YARRAVILLE WEST PRIMARY SCHOOL
BULLYING PREVENTION POLICY
1. Rationale Page 2
2. Definitions 2 - What is bullying 2 - Types of bullying 2 - What is not bullying 2 - Further advice 3
3. Awareness Strategies & Programs 3
4. Implementation 4
5. School Actions and Consequences 4
6. Appendices 5
7. References 8
Title: Bullying Prevention Policy Version: 1.1 Ratified by: YWPS School Council On: 27 May 2015 Revision date: May 2016
YARRAVILLE WEST PRIMARY SCHOOL
Bullying Prevention Policy
1. RATIONALE At YWPS we believe that all children have the right to feel safe and have the right to work and play in a secure and caring environment without intimidation, harassment or bullying by others.
We strive to keep our students happy, healthy and safe so that they might reach their full educational potential. However, we acknowledge that all schools experience occurrences of bullying. It is our belief that a comprehensive engagement policy and bullying prevention policy will, together, allow us to best support the needs of our students, parents and teachers. YWPS does not permit any form of corporal punishment at any time.
At YWPS we have a commitment to keeping children safe and happy. As a staff we comply with the child safe standards as outlined in Ministerial Order 870. Please see the Child Safe Policy and Code of Conduct for more information.
2. DEFINITIONS These definitions are sourced from the Alannah and Madeline Foundation ‘Bullying Hurts’ brochure of 2015. (Appendix 1: Bullying Hurts.)
What is bullying Bullying is an ongoing misuse of power in relationships through repeated verbal, physical and/or social behaviour that causes physical and/or psychological harm.
It can involve an individual or a group misusing their power over one or more persons.
Bullying can happen in person or online, and it can be obvious (overt) or hidden (covert). Bullying of any form or for any reason can have long-term effects on those involved, including bystanders.
Single incidents and conflicts or fights between equals, whether in person or online, are not defined as bullying.
Types of bullying • Verbal or written abuse - such as targeted name calling or jokes, or displaying offensive posters. • Violence - including threats of violence. • Sexual harassment - unwelcome or unreciprocated conduct of a sexual nature, which could reasonably be expected to cause offense, humiliation or intimidation.
• Homophobia - and other hostile behaviours towards students relating to gender and sexuality. • Discrimination including racial discrimination - treating people differently because of their identity.
• Cyberbullying - either online or via mobile phone. What is not bullying • Mutual conflict which involves a disagreement, but not an imbalance of power. Unresolved mutual conflict can develop into bullying if one of the parties targets the other repeatedly in retaliation. • Single-episode acts of nastiness or physical aggression, or aggression directed towards many different people. • Social rejection or dislike is not bullying unless it involves deliberate and repeated attempts to cause distress, exclude, or create dislike by others.
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Further advice The Australian Education Agencies’ website ‘Bullying. No Way!’, and the Alannah and Madeline Foundation’s ‘Bullying Advice Centre’ offer considerable further reading, covering topics including: • Signs that your child might be being bullied. • What to do if your child is being bullied / cyberbullied. • What to do if your child is bullying others. • A list of further resources and contact details for several organisations that can help families in the event of bullying.
3. AWARENESS STRATEGIES & PROGRAMS WITHIN YWPS YWPS strives to meet the changing needs of our students, with respect to bullying and cyberbullying. Examples of awareness strategies and programs currently in place are outlined below. eSmart: In 2015 YWPS achieved its eSmart status. The Alannah and Madeline Foundation developed eSmart. eSmart is a world-leading, evidenced based cybersafety and wellbeing program designed to help Australian schools reduce cyberbullying and bullying. It aims “to make cybersafety a normal part of every young person's life by equipping them to use technologies in ways that protect them from the associated risks”, (esmartschools.com.au).
In an eSmart school, the smart, safe and responsible use of information and communications technology is a cultural norm and, whilst the eSmart program is predominantly focused on the safe and responsible use of digital technologies, it also relates to our overall school values, by illustrating that the expected behavioural norms still exist within our new technological landscape.
"It is important to remember that this is an issue of behaviour, more than it is of technology. We really need to get serious about behaviour and support schools to focus on building a culture of respect and caring in addition to teaching the traditional academic subjects." (Dr Judith Slocombe CEO, The Alannah and Madeline Foundation.)
Digital Technologies Acceptable Use Agreement: Our work with the eSmart program highlights our need to equip the students at YWPS to be responsible digital citizens. All students are required to sign a Digital Technologies Acceptable Use Agreement in order to use technologies at school. This agreement is reviewed and signed (in conjunction with parents) in Prep, at the beginning of Grade Three and at the beginning of Grade Five. Our eSmart Ambassadors helped establish guidelines for students, relating to the use and misuse of technology, and these guidelines form part of the Digital Technologies Acceptable Use Agreement for Grades 3 – 6.
Wellbeing and Resilience Survey: In 2015 and 2016, all students in Grade 3 -6 took part in the Resilience Survey. The survey collects the self-reported strengths of students, as well as exploring wellbeing and the levels of hopefulness. The online survey is completely anonymous and no student is identified. The data is collected and analysed by Resilient Youth Australia and reported back to our school. The data helps identify the strengths of students, and enables the school to plan for future initiatives in building resiliency.
Student Produced Brochure: A group of students (with staff guidance) have written and illustrated the ‘Don’t Worry, Be Happy!’ Brochure; a guide produced by students, for students, which has been widely circulated. (Appendix 2: Don’t Worry, Be Happy!) This brochure provides support and advice about bullying, and addresses issues of child safety.
Bullying Hurts Brochure: The ‘Bullying Hurts’ brochure, produced by the Alannah and Madeline Foundation, is distributed electronically, annually in Term One, to our parent community. Hard copies of the brochure are available in the office. (Appendix 1: Bullying Hurts.)
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4. IMPLEMENTATION: What YWPS does to prevent bullying In the classroom, we:
• Incorporate wellbeing based units at the start of each year. • Promote the use of the ‘three step rule’ (which can be found in Appendix 2: Bulldoze Bullying). • Teach our school values, emphasising respect, resilience & responsibility, in relation to bullying. • Reinforce positive behaviour, to encourage positive interactions (in the classroom and the playground).
• Teach problem solving strategies, so that students have skill-sets to use in any situation. • Raise awareness of what it is to be an ‘effective bystander’, to enable students to make safe and sensible choices in the face of bullying behaviour.
As a whole school community, we:
• Are observant for signs of distress, or incidents of bullying. • Actively supervise, during yard duty, to help prevent bullying. • Actively teach students to be assertive. • Timetable ‘friendship groups’ to promote positive relationships and grow resilience. • Promote Harmony Day and the National Day of Action Against Bullying. A list of key strategies and programs used by YWPS to promote wellbeing and minimise negative behaviours is found in the Student Engagement Policy.
5. SCHOOL ACTIONS & CONSEQUENCES All complaints of bullying will be handled as promptly as possible, then time will be taken to provide all those involved with an opportunity to discuss the issue and, later, to be informed of the school’s course of action.
Most incidents will initially be dealt with by the class or yard duty teacher, in accordance with our incident management procedures. (Appendix 3: Yard Duty Incident Management Flow Chart & Appendix 4: Classroom Incident Management Flow Chart.)
Incidents of repeated, or ongoing, bullying or incidents of a serious nature will be referred to the Leadership Team who will deal with them in the following manner: 1. Meet individually with the students involved (victim and bully/bullies). 2. Give the bully the opportunity to make amends for his / her behaviour. This is to be acceptable to the victim. 3. Determine appropriate action to be taken. Depending on the seriousness of the case, this may involve; timeout, strict supervision, counseling and / or suspension. 4. Inform, or involve, parents / carers.
5. Inform Regional Office or Health & Community Services, if deemed necessary.
6. Seek referrals to appropriate outside agencies.
7. Hold follow up meetings to discuss the progress of all the parties involved.
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6. APPENDICES Appendix 1: Bullying Hurts Brochure
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Appendix 2: Bulldoze Bullying Brochure
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Appendix 3: Yard Duty Incident Management Flow Chart
Appendix 4: Classroom Incident Management Flow Chart
7. REFERENCES Bullying. No Way!, 2015. Available from: http://www.bullyingnoway.gov.au
The Alannah and Madeline Foundation 2015, Bullying Hurts. Available from: http://www.amf.org.au
Bullying Advice Centre, n.d., Available from: http://www.amf.org.au
Dr Judith Slocombe, n.d., eSmart Schools: About Us. Available from: https://www.esmartschools.org.au/General/Pages/AboutUs.aspx eSmart Schools: About Us, 2015. Available from: https://www.esmartschools.org.au/General/Pages/AboutUs.aspx
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