Carrigboy National School

Anti-Bullying policy of Carrigboy National School

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
Carrigboy 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.


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-
o is welcoming of difference and diversity and is based on inclusivity;
o encourages pupils to disclose and discuss incidents of bullying behaviour in a non-threatening environment; and
o 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-
o build empathy, respect and resilience in pupils; and
o 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); and
" On-going 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:

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 and
" 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.

Additional information on different types of bullying is set out in Section 2 of the Anti- Bullying Procedures for Primary and Post-Primary Schools.




4. The relevant teacher(s) for investigating and dealing with bullying is (are) as follows: (see Section 6.8 of the Anti-Bullying Procedures for Primary and Post-Primary Schools):

All teachers and staff to report incidents

Class teachers are the relevant teachers to record repeated incidents and investigate


Report to Deputy Principal or Principal


5. The education and prevention strategies that will be used by the school are as follows (see Section 6.5 of the Anti-Bullying Procedures for Primary and Post-Primary Schools):


o Stay Safe
o Cyber bullying talk bi annually
o Zippy's Friends
o Circle Time
o SPHE
o Health Promoting School Programme
o Friendship Weeks
o Active School Programme
o Alive O







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 (see Section 6.8 of the Anti-Bullying Procedures for Primary and Post-Primary Schools) :


1. Informal recording by relevant teacher using observation and discussion

(i) If it is established by the relevant teacher that bullying has occurred, the relevant teacher must keep appropriate written records which will assist his/her efforts to resolve the issues and restore, as far as is practicable, the relationships of the parties involved
(ii) Parents of both parties are to be involved at an early stage to find a solution
(iii) Incidents are best investigated outside the classroom to protect privacy of those involved
The relevant teacher must use the recording template at Appendix 3 to record the bullying behaviour in cases where he/she considers that the bullying behaviour has not been adequately and appropriately addressed within 20 school days after he/she has determined that bullying behaviour occurred ; and
where the school has decided as part of its anti-bullying policy that in certain circumstances bullying behaviour must be recorded and reported immediately to the Principal or Deputy Principal as applicable.
All cases will be dealt with in conjunction with the school code of behavior, ladder of intervention
And other relevant policies.




7. The school's programme of support for working with pupils affected by bullying is as follows (see Section 6.8 of the Anti-Bullying Procedures for Primary and Post-Primary Schools) :

Classroom support through stay safe and other programmes menctioned above to improve
child's self esteem.

All situations will be monitored by relevant teacher with pupils and parents



Extra support will be provided if required






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 on 19th November 2013



11. This policy has been made available to school personnel, published on the school website . 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, published on the school website. A record of the review and its outcome will be made available, if requested, to the patron and the Department.


Signed: Finbarr O Sullivan

Signed: Michael Cronin

(Chairperson of Board of Management) (Principal)


Date: 19/11/13




Date of next review: Spring 2015