Whole school approach to anti-bullying in schools

All schools have a legal duty to prevent bullying - this should be outlined in policy. All schools should have a carefully considered anti-bullying policy that is put into action on a daily basis, this is vital for the protection of children and young people (CYP) and staff.

The Anti-Bullying Alliance has created some guiding principles when writing or updating your Anti-Bullying policy.

Your policy should:

• Be easy to understand for CYPs, parents and staff. The policy should be available in school and on the school website as well as communicated via numerous means to staff at least annually
• Be provided to staff as part of their induction
• Be reviewed on an annual basis
• Have a clear definition of bullying that is understood by all members of the school community
• State that bullying is never acceptable behaviour and set clear expectations about how all CYPs, staff and parents should treat each other
• Reference the Equality Act 2010 and show your commitment to preventing and responding effectively to the bullying of protected and vulnerable groups of CYP including disabled CYP / CYP with SEN
• Reference action to prevent and respond to bullying outside of school (e.g. cyberbullying, journeys to and from school)
• Include strategies to prevent bullying and typical response strategies (including for home-to-school transport and online bullying)
• Clearly align with other relevant policies (e.g. behaviour, safeguarding, SEND, acceptable use)
• Include a range of methods by which CYPs and parents can report bullying (including a named contact)

Your policy will need to set out the different methods used to address bullying behaviour and repair relationships of those involved. These might include:

• Restorative Practices and Solution-Focused Approaches
• Peer Mediation

Your policy will need to consider:

• Consequences
• When the police need to be involved: there may be a case for police involvement if a crime has been committed. See further guidance in "When to call the police: Guidance for schools and colleges.

Revise other existing policies and documents to ensure they acknowledge and reflect your whole school approach to anti-bullying and do not disadvantage certain CYP or put them at greater risk of bullying or feeling excluded:

• Hair and uniform policy
• Charging policy
• ICT/Mobile phone policies
• Attendance policy
• Physical activity policy
• Homework policy

School policies should also cover children accessing the internet on their own mobile phones whilst at school. A key theme in the Keeping Children Safe in Education guidance is around child-on-child abuse and, in particular, sexual violence and sexual harassment. Child-on-child abuse includes bullying, physical abuse, sexual violence and sexual harassment, the non-consensual sharing of indecent images/videos, and so-called initiation ceremonies. The guidance is very clear that the school's approach to these issues must be in their policies stating how the risk of child-on-child abuse is going to be minimised, how these incidents are recorded, investigated and dealt with and how the victims, and perpetrators, are to be supported.

Guidance and legislation to be aware of

• The Education Act 2002 Section 175 placed a legal duty on maintained schools and Local Authorities to safeguard and promote the welfare of children (legislation.gov.uk)
• Equality Act 2010 (legislation.gov.uk)
• Keeping children safe in education (www.gov.uk)
• The Department for Education (DfE) has produced Guidance: Preventing bullying for all schools, including academies and free schools, which outlines its duties towards preventing and tackling bullying in schools (www.gov.uk)
• A bullying incident should be addressed as a child protection issue under the Children Act 1989 when there is "reasonable cause to suspect that a child is suffering, or is likely to suffer, significant harm." These concerns must be reported to the member of staff in school responsible for child protection and then reported to the local authority's children's social services. (legislation.gov.uk)
• Section 89 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006 states that maintained schools must have measures to encourage good behaviour and prevent all forms of bullying amongst CYP. Some schools choose to include this information in an anti-bullying policy, whilst others include it in their behaviour policy. These measures must be communicated to all CYP, school staff and parents. The head teacher must follow through and adopt the policy and all students, parents and teachers should be notified of it once it has been decided.
• The Independent School Standards (England)(Amendment) Regulations 2012 state that the proprietor of an academy or other independent school is required to ensure that an effective anti-bullying strategy and health & safety strategy is drawn up and implemented.