The Grange P-12 College Anti-Bullying Policy

1. POLICY STATEMENT:

The Grange P-12 College is committed to building a secure learning environment where all students feel culturally, emotionally and physically safe. The College values of Respect, Learning and Working together provide a basis upon which appropriate programs and procedures are developed across the college. The School Wide Positive Behaviour Support for Engagement and Learning (SWPB-EL) influences the implementation of all programs and procedures which are designed to: develop a culture that does not tolerate bullying and / or harassing behaviour; while providing an effective framework within which to address incidents and issues of harassment and bullying.

Every student, staff member, parent and visitor at The Grange P-12 College has the right to be respected and feel safe within the College environment and while participating in college activities. A person who bullies or harasses another is denying them that right and is not behaving as a responsible school community member.

2. RATIONALE:

2.1 To provide a safe environment that has a structure to effectively deal with bullying and harassment if they take place.

2.2 Harassment and bullying is often kept a secret from adults. This secrecy often allows bullying and harassment to continue. Students must be able to feel that they can talk about incidences of harassment if the behavior is to cease. Students are often afraid to report bullying for fear that it will get worse. The act of witnessing the bullying of another person and doing nothing to stop it, is as bad as the person who is actually bullying. Bystander responsibility will be adhered to by all members of the school community.

2.3 Any form of harassment is totally unacceptable at The Grange P-12 College.

3. DEFINITIONS OF KEY TERMS:

3.1 Bullying is when someone, or a group of people, who have more power at the time deliberately upset or hurt another person, their property, reputation or social acceptance on more than one occasion. This could occur in a variety of ways: face to face; name-calling; excluding; spreading rumours; on the internet; over the telephone or via text messages.

3.2 What Bullying is NOT:
Many distressing behaviours are not examples of bullying even though they are unpleasant and often require teacher intervention and management.
• Mutual conflict: involves an argument or disagreement between people but not an imbalance of power. Both parties are upset and usually both want a resolution.
• Social rejection or dislike: is not bullying unless it involves deliberate and repeated attempts to cause distress, exclude or create dislike by others.
• Single-episode acts: of nastiness or physical aggression are not the same as bullying. If someone is verbally abused or pushed on one occasion they are not being bullied.

There are many types of behaviours that if continuous can be defined as harassment:

(NOTE: THE FOLLOWING LISTS ARE EXAMPLES ONLY, AND ARE NOT ALL-INCLUSIVE).

3.11 VERBAL:
• Name calling, put downs, ‘knocking’ achievers
• Spreading rumours or gossiping
• Negative comments about someone’s appearance, gender sexuality, cultural or social background
• Homophobic comments or teasing
• Threatening remarks, teasing or speaking rumours about others or their families
• Swearing
• Isolating people from their friends/peers, talking about them in a huddle as if they are not there (making them a ‘non-person’)
• Taking part in ‘whispering campaigns’
• Threatening to ‘get’ another person or have others ‘get’ them.
• Sexual harassment through verbal acts of a sexual nature (asking someone to perform sexual favours, etc.)

3.12 PHYSICAL:
• Threatening behaviour, fighting or using weapons; spitting on others; invasion of ‘personal space’
• Exclusion- leaving someone out repeatedly
• Interfering with another person’s property, by stealing, hiding, damaging or destroying it, or teasing that person with their property (i.e. playing ‘keepings off’)
• Giving ‘greasies’, starting in a determined manner, and making gestures that are threatening
• Sexually harassing others through physical acts of a sexual nature (i.e. unwanted touching)
• Writing offensive notes or graffiti about others.
• Using students to obtain money, food, personal equipment, clothes or other things that students bring to school.
• Forcing students to complete work for someone else

3.13 RACIAL:
• Racist comments or jokes; emails or letter
• Physical abuse
• Negative reference to a person’s appearance, cultural values/beliefs, or language

3.14 SEXUAL
• Sexual harassment is unlawful behaviour under the Commonwealth Sex Discrimination Act 1984 and the Victorian Equal Opportunity Act 1995. It occurs when a person engages in any unwelcome or unreciprocated conduct of a sexual nature (written or verbal), in circumstances which could reasonably be expected to cause offence, humiliation or intimidation.

3.15 DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY AND ELECTRONIC BULLYING

• Spread of rumours via msn
• Placing or altering images without a person’s consent
• Intimidation or making threats to harm others online is a criminal offence
• Giving out personal details to others about others without permission
• Posting offensive comments, messages and bulletins on social networking sites (e.g.Tumblr; Twitter; Formspring; Facebook).
• Downloading inappropriate material e.g. video images of students at school or student incidents and sending it to others
• Using SMS, skype, and e-mails to belittle or intimidate.
• Sending texts which are offensive, demeaning or includes negative comments about someone’s appearance, gender, sexuality, cultural or social background

4. GUIDELINES FOR IMPLEMENTATION:

• Every member of the school community has the right to be protected from all forms of harassment. This includes traveling to and from school, as well as being at school or on any camp, excursion, event (i.e. sporting carnival) or other related activity this is run by The Grange P-12 College.
• Every member of the school community is responsible for implementing this policy. All students can help to stop incidents of bullying and harassment.
• All complaints of harassment should be treated as genuine
• All complaints of harassment/bullying will be listened to, and judged on its own merits.
• Each claim should be acted upon without undue delay
• Both the complainant and the accused have the right to an investigation that is confidential and discreet (realizing that there will be cases where the complainant will inevitably be identified).
• All documentation regarding harassment incidents should be filed in a manner that ensures confidentiality.
• In cases where the complainant is identified, all measures will be taken to ensure that repercussions are minimized (i.e. warning student/s involved that repercussions will result in harsh penalties)
• A copy of all documentation regarding any harassment incident will be passed on to the Assistant Principals.
• Harassment and bullying at The Grange P-12 College will not be tolerated.

5. Program Description

	Callistemon	Deloraine
Student wellbeing	DEECD Student Support services Leading Teachers Team Leaders/Assistant Leaders Classroom Teachers Assistant Principal – Student Wellbeing External Psychological services and agencies.	DEECD Student Support services Student Counselor Leading Teacher - Careers Leading Teacher - MIPS Health Promotions Nurse (0.4) Leading Teacher -Student Wellbeing Home group teachers Year Level Leaders & Assistant Leaders Assistant Principal – Student Wellbeing
Meetings	Leadership Meetings Integration Program meetings Professional Learning Team meetings School Wide Positive Behaviours Meetings	Wellbeing Team meet with above individuals fortnightly Wellbeing Team meeting (weekly) Professional Learning Team meetings Later, Senior & Middle School Meetings School Wide Positive Behaviours Meetings
Curriculum	School Wide Positive Behaviours Support for Engagement and Learning Program E Smart Program Restorative Practices – small group conferences, class conferences, circle time. School Assemblies Prevention/Intervention Programs	School Wide Positive Behaviours Support for Engagement and Learning Program Year Level Assemblies Restorative Practices – small group conferences, class conferences Health Education Prevention/Intervention Programs
Extra Curricula Activities/ Programs	Junior School Council (Student Leadership) Breakfast Club Bigger Buddies Wakakirri Koorie HW Club Harmony Day Cross age tutoring Peer Mediation House Program	Wide Range of Programs which include: Bigger Buddies; VCE Supportive Friends; M Power Girls; Student Leadership; Boyz Crew and special weeks – Mental Health Week, National Youth Week, Harmony Day Structured Lunchtime activities program House Program

6. IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES

6.1 Class/Home group Level:

• Transition programs will be established across key year levels to assist students to adapt quickly to their new stage of learning. The transition process will involve sharing of information about how students learn and their social-emotional wellbeing.

• Class Teacher/Home group teacher to build positive relationships with the students in the class so that they are able to monitor individual students and their connectedness to school.

• The School Wide Positive Behaviours Support for Engagement and Learning (SWPB-EL) system will be implemented at both campuses. All students will be taught the College values and be made familiar with the Behaviour Matrix.

• A range of awareness raising activities on both campuses that incorporates the use of ICT to engage students and the school community.

• Wellbeing team to organize and provide prevention programs; individual counseling; referral to external community agencies and other organizations depending on what is required.

6.2 Staff Level:
• Professional Development and training for staff – e.g. School Wide Positive Behaviours for Engagement and Learning Program, Restorative Practices, No Blame Approach; assertive discipline approaches.

• Professional Development and curriculum support for teaching staff in relation to Internet safety and Cyberbullying.

• Participation of staff in lunchtime activities and other extra curricula activities with students in order to build school connectedness

• Participation of staff in programs such as VCE study camp; House Events; Bigger Buddies and Supportive Friends.

6.3 Parental Level:
• Parent Education via school newsletter, website, parent portal, facebook.

• Information for parents on School Wide Positive Behaviours and the College values communicated both online and in publications designed for parents

• Information in regards to the policy will be shared at Parent Information evenings

• Parent Education forums in regards to Child/Adolescent development; Health Education, Internet Safety and Cybersafety

6.31 What parents can do:
• Listen to your child and take their feelings and fears seriously
• Try not to take everything into your own hands, unless it is absolutely necessary, because this is likely to make your child feel less in control
• Help your child to work out what ideas they have about coping with the problem. Write them down. Include a few of your own if needed to get started. Then talk with your child about which ones might help or not help and why. Choose an idea that they would like to try and then check out how it works.
• Don't call your child names e.g. “weak” or a “sook” and don't let anyone else do so
• If the bullying is verbal teasing you may be able to help your child to learn to ignore it, so the child who is doing it does not get any satisfaction out of it. You could practise at home ways to help your child gain confidence e.g. the way to walk past with their head up
• Help your child think of ways to avoid the situation e.g. by going a different way home, or staying with a group
• Some children are helped by imagining a special wall around them which protects them so that the hard words bounce off
• Work on building your child's confidence in things they do well
NB - Be very careful that your child does not feel that being bullied is their fault.
6.32 Talking to the school
If you need to talk to the school about your concerns as a parent consider who is the most appropriate staff member to deal accordingly with the issue: Classroom teacher, Home group teacher; Team Leader; Year Level Leader or Assistant Year Level Leader; Assistant Principals, or the Student Wellbeing Co-ordinator.
Make a list of the things that have happened to your child. Be clear and be firm about their suffering. Be prepared to name the children who bully.

6.33 Special Note:
If this is an ongoing problem rather than an occasional one for your child or if it happens to your child a lot in different situations with different children it is important to get some professional counselling for support.

7. LINKS TO ASSOCIATED COLLEGE POLICIES:

This policy should be read in conjunction with the following:
• The Grange P-12 College Internet Acceptable Use Policy
• The Grange P-12 College Mobile Phone Policy
• The Grange P-12 College Sexual Harassment Policy
• The Grange P-12 College Student Engagement Guidelines (to be reviewed)

8. TIMELINE/POLICY REVIEW AND EVALUATION

• Wellbeing Team to audit implementation plans and programs on against the Victorian Framework for Student Support, Safe Schools are Effective Schools, Effective Schools are Engaging Schools Policies and review policy 2014.

A short list of links parents and students might find useful:

The Grange P-12 College

Respect, Learning, Working Together