Bí Cineálta Policy to Prevent and Address Bullying Behaviour

The Board of Management of Arklow C.B.S. has adopted the following policy to prevent and address bullying behaviour.

This policy is in place to ensure that students and staff enjoy a respectful and supportive environment that is in keeping with the school’s Catholic characteristic spirit.

At the heart of this policy lies the virtue of charity which is promoted to ensure an orderly, harmonious and effective setting for teaching and learning, so that every student and staff member feels at home in this school.

This policy fully complies with the requirements of Bí Cineálta: Procedures to Prevent and Address Bullying Behaviour for Primary and Post-Primary Schools 2024.

The board of management acknowledges that bullying behaviour interferes with the rights of the child as set out in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and with the rights of parents including the right to a safe school environment for their children. We all, as a school community, have a responsibility to work together to prevent and address bullying behaviour and to deal with the negative impact of bullying behaviour.

We are committed to ensuring that all students who attend our school are kept safe from harm and that the wellbeing of our students is at the forefront of everything that we do. We recognise the negative impact that bullying behaviour can have on the lives of our students and we are fully committed to preventing and addressing bullying behaviour.

We confirm that we will, in accordance with our obligations under equality legislation, take all such steps that are reasonably practicable to prevent the harassment of students or staﬀ on any of the nine grounds specified: gender, civil status, family status, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, race and membership of the Traveller community.

Definition of bullying

Bullying is defined in Cineáltas: Action Plan on Bullying and Bí Cineálta: Procedures to Prevent and Address Bullying Behaviour for Primary and Post-Primary Schools as targeted behaviour, online or oﬄine that causes harm. The harm caused can be physical, social and/or emotional in nature. Bullying behaviour is generally repeated over time and can involve an imbalance of power in relationships between two people or groups of people in society. The detailed definition is provided in Chapter 2 of the Bí Cineálta procedures. All types of bullying will be treated similarly, regardless of motive or of the identity of any of the persons involved. Bullying behaviour involving persons protected by the discrimination provisions under equality legislation will be treated with the same gravity and in the same manner as bullying behaviour involving persons who are not so protected.

Each school is required to develop and implement a Bí Cineálta policy that sets out how the school community prevents and addresses bullying behavior. Strategies to deal with inappropriate behavior that is not bullying behavior are provided for within the school’s Code of Behavior.

Section A: Development/review of our Bí Cineálta policy to prevent and address bullying behaviour

All members of our school community were provided with the opportunity to input into the development/review of this policy.

	Date consulted	Method of consultation
School Staff	05 March 2025 12 March 2025	Staff review and survey Half day Focus on new policy
Students	05 January 2025 February 2025	Student survey and Discussion with Student Council and Student Assemblies
Parents	21 Feb 2025	Survey and presentation at Parent Council
Board of Management	10 April 2025 04 June 2025	Distributed and discussion prior to reviewing the policy for ratification Policy ratifies on Thursday 4 June 2025
Wider school community as appropriate, for example, bus drivers	26 June 2025	Policy distributed to out Bus transport companies
Date policy was approved:		12 June 2025
Date policy was last reviewed:		May / June 2025

Section B: Preventing Bullying Behaviour

This section sets out the prevention strategies that will be used by the school. These include strategies specifically aimed at preventing online bullying behaviour, homophobic and transphobic bullying behaviour, racist bullying behaviour, sexist bullying behaviour and sexual harassment as appropriate (see Chapter 5 of the Bí Cineálta procedures):
Culture and Environment	Curriculum	Relationships and Partnerships	Policy and Planning
Our characteristic spirit sets out The culture which our school Promotes and determines the Values by which behavioural Standards within the school are set. Open Door Policy Active Student Support/Care Team Active Mentoring System Establishment of a Safe Telling Environment Seating Plans Visible Displays around the school Display of students’ work Student Voice Post Box at room 18 Empowerment of student voice- Students’ Council, Class Reps, Liaison Students, Sports Leaders, Focus Groups during inspections Library, Sports Blitz, Morning Breakfast Club, Evening Study, Evening first year homework support classes Positivity Week Seachtain na Gaeilge Open Night Chess Club Lunchtime supervised sports Debating Restorative Practice Neurodiversity Week World Mental Health Day Beach and Woodland walks Gaeilge 24 Check & Connect Positive Affirmation Committee (P.A.C.) Random Acts of Kindness Whole school barbecue at sports day Behaviour Matrix displayed in all classrooms School Counsellor Room 11 and Room 8	Various awareness weeks throughout the school calendar Variety of programmes are run in SPHE and Wellbeing/Guidance Classes Peer Teaching Wellbeing is at the Centre of all subject plans Wellbeing indicators addressed in all areas of Teaching & Learning 1-year transition programme through SPHE/Wellbeing 1^st Year Induction Days – fun, games & settling in time School Show – Lip Sync AEN/ASD: Primary school visits, weekly AEN meetings, school, culture of inclusion, world dyslexia awareness day, updates to staff from management & AEN meetings, regular staff meeting updates, whole school AEN, yearly meetings of AEN lead teachers and class teachers Staff CPD on area of anti-bullying Whole school survey regarding bullying	Linking with external services e.g. NEPS, CAMHS, Tusla, Gardaí Linking with BOM, PA, Students’ Council, Local clubs, Community Activities, Tidy Towns, Mini Projects, Subject specific CBAs e.g. CSPE Action Project, SPHE CBA Class events, Fundraising events Student Support Team (Year Heads, Tutors, Liaisons, School Counsellor, SNA) Guest Speakers Garda Visits Extra-Curricular- Coaches, Choreographers, Artists Jigsaw Merit System (P.A.C) with first years Check and Connect	Bí Cineálta Policy Code of Behaviour Policy Mobile Phone Acceptable Use Policy Child Safeguarding Data Protection Internet Acceptable use policy, including social media usage Check & Connect Wellbeing built into all Policy Planning Staff aware that they are all mandated persons, child protection procedures handed out each year as reminder and complete Children First E-Learning Programme. Principal & Deputy Principal complete DLP/DDLP training and refreshers

The school has the following supervision and monitoring policies in place to prevent and address bullying behavior (see Chapter 5 of the Bí Cineálta procedures):

Supervision & Monitoring

The school has the following supervision and monitoring policies in place to prevent and address bullying behaviour.

In addition to all the practices identified above under Culture and Environment, Curriculum, Planning and Policy and Relationships and Partnerships Arklow C.B.S. has the following supervision and monitoring policies to prevent and address bullying behaviour:

• Yard and Corridor Breaktime Supervision Rota with staff in designated areas. Any causes for concern are dealt with and reported to school management/Year Heads/Class Tutors.

• All staff are watchful and observe relationships between students in class, note absence patterns and let it be known that high standards of behaviour are always expected

• Survey of Students - Students are surveyed through an online form regarding bullying behaviour

• Student Support/Care Team – the student support team operate a check and connect system where teachers or SNA meet students where concerns may have been brought to their attention

• All class are timetables with a system in place to cover Absence teachers.

• Liaison Students: Morning and lunchtime monitoring of students.

Section C: Addressing Bullying Behaviour

The teacher(s) with responsibility for addressing bullying behaviour is (are) as follows:

When bullying behaviour occurs, the school will:

ensure that the student experiencing bullying behaviour is heard and reassured
seek to ensure the privacy of those involved
conduct all conversations with sensitivity
consider the age and ability of those involved
listen to the views of the student who is experiencing the bullying behaviour as to how best to address the situation
take action in a timely manner
inform parents of those involved

The steps that will be taken by the school to determine if bullying behaviour has occurred, the approaches taken to address the bullying behaviour and to review progress are as follows (see Chapter 6 of the Bí Cineálta procedures):

Addressing Bullying Behaviour

The teacher(s) with responsibility for addressing bullying behaviour is (are) as follows:

• Year Head for each year group assisted by Principal and Deputy Principal

When bullying behaviour occurs, the school will:

• ensure that the student experiencing bullying behaviour is heard and reassured

• seek to ensure the privacy of those involved

• conduct all conversations with sensitivity

• consider the age and ability of those involved

• listen to the views of the student who is experiencing the bullying behaviour as to how best to address the situation

• take action in a timely manner

• inform parents/guardians of those involved

• Where a member of the teaching staff has a concern about a student being bullied, either because of a personal observation or because of receiving a report from a third party, the teacher should without delay refer the matter to the Year Head, Deputy Principal or Principal.

• In investigating bullying behaviour or addressing bullying behaviour in any way, Year Heads are welcome to seek the assistance and support of the principal, the deputy principal or the student support/care team at any time. Indeed, given the extent to which the principal and deputy principal are privy to all kinds of personal information about students, it would be prudent for year heads to check in with either of them before taking any action in relation to bullying behaviour.

• The school reserves the right to investigate allegations of bullying (and to take disciplinary action where necessary) where bullying is perpetrated by a member of the school community and it impinges on the work or well-being of a student in the school, even where the bullying acts are committed outside of the school.

• The school reserves the right, in accordance with Section 6 Bí Cineálta Procedures to Prevent and Address Bullying Behaviour for Primary and Post Primary Schools to seek the assistance of agencies such as NEPS, the HSE, and the Gardaí, where it deems such assistance is necessary to dealing effectively with bullying behaviour. In any case, where the School deems bullying behaviour to be potentially abusive (Section 2 Bí Cineálta Procedures to Prevent and Address Bullying Behaviour for Primary and Post Primary Schools) it will consult with the HSE’s Children and Family Services to assist it in drawing up an appropriate response or to obtain advice or to make a formal child protection report to the HSE or the Gardaí (as appropriate) in accordance with the DES Child Protection Procedures for Primary and Post Primary (revised 2023)

• Concerns about or allegations of bullying will be investigated and addressed in accordance with Section 6 Bí Cineálta Procedures to Prevent and Address Bullying Behaviour for Primary and Post Primary Schools. These are summarised as follows:

• ensure that the student experiencing bullying behaviour feels listened to and reassured

• seek to ensure the privacy of those involved

• conduct all conversations with sensitivity - consider the age and ability of those involved

• listen to the views of the student who is experiencing the bullying behaviour as to how best to address the situation

• act in a timely manner

• inform parents/guardians of those involved*

Review of Strategies:

If the bullying behaviour has not stopped, the year head/deputy principal/principal should:

Review the strategies used to address the bullying.
Consult with the students involved and their parents/guardians to determine next steps.

Agree on a Timeframe:

A timeframe should be set for further engagement and follow-up until the bullying behaviour ceases.

Further Action if Bullying Continues:

If the bullying behaviour continues, the school should consider using strategies from the school’s Code of Behaviour to address the inappropriate behaviour.

Disciplinary Sanctions:

If disciplinary sanctions are necessary, the matter should be handled between the student, their parents/guardians, and the school.

If Parents Are Unsatisfied:

If a parent/guardian is not satisfied with how the bullying has been addressed, they should refer to the school’s complaints procedures, as outlined in the Bí Cineálta Procedures to Prevent and Address Bullying Behaviour for Primary and Post-Primary Schools.

Complaint to Ombudsman for Children:

If a parent/guardian remains dissatisfied after the complaint process, they can contact the Ombudsman for Children if they believe the school’s actions negatively affected the student.

Requests to Take no Action

A student reporting bullying behaviour may ask that a member of staff does nothing about the behaviour other than “look out” for them. The student may not want to be identified as having told someone about the bullying behaviour. They may feel that telling someone might make things more difficult for them. Where this occurs, it is important that the member of staff shows empathy to the student, deals with the matter sensitively and speaks with the student to work out together what steps can be taken to address the matter and how their parents will be informed of the situation. It is important that the student who has experienced bullying behaviour feels safe.

Parents/Guardians may also make schools aware of bullying behaviour that has occurred and specifically request that the school take no action. Parents/Guardians should put this request in writing to the school or be facilitated to do so where there are literacy, digital literacy or language barriers. However, while acknowledging the parent/guardians request, schools may decide that, based on the circumstances, it is appropriate to address the bullying behaviour.

Parents/Guardians are an integral part of the school community and play an important role, in partnership with the school, in addressing bullying behaviour. Where bullying behaviour has occurred, the parents/guardians of the parties will be contacted at an early stage to inform them of the matter and to consult with them on the actions to be taken to address the behaviour as outlined in the school’s Bí Cineálta policy.

When identifying if bullying behaviour has occurred relevant teachers will consider: what, where, when and why?

If a group of students is involved, each student will be engaged with individually at first
Thereafter, all students involved will be met as a group
At the group meeting, each student should be asked for their account of what happened to ensure that everyone in the group is clear about each other’s views
Each student should be supported as appropriate, following the group meeting
It may be helpful to ask the students involved to write down their account of the incident(s)

In circumstances where student expresses concern about their parents/guardians being informed, the school will develop an appropriate plan to support the student and for how their parents/guardians will be informed.

The school will consider communication barriers that may exist when communicating with parents/guardians, for example, literacy, digital literacy or language barriers.

Recording of Bullying Behaviour

Those involved in investigating and resolving bullying behaviour will note, and report developments as follows and, in doing so, they will comply with relevant data protection legislation. It is imperative that all recording of bullying incidents must be done in an objective and factual manner. The school’s procedures for noting and reporting bullying behaviour are as follows:

 Record all incidents of bullying behaviour (using appendix B)

Document the following details:
Type and form of bullying behaviour (if known).
Where and when it took place.
The date of the first engagement with the students and their parents.
Include the views of students and parents/guardians on actions to address the bullying.
Track the review process with students and parents/guardians to check if the bullying behaviour has stopped and get their feedback.
Record the date of each engagement and when it is confirmed that the bullying has ceased.
Note any involvement with external services or supports.
Keep the records according to the school’s record-keeping policy and in line with data protection rules.

 If there’s a Student Support File, place a copy of the record there to help the support team provide consistent help for the student’s wellbeing.

Follow up Where Bullying Behaviour has Occurred

Engagement with Students and Parents/Guardians:

The year head/deputy principal/principal must engage with the students involved in the bullying and their parents.
This engagement should occur no later than 20 school days after the initial contact.

Factors to Consider:

During this engagement, important factors to consider include: 6
The nature of the bullying behaviour.
The effectiveness of the strategies used to address the bullying.
The relationship between the students involved

The school will use the following approaches to support those who experience, witness and display bullying behaviour (see Chapter 6 of the Bí Cineálta procedures):

Support

The school will use the following approaches to support those who experience, witness and display bullying behaviour (see Chapter 6 of the Bí Cineálta procedures):

Students who Experience Bullying or Witness Bullying:

The school’s programme of support for working with pupils affected by bullying is as follows: ▪ Pupils may need counselling and/or opportunities to participate in activities designed to raise their self-esteem, to develop their friendship and social skills and thereby build resilience whenever this is needed.

▪ In this regard the relevant Student Support/Care Team will work closely with the student to ensure they are actively supported in the school and to engage in school-based activities they enjoy. They may be placed on our school’s Check and Connect list.

▪ The schools guidance department will also put in place a program of support in conjunction with the Year Head

▪ The learning strategies applied within the school will also allow for the enhancement of the pupil’s self-worth

Students who display bullying Behaviour:

▪ Pupils who engage in bullying behaviour may need counselling to help them learn other ways of meeting their needs without violating the rights of others.

▪ The Year Head in conjunction with the relevant Student Support /Care Team will work closely with the student in this regard.

Outside Agency Support:

▪ The school in certain circumstances may also seek the support and advice of TUSLA, EWO, NEPS, NCSE, second level school support services, HSE and any other agency deemed appropriate to support the school in dealing with incidents of bullying.

All bullying behaviour will be recorded. This will include the type of behaviour, where and when it took place, and the date of the engagement with students and parents. The actions and supports agreed to address bullying behaviour will be documented. If the bullying behaviour is a child protection concern the matter will be addressed without delay in accordance with Child Protection Procedures for Primary and Post-Primary Schools.

Section D: Oversight

The principal will present an update on bullying behaviour at each board of management meeting. This update will include the number of incidents of bullying behaviour that have been reported since the last meeting, the number of ongoing incidents and the total number of incidents since the beginning of the school year. Where incidents of bullying behaviour have occurred, the principal will also provide a verbal update which will include where relevant, information relating to trends and patterns identified, strategies used to address the bullying behaviour and any wider strategies to prevent and address bullying behaviour where relevant. This update does not contain personal or identifying information. See Chapter 7 of the Bí Cineálta procedures.

This policy is available to our school community on the school’s website and in hard copy on request. A student friendly version of this policy is displayed in the school and is also available on our website and in hard copy on request.

This policy and its implementation will be reviewed, following input from our school community, each calendar year or as soon as practicable after there has been a material change in any matter to which this policy refers.

Signed: Matina Deasy Signature.JPG