Ideas box

Develop active, trusting relationships among all school community groups. Value the varying contributions, skills and knowledge of all school community groups Identify trust gaps

Foster an inclusive school culture and ethos that supports all students and values the diversity of the student, staff and community population including culture, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, physical ability and economic status. Recognise and represent this diversity in all practices Enhance opportunities for connectedness with learning for students at educational risk Empower the school community to challenge discriminatory behaviour

Involve staff, parents and students in collaboratively developing and implementing an active whole school plan to address bullying, harassment, discrimination and violence. Engage the school community through forums, meetings and surveys Clarify the school ethos Establish shared understandings and identification of bullying, harassment, discrimination and violence issues specific to the school community Develop shared responses that address bullying, harassment, violence and discrimination as socially, culturally and historically constructed practices Develop effective whole school plan and procedures related to bullying, harassment, violence and discrimination, guided by the school community Maximise current resources to respond Raise awareness about the policy and practices across the whole school community through assemblies, posters and other communication channels

Provide opportunities through the curriculum for the diversity of students (and staff) to develop relevant knowledge and skills in positive communication. Develop insights into and understandings of the destructive effects of bullying, harassment, discrimination and violence, and ways to respond effectively Reinforce good examples of communication Teach conflict resolution skills Encourage active citizenship Develop and promote informal and formal peer support networks - for example, peer mediation

Maintain pastoral care/student welfare systems that enable all students to feel safe and to feel valued. Develop community understanding of links between student welfare issues and curriculum practice Provide students at risk of being targeted or who are demonstrating discriminatory behaviour with access to specialist/pastoral care staff

Engage the whole school community in a cycle of continuous improvement. Explore ways of monitoring, evaluating and informing progress that respond to school community needs

Encourage and explicitly teach effective bystander behaviour for staff, students and community members. Develop options and skills for students to challenge bullying and harassment and support targeted students Implement a range of strategies to become a 'telling school'

Provide support for students involved in bullying or at risk of becoming involved in bullying. Provide support to all groups (students, staff and carers) who are at risk of or are involved in the experience of bullying

Handle potentially serious incidents proactively and create opportunities for the whole school community to respond effectively to carer concerns. Establish procedures for carers to inform school protocols Enlist support from carers, students, staff and other community members as appropriate

Develop and implement agreed policies, strategies and procedures in handling serious incidents. Ensure that the level of response is appropriate to the incident. Avoid secondary problems arising from not dealing with incidents or dealing with them ineffectively Provide debriefing and support for those involved

Use restorative justice principles to resolve issues and restore the sense of wellbeing for all involved. Utilise evidence-based responses to incidents such as method of shared concern, no blame approach and social problem-solving methods Support the rights of those involved while acknowledging the needs of the particular situation

Review incidents and implement improvements to school responses and policies. Inform and involve staff in an action plan for serious incidents

Create teaching and learning experiences that promote positive peer relations, social skills and resiliency.

• Construct cooperative learning experiences that build bridges between the interests, experiences, abilities and aspirations of students from diverse backgrounds.
• Demonstrate, and encourage students to demonstrate, understanding, respect and valuing of themselves and others.
• Empower students by teaching, practising and supporting constructive communication and conflict resolution skills.

Build capacity of the full diversity of students to actively participate in democratic decision making that affects them at all levels of society.

• Construct cooperative learning experiences that build bridges between the interests, experiences, abilities and aspirations of students from diverse backgrounds.
• Demonstrate, and encourage students to demonstrate, understanding, respect and valuing of themselves and others.
• Empower students by teaching, practising and supporting constructive communication and conflict resolution skills.

Adopt curriculum and pedagogy to enhance inclusion and ensure authenticity to the diversity of the student population.

• Ensure that all curriculum areas value, include and build on the personal, cultural and linguistic knowledge, skills and experiences of students from diverse backgrounds.
• Provide opportunities through all curriculum areas to:
  • critically examine forms of advantage and disadvantage - for example, dominant cultures, peer relations, culturally preferred ways of being
  • question how disadvantage occurs
  • challenge abuses of power based on sex, poverty, disability and other factors
  • develop and practise more equitable behaviours.
• Equip students to recognise, critique and advocate for changes to features of the society, the school and their own culture that support bullying - for example,
  • media, sports, recreation, culture
  • different school cultures
  • risk areas within and beyond the school site
  • risks associated with particular learning activities.
• Regularly review curriculum and pedagogy for focus, appropriate targeting of strategies, and outcomes.

Treat the time in the playground and between classes as an important part of the curriculum and also a time when students can be more vulnerable to bullying, harassment, discrimination and violence.

• Reinforce playground behaviour guidelines and positive social relationships.
• Develop opportunities and skills for social interaction (through play, games and 'hanging out'), which contribute to positive peer relations and networks.
• Review bullying and safety issues by surveys and observations.
• Provide safe places for students.

Involve a wide range of students in identifying where bullying occurs.

• Develop and maintain peer, help and formal networks and support systems for early response — for example, peer support, peer mediation.

Follow school guidelines on incident response and ensure understanding of the consequences and goals of reinforcing everyone's right to be safe at school.

• Ensure that everyone — staff, students and parents — understands the agreed expectations.

Effectively handle incidents according to policies and school plan within classrooms and during out of class activities.

• Understand and be able to use a range of evidenced-based responses to incidents within restorative justice principles.
• Review policies regularly in relation to incidents.

Ensure that all staff are confident to support students affected by serious incidents.

• Activate consequences in accordance with the school plan in a matter-of-fact way.
• Inform students of serious incidents and the school response where appropriate.
• Be able to refer students to appropriate specialist support staff.
• Assist in repairing and rebuilding trust and relationships between students and all groups.