Rating description:
- Fully met: We have a clear definition of bullying which is written into the policy. We have implemented a range of methods to ensure that the entire school community understand the definition. For example: via lessons, sessions for parents, training for school staff etc.
- Partially met: Our definition of bullying is in our school policy but it is not clear and/or it is not understood by the school community.
- Not yet met: The policy does not have a definition of bullying and it is not understood by the school community.
Tips:
- For many reasons it is vital that the school has a shared understanding of what bullying is. This includes the whole-school community including parents, pupils and ALL school staff.
- This often helps in situations where parents, children and schools don't agree that something is bullying or not and can also help when explaining the difference between bullying and banter.
- The Anti-Bullying Alliance has a wealth of resources to support you develop your shared understanding of bullying:
- Information about the ABA definition of bullying
- Links to resources to share the definition of bullying with staff and pupils
- What is bullying? online free CPD training for professionals. This could be distributed to as many school staff as you like to complete.
- Free online parent tool which includes a section on the definition of bullying
Resources and examples:
You can see tools and case studies in the attachments section below.
All Together schools have said:
We held parent workshops to educate parents and up-skill them in spotting and helping to prevent bullying behaviours. Parents were invited into school for workshops throughout the week, to work with their child(ren) and the staff...This activity was extremely beneficial, as lots of the parents initially labelled behaviour as bullying, and it was the pupils who were able to explain why it wasn’t. The children enjoyed completing work alongside members of their family. It also gave the pupils the opportunity to take on the mantle of the expert, ‘teaching’ their parents and sharing their knowledge. Feedback from parents and carers was that the session was extremely useful, informing the way in which they deal with incidents with their children in the future.
Through staff meetings, parent meetings, assemblies and PSHE work it is clear that the school community understand the definition of bullying. OFSTED Feb 2018 states Pupils have a good understanding of bullying and the different forms it can take. They say that incidents of bullying are few and that adults deal with these incidents promptly and fairly. Leaders’ policies, procedures and records are appropriate and detailed. The news letter is used to reach parents to ensure that they understand the definition of bullying. School council reinforce times with their classes (several times on purpose).
We have an anti bullying statement that is accesible from our website (section 2). All of the school’s work on anti-bullying and safeguarding is under the umbrella term “Respect 24/7”. As part of the Respect 24/7 campaign all governors, staff and students sign pledges to do their utmost to show respect to each other, the community and the environment. On signing the pledge, the person demonstrates their commitment to show the utmost respect.