St. Mary's Academy ERS

Anti-Bullying Policy

-Student Guidelines-

1. What is Bullying?

Bullying is deliberately hurtful behaviour, which is repeated over time, eg, name-calling, hitting, theft, and spreading rumours. Encouraging others to be involved in this type of behaviour is also bullying.

2. Who can help to prevent bullying?

Everyone who is part of the school community can help prevent bullying. This includes students, teachers, parents, caretakers, secretary and other staff who may be working in the school from time to time.

3. What steps can I take if I feel I'm being bullied or if I think another student is a target?

(a) Tell someone who can support you and is in a position to do something about it, eg, your class teacher, any other teacher, your parents/ guardian, brother/sister or any adult you can are comfortable talking to.

(b) Be aware that you may not be the only student who is being bullied so by reporting the incident you may also be helping others

(c) Be assured that any report you make will be taken extremely seriously and will be investigated in a sensitive way to ensure your situation improves as a result.

Above all: Don't suffer in Silence

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Anti-Bullying Policy
1. Definition of Bullying
Bullying is defined as deliberately hurtful behaviour, repeated over a period of time, where it is difficult for those being bullied to defend themselves. This deliberate behaviour may cause the target of the abuse to suffer physical or emotional distress and can be carried out by an individual or a group. The three main types of bullying are: · physical (hitting, kicking, spitting, theft) · verbal (name calling, racist remarks, ridicule, sarcasm) · indirect (spreading rumours, excluding someone from social groups). Encouraging other people to engage in any of these types of behaviour is also bullying, even if you do not directly do any of them yourself. In fact, in some ways it is even worse because it affects the people you persuade to do these things as well as the victim. Similarly, sitting idly by while bullying of another student takes place is also unacceptable. Inform someone who is in a position to intervene and stop this behaviour, eg., a teacher or your parents etc.

2. Background
The aim of the anti-bullying policy is to ensure that pupils learn in a supportive, caring and safe environment without fear of being bullied. The policy involves all members of a school community including the Board of Management, pupils, parents, teachers, and non-teaching staff. Bullying is anti-social behaviour and affects everyone; it is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. Classrooms in our school are teacher-based. This means that students, in general, will not be in classrooms without a teacher. CCTV monitors all the corridors. This reduces the possibilities for bullying but there will always be a need for vigilance and an anti-bullying programme.

3. Programme to Prevent Bullying
Everybody has a role to play in preventing and eliminating bullying from the school. Prevention of bullying can be achieved by raising awareness of the dangers and consequences of bullying among all members of the school community and by minimising the opportunities for bullying to take place.

(a) Role of the Pupil

You, the pupil in St. Mary's Academy, must accept that 'telling is o.k.'We know that you may be reluctant to inform adults about the behaviour of fellow pupils, out of a sense of loyalty, but the message that it is essential to report bullying must be clearly understood by the whole school community. Don't suffer in silence and don't allow another student in your school to suffer either. You are encouraged to approach a member of staff if you are being bullied or if you are aware that another student is being targeted. You should understand that:

· the report will be taken seriously

· it will be investigated and appropriate action taken

· if you feel unable to make the issue public, information will be recorded, signed by you and the person to whom the report is made and kept on file should bullying persist

· counselling and support is available

Pupils will receive the following guidelines from class teachers at the beginning of each school year and at intervals throughout the year:

· Care for each other and report any incidents of unkind behaviour or verbal abuse to any adult in the school.

· Support the pupil who is the recipient of hurtful behaviour. BE A GOOD FRIEND. Remember it could be you.

· Think before you say unkind words and be aware of how your behaviour may be viewed by others.

· Never touch another pupil in an aggressive manner. Do not leave other pupils out of social activity. Make an effort to involve everyone whenever possible.

(b) The role of the staff

The Class Teacher and Year Head

· Organise regular assemblies, with bullying on the agenda

· Note changes in friendship groups.

· Observe closely the socialisation of new pupils.

· Check on patterns of attendance and lateness, and sickness in school.

· Liaise with parents if suspicious

The Subject Teacher

· Note instances of withdrawn personality.

· Be suspicious of a sudden drop in achievement.

· Be careful of unintended outcomes when choosing groups or when partner work is involved.

· Take time out to discuss bullying if the issue arises in your class, directly or indirectly

· Talk to the class teacher or year head if you suspect anything unusual

· Be aware of the importance of being punctual to lessons and never leaving the classroom unsupervised

Personnel on Supervision Duty

· Patrol areas which are not directly observable.

· Note the occurrence of isolated pupils.

· Observe inappropriate behaviour of pupils in the playground.

· Bring any unusual occurrences to the attention of the year head, principal or deputy principal

The Principal, Deputy Principal and Year Head

· Act immediately on parents' suspicions and investigate all matters even if they appear to be trivial.

· Make a 'Report Book' available in a designated place and have one person in charge of monitoring the book. This person is the Deputy Principal (or the Principal if the DP is unavailable)

· Record all incidents reported by teachers, parents, and pupils.

· Arrange support for both victims and bullies, in consultation with the school counsellor and the parents.

· Discuss with staff suitable sanctions where necessary.

· Raise awareness through the curriculum, eg SPHE, RE etc.

· Give opportunities for pupils to discuss the ideas by setting aside a class period for the class teacher and his/ her class.

· Improve links with parents and the community through meetings and other activities

· Peer Support and buddy schemes, eg Meitheal and Student Representative Council

(c) The role of the Parents

To safeguard your child and his friends you, the parents, are asked to report suspected instances of bullying if

: · your son is a victim.

· a friend of your son is a victim.

· your son is involved in bullying.

All information will, of course, be treated with the utmost discretion so that nobody will feel compromised by passing it on. For legal reasons confidentiality cannot be guaranteed - where the student is likely to harm, or be harmed by, another student

4. Implementation of the Policy (Dealing with incidences of Bullying)

A key defining feature of the implementation of schools' policies on bullying should be an emphasis on visibility and communication. It is only by ensuring continually that pupils, parents and staff are all aware of the policy that this issue can be kept alive. It is therefore considered imperative that posters, questionnaires, newsletter inserts and other high profile reminders are in place in our school.

A Practical Approach :

· Be alert to obvious threats to a students' safety or wellbeing in the corridors, classrooms , yard etc.

· Intervene immediately if an individual is insecure as a result of the behaviour of others and process the culprits through the existing code of conduct.

· If a student reports an incident to a member of staff which stems from contact with individuals in their classroom he may, if he wishes, go to the study hall while the isssue is being investigated.

· It may be necessary to contact the parents/guardians of the student who has reported the incident and arrange to meet them with a view to coming up with a solution which is workable for all concerned.

· The parents/guardians of the perpetrator will be asked to attend with their son so that they can be brought up to date with the situation by the principal, deputy principal and the yearhead.

· Depending on the severity and frequency of the incident(s), the principal and deputy principal would decide whether or not the bullying incident could be adequately dealt with under the Code of Conduct. They may decide that it is necessary to bring the issue to the board of management in order to decide upon what the school could have to offer such a student, keeping in mind the good if the entire school community.

In summary, the following disciplinary steps may be taken once a complaint has been substantiated:

o Official warnings to cease offending

o Parents contacted

o Suspension

o Board of Management

o Expulsion, in the event of the bully continuing to offend

We recognise that many incidents of bullying take place in secret and that for whatever reason the victim may choose not to report it. We acknowledge therefore the need to tackle the issue in the classroom situation. This will be done as part of our SPHE Programme with the help of a resource pack entitled " Bullying , A Complete Approach".This programme will be ongoing and will serve as a constant reminder to all of

a) the need to report even what they consider to be the most minor incident immediately.

b) the absolute commitment of all staff to dealing with the bully/bullies immediately and in a decisive manner.

The vast majority of students in our school community respect the rights of others to an education in a safe environment. We intend by working with that majority and encouraging them to work to ensure a safe environment for all. We also hope to help the minority to realise that they can empower themselves more effectively by respecting the rights of others. In addition we need to leave them in no doubt that there is no room in this community for someone who is not prepared to reform his ways. Pupils who have been bullied will be supported by:

· offering an immediate opportunity to discuss the experience with the Year Head, Deputy Principal, Principal or member of staff of their choice

· reassuring the pupil, using the support systems in the school (Class Teacher, Year Head, Care Team, Counsellor) and offering continuous support in attempting to restore self-esteem and confidence.

Pupils who have bullied will be helped by:

· discussing what happened

· discovering why the pupil became involved

· establishing the wrong doing and need to change

· informing parents or guardians to help change the attitude of the pupil.

Within the curriculum the school will raise the awareness of the nature of bullying through inclusion in SPHE, talks by class teacher in class, at assemblies and by individual teachers in their own subject areas as appropriate, in an attempt to eradicate such behaviour.

5. Monitoring, Evaluation and Review
The school will review this policy annually and assess its implementation and effectiveness. The policy will be promoted and implemented throughout the school.