Respectme

• Has the child/young person told you they are being bullied?

YES - talk to them again and find out what they would like you to do.  It's important that they feel involved in plans to resolve the bullying. If you haven't already done so then perhaps take notes about names, dates, incidents, text/email messages etc.

NO - If you have observed the bullying behaviour but no-one has reported it, you still have a responsibility to investigate and, in most cases, record the incident.  If the incident is happening in your presence then you must intervene.  Bullying behaviour must be dealt with in the way which you would deal with any challenging behaviour from a pupil.  A calm and clear approach is required.

• Have you listened to the child/young person being bullied?

YES - It is vital that you give them your full attention.  If they have disclosed concerns about bullying to you then you must be respectful and appreciative of the fact that they have chosen you as the person they are comfortable talking to.  The most important thing to do is to LISTEN and listen well.  Try to talk with them in a quiet place, as free as possible from interruption.  If possible allow them to tell you their concerns at their own pace.  Once they feel that they have told their story then you may wish to get them to go through some important details again and take notes.  Explain that this is just so that you have the facts down on paper and tell them what you will do with the notes.  

Remember, what you think are important details may not be what the child/young person consider to be important.  Don't put too much pressure on them to provide you with dates, times etc at this point.  Finding out how the bullying has made them feel and the impact on their lives is as important as finding out whether or not the latest incident happened on Tuesday or Wednesday.

NO - You must take the time to sit down and speak to them at length.  This conversation should take place in private and when enough time can be devoted to allowing them to talk through their concerns at their own pace.  If you have to get them out of class to speak to them, be aware that they are likely to be highly sensitive and this must be done very discreetly - it's possible that others in the class may guess why you want to speak with them.  When you speak with the child/young person see the advice above.

• Are you convinced that the child/young person is being subjected to bullying behaviour?

YES - Let them know that you believe them and that it sounds like they are right to be concerned.  Find out what they would like you to do.  It's important that they feel involved in what will happen next.  They may say that they don't want you to do anything.  Your decision on this may depend on your own concerns for their safety.  If you are concerned that the bullying is or may become violent then you are obliged to act in a way which will keep that young person safe. 

If you feel that there is no immediate danger to their personal safety then take into account their concerns about you ‘not doing anything'.  Reassure them that you can be discreet and that you will make the other staff in the school aware of the issues.   Try to arrange extra monitoring so that any bullying behaviour will be noted by staff and dealt with in the most appropriate way, without them seeming to have ‘told on' the person(s) involved with the bullying behaviour. 

Depending on the recording and monitoring systems in school you may have to record that they have shared their concerns with you.  If this is the case then tell them you're doing this.  Even when you agree ‘not to do anything' you must view the situation/class/individuals involved with fresh eyes and a new perspective.  Are there any changes that you can make to your supervision, your environment or your practice that will provide less opportunity for bullying behaviour to flourish?

NO - Inform them that you are pleased that they felt they could talk to you and that they did the right thing.   You might think they are experiencing relationship difficulties rather than bullying behaviour.  If this is the case then it's important that you convey this to them.  It's important that children and young people can appropriately define bullying behaviour as well as adults.

• Does immediate action need to be taken?

YES - If you believe that the child/young person's safety is at risk then you must take immediate action and inform them of this.  Use your professional judgement to ascertain what that immediate action should be.  Taking any extraordinary measure would mean that their parents/guardians should be informed.  If there is a concern that an incident may/will take place on the way home from school the school must still act to safeguard them.  In this case schools are often tempted to arrange for the child/young person at risk to leave school early or stay back late.  This may be unavoidable in the very short term but it is not best practice to request that the individual at risk of bullying changes their behaviour.  Any change to timetable, starting or leaving time etc, should only ever be a temporary measure.

In cases where a risk to safety is identified, those who might pose the risk must be spoken to by a member of staff.  Those involved in the bullying behaviour should be informed of the allegations (in a sensitive way, they need not know that it has been directly reported).  They need to gain an understanding of the impact of their behaviour and, if necessary, an understanding of the potential unlawful implications of behaviour.

NO -  Bearing in mind how they feel and keeping them involved, you need to plan to address the behaviour and ensure that the child/young person's experience of school is improved.  At this point you should be relating to the policies and practices of your establishment.  Take on board the reactive strategies and speak to the child/young person about applying them.    This may involve speaking to all children/young people involved together or separately.

• Are you confident in speaking to the child/young person(s) involved in bullying about their behaviour?   

YES/NO - respectme would always advocate speaking to the child/young person involved in a manner that allows you to point out that the behaviour is bullying behaviour.  This is regardless of whether or not their intent was to ‘bully'.  Naming bullying behaviour does not automatically mean that you are labelling a child/young person a ‘bully' for life. 

As adults, if someone wants us to change a behaviour or practice then we expect to be told what the negative or inappropriate behaviour is in order to change it.  We believe that the same applies to children and young people.  If you name the behaviour as bullying then be prepared for a reaction and use the reaction. No-one likes to be called a bully and the child/young person you are talking to is likely to be upset at this statement.  Build upon this.  Ask them why they are upset and what they find so offensive about their behaviour being called bullying.  Children/young people need to understand that regardless of intention, if the recipient of their behaviour is feeling frightened, anxious and low because of the behaviour, the impact means that it's bullying.

Each situation needs to be judged on its own merit.  As the teacher you are likely to have a reasonable or good knowledge of the child/young person you are dealing with and this knowledge can be of great use in this situation.                           

• Is the anti-bullying policy of the school being adhered to?

YES - All teaching and non-teaching staff in the school should be familiar with the anti-bullying policy, whether it is explicit or part of a discipline/pupil support policy.  The policy should offer direction on monitoring and recording allegations, informing and involving parents and outside agencies as appropriate, and implementing suggested strategies to address the behaviour and support all of those involved.

NO - Where there isn't a policy in place or the policy is proving irrelevant or difficult to implement, then guidance should be sought from a senior member of staff with regard to the policy at local authority level.  Get advice about recording and monitoring the allegation, involving and informing parents/carers and outside agencies if appropriate and implementing strategies to tackle the bullying behaviour. 

Where there is no policy or the policy in place is proving to be inadequate then the school has to consider the development of a new policy or the review of existing policy.  respectme can offer guidance and support with policy development and review.

• Are there strategies in place to deal with bullying behaviour?

YES - There should be a range of strategies in place within the school to address and deal with bullying behaviour as it occurs.  It is important to bear a number of things in mind when using strategies.

Firstly, one size does not fit all.  It's likely that you may have to try a number of different strategies before finding one which will resolve the situation.  This means that it can sometimes take time to find one which is successful.  This should be communicated to all parties so that they are aware that the situation is being taken seriously and that every effort is being made.  If temporary measures are in place during this period (e.g. early dismissal from school etc) then it is important to revisit this very regularly in order to ensure that they are working, that there are no growing feelings of isolation etc, and that everyone involved is aware that these are temporary measures.

Secondly, some strategies can only be managed by a staff member who has particular training in the use of that strategy for it to be successful.  This might mean that you, as the staff member who first addressed the bullying, are no longer the staff member responsible for addressing the behaviour.  If you are no longer involved then you must be sensitive in removing yourself.  Explain to the child/young person who first told you about the bullying why you won't be actively involved and the reasons for this.  Ensure that they don't feel abandoned or ‘pushed on' to someone else to deal with.  If it's appropriate for you to remain involved in some way, as someone the child/young person can continue to talk to, then try to do so.

NO - Where there are no strategies in place to deal with the incident then you should seek advice.  It might be appropriate to ask people or agencies outwith  the school.  respectme can help, as can your local educational psychologist, behaviour support team or youth work team.  Be aware that some strategies you come across will require training and might not be suitable at this stage. 

Don't be tempted to jump straight to punitive measures when you don't know what else to do.  Speak to the child/young person who has told you about the bullying and their parents/carers to find out which approach they would like the school to take.  Speak to other members of staff who know those involved to gain their perspective on methods which would likely succeed.  Explain to everyone involved that it might take some time to find a successful strategy (this is always the case) but that every effort is being made to find a successful resolution.