Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 13 May 2021
342. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Education if her Department will introduce legislation in relation to bullying following schools in Northern Ireland being legally required to record all incidents of bullying and alleged bullying from 1 September 2021. [25505/21]
View answerUnder my Department’s Action Plan on Bullying, new Anti-Bullying Procedures for Primary and Post-Primary Schools were published at the beginning of the 2013/2014 school year, following consultation with the relevant education partners.
The procedures are designed to give direction and guidance to school authorities and school personnel in preventing and tackling school-based bullying behaviour amongst its students.
Under the Education (Welfare) Act, 2000 all schools are required to have in place a code of behaviour that accords with Developing a Code of Behaviour: Guidelines for Schools as published by the National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB), now referred to as the Educational Welfare Service (EWS). Each school is required to have an anti-bullying policy within its overall code of behaviour. The anti-bullying procedures are underpinned by this legal framework and all schools are required to comply with them.
Under the procedures, all school boards of management are required to adopt and implement an anti-bullying policy which fully complies with the requirements of these procedures. A template anti-bullying policy which must be used by all schools for this purpose is included in the procedures along with a standardised template for recording bullying behaviour.
The procedures for schools outline key principles of best practice for both preventing and tackling bullying and require all schools to commit to these principles in their anti-bullying policy. In particular the policy must set out the school’s procedures for investigating and dealing with bullying and the school’s procedures for the formal noting and recording of bullying behaviour.
The Child Protection Procedures for Primary and Post Primary Schools 2017 give clear direction and guidance to school authorities and to school personnel in relation to meeting the statutory obligations under the Children First Act, 2015 and in the continued implementation within the school setting of the best practice guidance set out in the updated Children First: National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children 2017. The Child Protection Procedures provide that in cases of serious instances of bullying where the behaviour is regarded as possibly abusive, a referral may need to be made by the school to Tusla or An Garda Síochána as appropriate. Where school personnel have concerns about a child arising from alleged bullying behaviour but are not sure whether to report the matter to Tusla, the school designated liaison person should seek advice from Tusla.
The Anti-Bullying Procedures already provide that the board of management of each school, in developing its anti-bullying policy, must formulate the policy in co-operation with both teaching and non-teaching school staff under the leadership of the principal and in consultation with parents and pupils. The need to consult with parents will be further underpinned in law once the Education (Student and Parent Charter Bill) 2019 is enacted. Under the legislation, each school will be required to prepare, publish and implement a Student and Parent Charter in accordance with national guidelines to be published following consultation with the education partners, including those bodies representing parents. The overall aim of the legislation is to improve the level of engagement between schools and students and their parents by inviting feedback, comment and observations from students and parents and by developing a listening culture in the school.
In this context one of the key concepts of the Bill is the need for a school to consult with students and their parents on individual school plans, policies and activities. This approach will help ensure that the various views of students and parents will be heard and responded to by schools on issues or policies including a school’s Anti-Bullying Policy.
