Perth and Kinross Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) settings and schools should be safe, secure, healthy, and happy places for our children and young people to attend. By recognising that it is everyone's responsibility to prevent and respond to bullying, school communities will develop a culture of mutual respect and responsibility that will help reduce bullying over time and effectively address incidents when they arise.
By nurturing positive and respectful relationships between all the children, young people and adults in our schools and communities, we will have learning environments that are free from intimidation, harassment and fear, places where bullying cannot thrive; learning environments where our children and young people can be happy, confident and feel safe and in control of what happens for them.
Preventing and responding to bullying behaviour
The Perth and Kinross Council Anti Bullying Strategy and Operational Guidance will support children, young people, parents and staff in ELC settings and schools to feel informed on approaches to prevent bullying and be confident that bullying can be addressed wherever it happens. The development of the strategy and guidance was informed by the views of children, young people, parents and carers and staff from schools and addresses the current issues and concerns of our school communities.
The strategy and guidance are based on the work of the national anti-bullying service respectme. An easy read guide to the strategy can be found here.
'Bullying is both behaviour and impact; the impact is on a person's capacity to feel in control of themselves. This is what we term as their sense of 'agency'. Bullying takes place in the context of relationships; it is behaviour that can make people feel hurt, threatened, frightened, and left out. This behaviour happens face to face and online.' (Scottish Government 2017)
A video to help parents understand what we mean by bullying can be viewed here.
It provides ELC settings and schools with a guiding vision and values and sets out the expectations of our schools. This direction forms the basis for individual school policy and how they should support both the needs of children and young people who experience the impact of the behaviour as well as those who exhibit these behaviours. The strategy and guidance include direction on addressing prejudice motivated bullying and online bullying.
ELC settings and schools should ensure children, young people and parents/carers are provided with information on how to raise a concern through different routes in accordance with the strategy and operational guidance and should respond to incidents of bullying proactively, ensuring the views of the child or young person are heard, using a respectful, proportionate, and holistic approach which takes account of the impact of the incident.
Parents and carers are asked to report any concerns of bullying to the school as soon as they become aware of it.
Links for Parents and Carers
Families Outside - www.familiesoutside.org.uk
No knives, Better lives - www.noknivesbetterlives.com
Children 1st - www.children1st.org.uk
RespectMe Scotland's Anti-Bullying Service - www.respectme.org.uk
Scottish Action for Mental Health - www.samh.org.uk
Children and Young People's Commissioner Scotland - www.cypcs.org.uk
Supporting access to education for travelling and nomadic communities - www.step.education.ed.ac.uk
Show Racism the Red Card - www.theredcard.org
Stonewall Scotland - www.stonewallscotland.org.uk
Scotland's Children's Parliament - www.childrensparliament.org.uk
Youth Scotland; Changing lives through youth work - www.youthscotland.org.uk
Scottish charity to end gender-based violence - www.zerotolerance.org.uk
Young Scot page on Microaggressions as a form of bullying - Microaggressions - Young Scot
Young Scot information about online bullying - What Can I Do If I'm Being Bullied Online? - Young Scot
Charity support for those identifying with visible differences - Changing Faces | Visible Difference & Disfigurement Charity
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