Anti-bullying Programmes For Education Authorities

Outline of Support

The consultancy I provide consists of a suite of programmes to choose from including staff training, establishing a mentoring programme for pupils who persistently engage in bullying and leading an anti-bullying advisory group to address issues of bullying across the region.

Biography

I am Dr Elizabeth Nassem, a consultant and researcher in bullying who has a doctorate in school bullying and has developed anti-bullying strategies based on my research. I have provided consultancy to various schools and organisations. I have recently written a book about the interventions I have developed ‘The Teacher’s Guide to Resolving School Bullying: Evidence-Based Strategies and Pupil-Led Interventions’, https://www.amazon.com/Teachers-Guide-Resolving-School-Bullying/dp/1785924192. My research and interventions have also frequently featured in the media such as in The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/2018/jan/17/bullying-is-still-rife-in-schools-heres-how-teachers-can-tackle-it

Staff Training: ‘Understanding and Resolving School Bullying’

This interactive session is for educators and professionals who work in children’s services to enhance their understanding of bullying and develop effective strategies to reduce it. Training is available for half a day or a full day for all participants. In this session, participants will learn how to recognise what behaviours constitute bullying and understand why children engage in bullying. They will develop effective strategies to support those who are victimised, teach children who bully how to behave more respectfully, and harness the voice of pupils and staff to resolve bullying. Staff will feel more confident and equipped to deal with bullying, and ensure that children are protected from harm in safe and effective care, as recommended by Ofsted and safeguarding legislation. Training is also available to support participants to improve relations between children and professional who work with children which may have become hostile, and to understand and resolve bullying amongst colleagues in the workplace.

“A good presentation with interesting research being shared; this is something I could use when talking with trainee teachers about how to support pupils who are being bullied, or display bullying behaviour. Every school needs an Elizabeth Nassem!”
(Participant on staff anti-bullying training session)

A Mentoring Programme for Children who are Bully and/or Victimised
I can work with councils to support schools to implement, develop and evaluate a mentoring programme for children who persistently engage in bullying and/or are victimised. To achieve this, I will provide training, workshops and support sessions to educators about how to develop a mentoring programme. I can also provide a mentoring framework for schools to follow, and support them throughout this process. The mentoring programme can be implemented, evaluated and developed in schools across the region. From this we can develop a system of good practice which could begin to be used nationally. Mentoring addresses the reasons why pupils are engaging in bullying and shows children how to respond more respectfully to other pupils and teachers. Children who are victimised will be supported to learn the most effective ways of responding to bullying and build their self-esteem. I will also train individuals who work with children about how to provide mentoring and mediation for individuals who are in conflict with one another. Schools will be taught how to mentor pupils on a one-to-one, and in small groups of up to six students for one session a week for six to eight weeks.

“Last week when you taught us, that was the last time we had a fight. After that nothing happened with us two… All the stuff with the fights all the naughty things I‘ve I done I’ve quitted it, it’s all gone.”
(Mentee)

Pupil-Led Evidence-Based Interventions

I can provide training, support, resources, a framework and workshops for the education authority to support schools to provide interventions to research the specific issues of bullying pupils have and from this develop tailored interventions to address these issues which substantially harnesses the voices of pupils and staff. I will also work with the authority to support schools to develop a framework to evaluate, and further develop pupil-led interventions. Interventions might consist of pupil-led anti-bullying campaigns, and establishing forums for pupils and staff to address pupils specific issues of bullying, and improve school practices for tackling bullying. I could work with the education authority to write and implement a format for pupils to use diaries articulate their thoughts and feelings, and provide resources to enhance our understanding of their experiences of bullying. Interventions have improved the way pupils respond to bullying, prevented children from retaliating to feeling victimised, and supported staff to develop their skills in addressing bullying.

“They [pupils] came across as positive and a lot more understanding regarding bullying and actually being able to identify what they had done and what had been going on over the past year or so, it was good that they were reflecting and able to see that from a different point of view”.
(Learning mentor who participated in a pupil-led intervention)

Embedding Lessons on Bullying into the Curriculum

I can support the education authority to develop a curriculum to address bullying in-depth which can be implemented in schools. I can also train staff on how they can deliver them in schools. Topics include: recognising bullying; cyberbullying; bullying and protected characteristics such as the bullying of children who are LGBT and SEND; developing respectful relationships between pupils and staff; and how to tackle bullying using pupil-led approaches. Each session will last one hour and eight sessions can be provided.

Advisory Group on Bullying

I can develop and lead an advisory group for individuals who work across the district to address pupils’ specific cases of bullying and support the group to work together to address these issues, and enhance school policies and practices for resolving bullying. The advisory group also provides a forum to share good practice and stay updated on new developments and requirements in addressing school bullying. The advisory group may consist of teachers, support staff, council leaders and individuals who work in organisations which support children such as social services and the police. The advisory group on bullying could feed into a forum that the council already has such as their PSHE network and bullying could be an ongoing item on the agenda.

Policy Development

The new Ofsted framework has placed more emphasis on high quality pastoral support and has highlighted the importance of inspecting the actions schools take to address bullying. To support the education authority to improve policies and practices for tackling bullying I can work with them and schools in their region to help schools develop their anti-bullying polices, and create exemplar polices to address bullying and behavioural policies for schools to use. I could work with the council and schools to ensure that school practices are communicated widely, updated regularly and adequately understood by parents, pupils and staff through helping write and disseminate them, and providing workshops and training. To support the development of policies on bullying I will establish focus groups with pupils, staff and parents to ensure their experiences and recommendations are used to develop the policies and practices. Support can be provided as and when required by the education authority. I can also support schools to implement new requirements of the DfE such as in relationships education.

Research and Interventions

I can research specific areas of bullying required by the council and from this develop recommendations and strategies to address this, for example, in the area of sexual bullying. Programmes, training and resources can be developed to support schools in the area researched. This research will have a strong evidence-base and substantially harness the voices of children and staff.

Support to Deal with the Bullying of Staff

I can support local education authorities to provide training, interventions, forums, mentoring and policy reviews to address the bullying staff may experience, for example, from colleagues and parents. Training can be provided on the signs and symptoms of workplace bullying and how to harness the voices of staff to understand and resolve bullying. I can work with the council and schools to teach staff how to effectively interpret and apply anti-bullying policies to address workplace bullying. Staff will learn how to overcome practical obstacles to resolving workplace bullying, develop useful evidence-based approaches to tackle workplace bullying effectively, and learn how to resolve conflicts and improve relationships after bullying has occurred. Furthermore, strategies will be provided of how individuals who are perceived as engaging in bullying can refrain from bullying and respond to colleagues more respectfully.

Benefits

The services I have provided have led to a dramatic reduction in bullying; and relationships between pupils, and pupils and staff have improved as children have learned how to respond more respectfully rather than engage in bullying. Local education authorities will benefit from the increased skills, network and resources of staff in their region for resolving bullying; the lives and well-being of pupils will be improved; and schools in the community will be adequately supported to thrive and fully reach their potential.