OFFICIAL REPORT (Hansard)

Committee for Education OFFICIAL REPORT (Hansard) Addressing Bullying in Schools (2016 Act) (Commencement) Order (Northern Ireland) 2021: Department of Education, Education Authority 12 May 2021 NORTHERN IRELAND ASSEMBLY Committee for Education Addressing Bullying in Schools (2016 Act) (Commencement) Order (Northern Ireland) 2021: Department of Education, Education Authority 12 May 2021 Members present for all or part of the proceedings: Mr Chris Lyttle (Chairperson) Mr Pat Sheehan (Deputy Chairperson) Mr Maurice Bradley Ms Nicola Brogan Mr Robbie Butler Mr William Humphrey Mr Justin McNulty Mr Robin Newton Witnesses: Mrs Julie Humphries Department of Education Mr Ricky Irwin Department of Education Ms Renee McDowell Department of Education Ms Shauna Collinson Education Authority Ms Gillian Cuthbert Education Authority The Chairperson (Mr Lyttle): I welcome from the Department of Education Ricky Irwin, director of inclusion and well-being; Julie Humphries, head of the additional educational needs team; and Renee McDowell from the additional educational needs team. I have a list of names here, but there are only three people in the audience. I will keep going in case they are there. I also welcome Gillian Cuthbert, interim head of service at post-primary behavioural support and provisions at the Education Authority (EA); and Shauna Collinson, interim assistant director of pupil inclusion, well-being and protection at the Education Authority. You are all very welcome. Have I covered everyone? Mr Ricky Irwin (Department of Education): Yes, that is us all, Chair. The Chairperson (Mr Lyttle): That is great. Officials, the Committee will be able to give you 10 minutes to make an opening statement, and that will be followed by questions from members. Do you want to make a start? Thank you. Mr Irwin: Thanks, Chair, and thanks for inviting us today to provide an update to the Committee on the introduction of the bullying in schools legislation. Bullying is a complex problem that changes and evolves over time, finding new means to manifest itself. That can be seen in the increasing use of technology such as mobile phones, computers, tablets and social media websites, which add to the complexity, subtlety and insidious nature of the problem. That does not mean that bullying should ever 1 be considered an inevitable or acceptable part of school life for any pupil. It has a damaging effect on the well-being of our children and young people, and we must do all we can to tackle it. In September 2013, at the request of the then Minister of Education, John O'Dowd MLA, the Northern Ireland Anti-Bullying Forum undertook a review of anti-bullying policies and practices in our schools. That review concluded that, while all schools were aware of their responsibilities to tackle bullying, there was still a wide variation in the quality of schools' anti-bullying policies and procedures. It found that policies were not always applied consistently, that schools were sometimes too slow to react to bullying incidents and that some schools' policies were rarely updated, allowing them to become dated and less effective. It also found that there were many examples of good practice across our schools. That is why legislation was seen as the best way to ensure that all schools brought renewed focus and effort to the problem. As is outlined in your briefing paper, a public consultation launched on 5 January 2015 and ran for an eight-week period until 27 February 2015. Just under 5,000 responses were formally submitted to the consultation. The Addressing Bullying in Schools Bill was introduced to the Assembly on 30 November 2015. It received cross-party support and progressed through the Assembly. It received Royal Assent on 12 May 2016 and became the Addressing Bullying in Schools Act (NI) 2016. That legislation was introduced to provide a clear and consistent framework for all schools to follow and, in doing so, to ensure that all pupils are protected to the same high standards. By providing an inclusive definition of bullying, introducing a duty for schools to record all incidents of bullying and strengthening the role of boards of governors in ensuring that effective policies are followed, we believe that it will achieve that objective. Schools have and will retain the freedom to develop flexible responses to disciplinary issues tailored to the needs of the school, its pupils, and their wider community. Following a period of working with stakeholders to develop the necessary guidance and recording system, it was the intention to introduce the Act for the start of the 2019 academic year. However, the teaching unions raised some issues, and the Department agreed to a pause in the commencement of the legislation to allow for further engagement. Our intention to introduce the Act for September 2020 was then impacted by COVID. We believe that requiring schools to implement new legislation and put new processes in place at a time when there was ongoing disruption to learning and reduced resources was seen as adding unnecessary pressure to teacher workloads. We engaged further with the teaching unions more recently and have agreed to commence the legislation at the beginning of the 2021-22 school year. We have introduced a commencement order to bring the Act into operation from 1 September. Training and guidance has been provided for schools and boards of governors. Schools now have some time to prepare, to update their anti-bullying policies to align with the requirements of the Act and to consult parents, carers, pupils and staff, if they have not already done so. It is our intention to monitor implementation of the Act through ongoing engagement with stakeholders and by seeking feedback from schools. The Education and Training Inspectorate (ETI) will also have a role. Chair, I am happy to take any questions from you and members on the issue. The Chairperson (Mr Lyttle): Thanks for that, Ricky. I will start by asking the obvious question: why has it taken since 2015 to implement the Act? Mr Irwin: 2015 was when the consultation was carried out on the policy proposals for the legislation. There was then the period of bringing the legislation through the Assembly, and, as I said, Royal Assent was obtained in May 2016. The intention after that was always to work with schools and partner organisations to develop the necessary guidance and make sure that schools and boards of governors were trained on the issue. There was also a requirement to bring forward a standardised reporting system. Working groups were set up after the passing of the Act to work on those issues. The intention was to commence the Act in September 2019, but, as I said, issues were raised by the unions at that time. The unions asked for implementation to be put on hold indefinitely. The Department did not agree to that, but we agreed to a temporary pause to allow for further meaningful dialogue to take place with the unions on the particular issues. COVID in March 2020 then put paid to our plans to implement the Act in September 2020. It was kept under review, however, as the Minister was keen for the legislation to be implemented at the first possible opportunity. We continued to work with the unions on the issues that they had raised. We resolved those issues and updated the 2 guidance. With the ongoing pandemic and the situation in schools, it has been agreed that September 2021 is the ideal time to commence the legislation, in order to give schools time to prepare for it. The Chairperson (Mr Lyttle): Have pupils been at a disadvantage during the time of non- implementation? Mr Irwin: I would not say that they have been at a disadvantage, Chair. It is not a new issue. The Act builds on the good practices that already exist in schools. It raises the standard by trying to reach a level of consistency in how schools deal with the problem. Schools have always been dealing with bullying; the order is really about ensuring that there is a level of consistency and providing the wee bit of additional support that is needed. The Chairperson (Mr Lyttle): Are you content that schools and unions feel adequately prepared and supported to implement the Act in the new school year? Mr Irwin: There was a good period of co-design with school leaders, practitioners and others on the resources that have been developed. There was also co-design done on the recording system. There was then an extensive period of training for all schools and boards of governors. All of that has been done. We continue to work with the EA, looking at what additional support may be needed in advance of the commencement of the Act and, indeed, as we go forward after September. That will be an ongoing monitoring requirement for us. The Chairperson (Mr Lyttle): How exactly will a pupil benefit from the implementation of the Act? What additional protection from bullying will it provide? Mr Irwin: The Act raises the bar for what schools are expected to do in law. It places duties on boards of governors to ensure that they develop, implement, monitor and review the anti-bullying policies in their school. The statutory guidance that accompanies the legislation provides additional advice to schools about the types of bullying incidents that need to be dealt with, what sort of support is available and how schools can deal with such incidents. Importantly, it will mean that schools must monitor bullying incidents. They must look at the patterns and trends that are emerging. They have to put appropriate policies in place to deal with those. Ultimately, the order will provide better outcomes for children who experience bullying behaviour but also for children who display bullying behaviour.

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