Action Plan on Bullying Presentation by Deirdre McDonnell Chairperson Anti-Bullying Working Group

Presentation Anti-bullying working group Approach to preventing and tackling bullying Actions Recommendations for further consideration

Anti-bullying working group

Programme for Government commitment March 2011 Anti-bullying Forum May 2012 Working Group established June 2012 –68 Written Submissions –26 Presentations –15 meetings Action Plan –12 Actions –13 Recommendations for further consideration Anti-bullying working group

Approach to preventing and tackling bullying in schools

Nine principles to underpin a school’s approach to preventing and tackling bullying A positive school culture and climate A school wide approach Effective leadership A shared understanding of what bullying is and its impact Anti-bullying policies Consistent recording of reported bullying behaviour Education and training Prevention strategies including awareness raising Established evidence-based intervention strategies

Actions

New National Anti-Bullying Procedures for Schools to be in place for next school year. Review of Teacher Education Support Services to ensure appropriate CPD for teachers. SPHE inspections and Whole School Evaluation to include more evidence of a school’s actions to create a positive school culture and prevent and tackle bullying. School Self-Evaluation to support schools in evaluating their own effectiveness in creating a positive school culture and in preventing and tackling bullying. Supports for schools

New National Anti-Bullying website. DES support for Stand Up Awareness Week Against Homophobic Bullying. Support for a media campaign around cyber- bullying, targetted at young people. Training and awareness raising for parents and boards of management. Measures to support awareness within DES policy units and agencies Awareness raising

Thematic Evaluation of bullying in a sample of primary and post primary schools to assess the effectiveness of actions taken by schools. Research on effective supports for children with special educational needs. Research on prevalence and impact of cyberbullying on mental health and suicidal behaviour. Project may also identify ‘at-risk’ groups. Research

Recommendations for further consideration

Establishment of an Anti-Bullying Implementation Group. Review of protocols between state agencies providing services to schools. Development of a new National Framework for Anti-Bullying. Child Protection Procedures – further guidance for schools and others. Initial Teacher Education programmes to include mandatory anti-bullying element. Bodies involved in curriculum development to fully consider how to embed findings of the working group. Recommendations

Work with book publishers in relation to stereotyping. Sporting organisations to work with schools to ensure shared understandings of, and approaches to combating bullying. Schools should continue to strengthen collaboration and interaction with youth services and encourage youth organisations to also have anti-bullying policies. Social media and telecommunications companies and Internet Service Provides to work with state agencies and others on cyberbullying and related issues. Recommendations

Identify and initiate further research on bullying issues including monitoring and evaluation of initiatives in schools. Research into investigative procedures in other jurisdictions to inform development of proposals for change to the Irish system. Press Council of Ireland to consider reviewing Principle 9 of the Code of Practice for Newspapers and Magazines. Recommendations