Suite of Programmes To Support Schools To Combat Bullying

Dr Elizabeth Nassem

Outline of Support

The consultancy I provide consists of a suite of programmes tailored to the specific issues of bullying schools have to support pupils, staff and parents to deal more effectively with bullying. These programmes include staff training, interventions, and mentoring for pupils who persistently engage in bullying.

Biography

I am Dr Elizabeth Nassem, a consultant and researcher in school bullying who has a doctorate in school bullying and have developed anti-bullying strategies based on my research. I have provided consultancy to various schools in Yorkshire and the Midlands. 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’, available from Amazon. My research and interventions have also frequently featured in the media such as in The Guardian, 'Bullying is still rife in schools, here's how teachers can tackle it'

Staff Training: Evidence-Based Strategies 
This highly interactive session is designed to help organisations develop effective strategies to reduce bullying. Training is available for half a day or a full day for all school staff including teachers, support staff and school managers. Although schools are legally obliged to tackle bullying, many teachers have not received adequate training to do so. In this session, staff 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 staff to improve relations between pupils and colleagues which may have become hostile, and also 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 ‘Bullies’ and ‘Victims’
I can provide, and/or support staff to provide a mentoring programme for children who persistently engage in bullying and/or are victimised. Mentoring addresses the reasons why pupils are engaging in bullying and show 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. Mediation between pupils who are in conflict with one another can also be provided to resolve the tensions. Mentoring can be provided to pupils on a one-to-one and in small groups of up to six students for a day or half a day for six to eight weeks. Schools often benefit from external support, in particularly complex cases of bullying. I can also support and train to staff to implement the mentoring programme I have developed.

“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
Interventions can be provided 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 work with the school to identify key priorities and agree success criteria, design a range of tailored options and support the school’s preferred anti-bullying interventions. Additional support and advice required by the school will be provided. I can work with approximately ten pupils in each sessions for about an hour for six to eight weeks, and work with up to five groups of children a day. If schools require me to write a report about bullying in their school and provide recommendations this will be researched on the school premises for one day in school. This report will then be presented to the school and the next steps will be agreed. After the project has been implemented, it will also be written up, evaluated and presented to school.

Schools can be supported to develop pupil-led anti-bullying campaigns which address pupils’ experiences of bullying and raise awareness of how to address bullying, for example, through pupil-led anti-bullying assemblies. Meetings between pupils and staff can be facilitated to address the bullying pupils experience, and improve school practices for tackling bullying. Pupils can be provided with diaries and a format to articulate their thoughts and feelings. Interventions have improved the way pupils respond to bullying, prevented children from retaliating to feeling victimised, and supported staff to develop their resources for addressing bullying. Interventions will be evaluated by pupils and staff to assess, and enhance their impact.

“I’ve learned how to be more sympathetic towards others and understand how other people think. I’ve also learned how to control my anger and not use violence and to try and understand how being bad to him affects his personal life and also affects his mind”.
(Pupil who participated in the pupil-led intervention)

“They 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)

Advanced Training and Support for Pupils and Staff
A suite of training programmes and lessons can be provided to address bullying in depth on topics such as: 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 Groups on Bullying
I can develop and facilitate advisory groups of pupils, staff and parents to learn about 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 on bullying could feed into forums that schools already have and schools will be supported to address bullying as an ongoing item on the agenda throughout this process. Support can be provided for these forums on a monthly basis for two to three hours.

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 schools to improve their pastoral support and how they address bullying, behavioural and anti-bullying policies can be reviewed; supported in their implementation; updated; and widely communicated. Polices can also be developed so that pupils, and pupils and staff can resolve conflict peacefully and develop respectful relationships. This will ensure that pupils, staff and parents are fully aware of how to address bullying and problematic behaviour. I will provide schools with the support they require to develop their policies, and act as a critical friend if required. Support can be provided as and when required by the schools for approximately one day every four to six months.

Support to Deal with the Bullying of Staff
Training, interventions, forums, mentoring and policy reviews are also available 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. Staff can be supported to learn 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. Schools will benefit from the increased skills and resources of staff in resolving bullying; the lives and well-being of pupils will be improved; and the school climate will be enhanced so all members of the school community can thrive and fully reach their potential.