School Statement:
Our Mission Statement says “Kiltiernan National School is a caring school” and we want to ensure that all in our school community, the pupils can live, work and play in an environment that is totally free from bullying. Our ethos is that every member of the school community is equal and valued and must be treated with care and respect.
Definition of Bullying
Bullying is a cruel, abusive behaviour, which is persistent and pervasive and causes suffering to individuals, which is severe and sustained.
It is defined in the Board of Management Handbook (CPMSA, 2007) as “repeated aggressive behaviour of a verbal, physical or psychological nature” and as having many different forms:
• Intimidation or harassment
• Aggression
• Verbal abuse
• Humiliation
• Undermining
• Dominance or abuse of power i.e. senior pupil and a junior pupil
• Different or unfavourable treatment
• Exclusion or isolation
Bullying also includes abusive messages and threats communicated via computers or mobile phone technologies
Once-off incidents are not normally defined as bullying. We accept that child conflicts will happen and if dealt with positively prepare children for life. On occasion children fight, names may be called, lies may be told about a peer or sibling, a child may damage another child‟s toy or property in anger, a threat may be made or children may exclude another child from play. In these situations when children are corrected they generally understand that it is wrong and agree to stop. Relationships subsequently return to normal.
Key Features of Bullying:
• Persistent and/or systematic
• Unwanted
• Subtle
• May be physical or non-physical
So we define bullying as incidents which have become repeated, focused and persistent.
Our Approach
We strive to create an environment where bullying is prevented.
We do this by:
• Ensuring that all our pupils understand what bullying is and that it is wrong.
• We provide high standards of supervision and care for our pupils to implement our good behaviour policy.
• We use teaching methods that are stimulating and lively to maintain the focus and co-operation of our pupils.
• We work in partnership with our pupils and their families and we express our gratitude for their contribution and support.
• We strive to maintain a strong sense of community and ownership within our school to generate a positive sense of esteem and pride in all our work.
• We use lessons which directly deal with this issue in Walk Tall, Religion and R.S.E. Programmes in our approach to dealing with bullying.
• We work to develop a positive attitude and healthy self-esteem in all our pupils through celebrating their achievements, implementing reward systems, communicating children‟s progress and successes to parents, highlighting achievements at assemblies and within our classrooms, displaying, captioning, labelling and celebrating our pupils‟ work.
We make all our pupils aware of what bullying is
- Through story
- Discussion
- Role-play where children can experience a bullying scenario in a safe, controlled environment and equip the children to respond in appropriate ways
- We use „What If?‟ scenarios and discuss how a child might respond
- Assemblies and messages from the principal
In the event that bullying is reported by a child or by a parent to our staff:
- We thoroughly investigate the incidents and record them in our conduct records.
- Key participants in the incident will be interviewed by the Principal and Class Teacher.
- Notes will be kept of each interview.
- If bullying has been established (i.e. that it meets with our definition as outlined above), on the basis of our interviews and on the reported allegations we will then meet the parents of the key participants.
- We will communicate our concerns to each parent, outline our proposed course of action and seek the support of all concerned to bring the matter to a satisfactory conclusion.
These are the steps which we will consider as a minimum requirement from the party/ parties against whom the allegation is made:
1. A carefully prepared, comprehensive apology to the victim
2. A written assurance that the incident will not be repeated
Depending on the severity of the incident these steps may also be considered:
3. Exclusion from school activities and loss of privileges.
4. Separation from the victim.
5. An interview with the bully in the presence of his/her parents.
6. Severe and/or repeated incidents will be brought to the attention of the Board of management for consideration.
We will review all the circumstances leading to confirmed incidents so that we can identify areas where we can prevent future incidents. As our school community grows and evolves we want to be responsive to new demands and challenges so that we can maintain high standards of care and inclusion for all.
We will monitor carefully the happiness and progress of all the children involved as it often takes a period of time for new patterns of behaviour and good communication to become established. We will endeavour to give every child involved equal attention and care as bullying has a detrimental impact on all concerned, both victims and aggressors.
How Parents Can Help:
• Be familiar with our codes of discipline and conduct.
• Listen to your child. Communicate any concerns you may have regarding your child‟s behaviour, mood changes, negative attitudes to others or a new /marked reluctance to attend school.
• Children who bully need to know that this behaviour is unacceptable. It does not lead to healthy, balanced relationships in school or later in life and may ultimately cause great distress to him/herself as much as it has done to others.
• Be aware of the nature/type of communication your child has with friends-e.g. phone, text or internet. Although children are not permitted to use these means of communication at school, issues may arise that come to our attention at school. As parents it is important to be aware of exactly how your child is using these technologies. You should monitor and check their use regularly. If you think your child‟s use of this technology is affecting his/her learning/relationships, at school please inform your class teacher.
We will do everything possible to prevent bullying, but we need your co- operation. We know that bullying of any type can affect your child‟s health, ability to learn, happiness and overall development. If we all work together we will succeed in preventing it. Remember that children who are bullied often become angry and very resentful and this is not conducive for growing or learning.
What to tell your child if he/she is being bullied:
• Bullying develops in secrecy, where good communication channels go unused. You must tell somebody if you are being bullied or if you know someone else that is being bullied. Bullies will be dealt with promptly and immediately in Kiltiernan National School.
• Tell someone – a teacher, the principal, your parents, or an adult you can trust. Remember, if you cannot protect yourself you must seek help.
• Parents are asked to inform the school if for some reason a pupil is afraid to do so.
• If you are being bullied and on your own, shout, run towards an adult or where you see signs of activity.
• Do not stop looking for help until the bullying stops
• If you keep bullying a secret you empower the bully and hinder those who could support you from doing so
• Do not strike back at a bully, tell someone.
