Counter Bullying Policy

WQ.481/2021

WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR CHILDREN AND EDUCATION BY SENATOR S.W. PALLETT

QUESTION SUBMITTED ON MONDAY 29TH NOVEMBER 2021 ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON MONDAY 6TH DECEMBER 2021

Question

Will the Minister update the Assembly on his department's Counter-Bullying Policy' that was introduced in March 2019, including his assessment of whether its introduction has been a success; will he provide details of the number of incidents of bullying reported in primary and secondary schools for each term in the years 2019, 2020 and 2021, broken down by the type of bullying (as defined within the policy), and will he explain how those involved in bullying are dealt with?

Answer

Since the introduction of the new counter-bullying policy, the following has been completed:

Almost two-thirds (63%) of all schools in Jersey, that is primary and secondary, have been trained in the new Counter bullying approach recommendations. This training involves three separate elements

1. All staff (not just teachers) in schools have been brought up to speed on the changes to the policy and the changes in approaches to the ethos of managing bullying in schools
2. All the parents/carers in those schools have been invited to attend an evening session with the Educational Psychologist who has designed the new counter-bullying approach on Island. This session outlines the new approach and the role of parents in supporting the staff manage bullying in school. Those who were unable to attend the evening session have had the Teams recording of this training made available to them via the school website.
3. All pupils in these schools have received a specially designed assembly on the new counter-bullying approaches and how to support peers in this new approach.

Feedback from all schools on this training has been Excellent'. It is our intention to complete training in all remaining schools by the end of the 2021/22 academic year.

Every school has now nominated a Counter bullying Network Lead' who are responsible for the implementation and coordination of the new policy. These people have been attending regular meetings with the Educational Psychologist coordinating this approach. 70% have been trained in the new tools that have been developed as part of this initiative. This training includes the Whole School Counter Bullying Audit Tool (CBAT). This resource has been specifically designed for this project by the educational psychologist leading on the program and is unique to Jersey. This tool will enable every school to assess how well they are managing bullying in school and focus their attention on things that need improving. There is another training session booked for network leads on Wednesday 8th December to ensure all schools are maintaining the focus of the new counter-bullying approach.

The data for the incidents of bullying reported in primary and secondary schools for each term in the years 2019, 2020 and 2021 is collected and recorded on SIMS by each school's Counter Bullying Network Lead as incidences occur.

To avoid disparity in the data that is being collected before, during and after the whole school training program, it is our aim to update the SIMS database to include all the forms of bullying as outlined in the policy, once all schools have had the training. This should be completed by the end of this academic year.

It is evident that discrepancies will occur in these circumstances as schools gain a clearer understanding of which acts constitute those of a bully and which can and should be classed just as behavioural, but not bullying. This then will be recorded differently on SIMS in a separate box. This disparity in recording was identified some time ago and is being addressed through the whole school training program as outlined above.

• The above table reports on Behavioural Incident data recorded within SIMS.

• Records have been included only where the category of the incident indicates bullying.

• The data was extracted from a series of reports run on the morning of 2021/12/01 against each schools SIMS instance.

• The academic year 2021/2022 is only a partial year of less than one full term.

• Overall numbers have been impacted by the impact of the pandemic on school attendance – thus any comparisons with the initial year of 2018/19 may not be valid.

• A further detailed breakdown by bullying type is not currently available however we are looking to review and improve the consistency of recording and reporting across schools in 2022.

Schools use a range of methods to address bullying within schools including; restorative practise, social stories that put incidents into context and preventative measures through awareness in the PSHE curriculum. One example of innovation in restorative practice is that Grouville School are piloting a peer mediation approach in partnership with the Resolution Centre. Each incident needs to be looked at individually and within its own context to ensure that those involved understand the consequences of their actions and don't repeat the behaviours involved.