, Institute of Social Research, University of South Australia
BULLYING BEHAVIOUR
Bullying can be defined as intentional, repeated behaviour by an individual or group of individuals that causes upset, distress, undue pressure, hurt or fear.
Bullying involves an intentional and wilful misuse of power in relationships.
Bullying cam involve direct or indirect harassment, humiliation, violent or physical domination and / or
intimidation of others.
Bullying can be:
verbal eg name calling, teasing, abuse, putdowns, ridicule, insults, threats, extortion
- physical eg hitting, punching, kicking, scratching, tripping, spitting
- social eg ignoring, excluding, ostracising, alienating, making rude, cruel or crude gestures. inappropriate comments about ethnicity, language, religion, gender, and culture
- psychological eg spreading rumours, dirty looks, hiding or damaging possessions, inappropriate notes, graffiti, letters, phone messages, SMS, email and misrepresentation.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
Students attend school to participate in quality education that enables them to become life long learners who will create a positive future for themselves and their communities.
Bullying impedes teaching, learning, individual development and student welfare. Bullying therefore cannot be accepted at Blaxland Public School.
Students, teachers, parents and caregivers will work collaboratively together to create a safe, secure and happy environment that is free from all forms of bullying. Positive relationships will be promoted. Individual differences will be accepted and respected.
Students, teachers, parents and caregivers will work collaboratively together to resolve incidents of bullying behaviour constructively.
Students have the right to:
- be treated with courtesy, kindness and respect
- express feelings and opinions assertively
- work and play in an atmosphere of harmony and cooperation
- feel secure and to be safe in a caring and supportive environment
- expect that school rules are fair, consistently implemented and respect the rights of all involved
- be valued for their individuality, including that of race, gender, cultural, physical or intellectual diversity
Students will:
- know that their concerns will be responded to by school staff
- be provided with appropriate support
- take part in teaching and learning activities that address Key Learning Areas in Personal Development, Health and Safety, Human Society and its Environment, Child Protection
- actively engage in teaching and learning in areas such as gender equity, anti discrimination, anti bullying, relationships, peer support, leadership programs etc
- report incidences of bullying to school staff
Students have a responsibility to:
- treat others with courtesy, kindness and respect
- listen to others with mutual respect
- maintain a safe and secure school environment
- refuse to become involved in instances of bullying
- model and support school rules, behaving appropriately
- develop responsibility for their own actions
- value others, for their individual differences
- work to achieve their personal best whilst allowing others to do the same.
Parents and caregivers have a responsibility to:
- support their child in all aspects of their learning
- be appropriate role models
- be aware of the school anti bullying policy
- assist their child in understanding appropriate behaviour
- support their child in developing positive and constructive responses to incidents of bullying, do not encourage retaliation
- support the school and students dealing with bullying incidents positively
- inform the school if bullying is suspected
- encourage your child to talk to teachers
- encourage your child to develop a plan with their teacher to deal with the situation
- let your child know parental involvement is appropriate and encouraged by the school if your child finds it difficult to articulate to school staff what is happening to them.
Blaxland Public School will:
- implement an Anti Bullying Plan
- inform students, parents and caregivers of their Anti Bullying Plan
- provide students with strategies to respond positively and constructively to incidents of bullying
- provide students with strategies to deal with bullying responsibly as an observer or bystander
- communicate with parents
- include parents in Anti – Bullying practices and processes
- follow up complaints of bullying, harassment and intimidation
Teachers have a responsibility to:
- respect and support students in all aspects of their learning
- model appropriate behaviour
- respond in an appropriate and timely manner to incidents of bullying according to the school’s bullying plan
- teach co–operative learning skills, play skills and conflict resolution skills through Key Learning Areas
- be observant of signs of distress
- intervene sensitively
- actively supervise classroom and playground activities
- consult with students to identify any issues of concern
- report all incidences of bullying to the Principal
Preventing bullying
Blaxland Public School will teach and consistently reinforce strategies across all Key Learning Areas in order to prevent bullying situations arising.
Strategies will include:
- provision of an anti bullying policy by the whole school community
- identification and understanding of what constitutes bullying
- provide proactive school practices that promote the value and respect of individuality, working as a team and leadership
- school initiative programs such as Peer Leadership, Personal Development, Child Protection,
- empower the whole school community to recognise and respond to bullying appropriately, including student and parent reporting of suspected bullying
- options from the school welfare and discipline code to deal with bullying are identified ,such as withdrawal, detention, in – school detention, behaviour monitoring cards, counselling, suspension, and incident reports to the Department of Education and Training and the NSW Police Force (as required by NSW School Policy)
Strategies to deal with bullying
Blaxland Public School will provide a range of appropriate strategies to deal with bullying. These will include:
- dealing with incidences quickly and effectively
- an action plan for bullying where:
- all parties are interviewed and incidents are recorded
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- school based consequences or counselling with teacher or support staff are implemented
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- parents are contacted. Formal interviews may be arranged for the victim, the bully, their parents and the school
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- possible referral to the school counsellor
Cases of retaliation against a person for reporting will be treated very seriously.
- intervention and support by school staff for both the student bullied and the student identified as bullying. This could include individual discussion, class teaching, parent interviews, counsellor intervention and / or the inclusion of options from the school welfare and discipline code. The incident will determine the strategies employed in order to provide for an appropriate and effective response.
- options for reporting and accessing help such as a note in the office information box, a quiet word to the class teacher, a trusted school staff member, Assistant Principal, Principal, Parents, Caregivers School Captains, an older trusted school member who will help with their choice of reporting strategy etc
- access to ‘Responding to Suggestions, Complaints and Allegations ‘ and the appeals procedures.
- www.det.nsw.edu.au/directorates/audit/complaints/media/rsca-doc.pdf
- professional learning for school staff in identification strategies, teaching for strategies, dealing with bullying eg ‘The Pikas Method’ or ‘Shared Concern Method’, cross key learning area teaching strategies for concept and strategy reinforcement.
Students can:
- avoid difficult students. Walk away. Ensure that they are never alone with someone they suspect is bullying
- be firm about their rights. Say, ‘STOP! I don’t like what you are doing.’
- look the student in the eye and be assertive. Say, ‘Stop!. Leave me alone’ and walk away.
- ignore the offensive student
- find a friend. Play with other friends.
- seek help from older trusted students such as School Captains, SRC.
- talk to the Duty Teacher, Class Teacher, Assistant Principal, Principal
- talk to their parents, siblings
- go to the office
- go to the library
Monitoring and Evaluation
Blaxland Public School will:
- monitor and record any incidences of bullying
- analyse data on the nature and extent of bullying within the school
- identify any relevant trends, such as suspected bullying or harassment
- review the effectiveness of the policy in dealing with bullying appropriately
- evaluate the extent to which the policy has effectively supported the provision of a safe, secure and happy environment
- invite parents to support the revision of the Anti Bullying Policy
- report evaluation outcomes to the school community through the school newsletter.
