Information sheet
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Whole school community |
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Knowing when bullying is happening, acting to stop it and supporting those involved |
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Handle potentially serious incidents proactively and create opportunities for the whole school community to respond effectively to carer concerns |
It is important for carers and other stakeholders to feel comfortable about informing school staff about their needs, to be aware of existing school protocols — and to be able to contribute to and inform the planning, implementation and evaluation of school policies and procedures for addressing bullying, harassment, discrimination and violence.
An effective strategy is to connect with carers and other school community stakeholders in a way that allows them to inform the decisions being made about policy and protocols. By ensuring a full diversity of views, this 'brainstorming' of ideas and collective agreement can lead to a sense of ownership and a commitment to report incidents of discrimination, to work through the issues and address instances of bullying, harassment, discrimination and violence within and beyond the school community.
Where policies and procedures are already in place, a consultative process enables carers to be equal partners in evaluating and reviewing practices in changing circumstances and developments.
One primary school has established a critically reflective community of learners. This process, when used as part of the behaviour management strategies, allows the students to critically question what has happened; to identify the outcomes for themselves and others; to decide whether this is the way they really want things to be; and to examine ways in which they could change their behaviour to achieve better outcomes.
This reflective process provides opportunities to examine language and behaviours that are related to the construction of gender, race, class and disability and may have also been contributing factors to bullying incidents. Teachers are encouraged to seize the 'teachable moment' by addressing the various forms of violence when they occur both within the school and wider community.
Schools in action:
Consultation underpins anti-bullying
success
