Anti-Bullying Policy

At Mary MacKillop School, we value an environment where children grow and develop as individuals, secure in their world.

(School Mission Statement, 1998)

Therefore we do not tolerate bullying

 

Our Definition of Bullying

Bullying at our Mary MacKillop School is defined as the repeated and unprovoked hurting of another person who is less powerful – either physically or psychologically.

Bullying can take many forms, such as:

Physical:

  • Hitting, kicking, punching
  • Pushing, shoving, spitting
  • Making rude gestures
  • Taking or damaging something which belongs to someone else
  • Forcing others to hand over food, money or something that belongs to them
  • Making someone do something they don’t want to

Verbal:

  • Name calling
  • Teasing
  • Threatening
  • Making fun of someone because of their appearance, physical characteristics or cultural background
  • Making fun of someone’s actions
Indirect:
  • Excluding others from the game or group
  • Spreading untrue stories about others

Reporting of Bullying

At Mary MacKillop School, a child’s class teacher initially manages incidents of bullying.

In reference to the Feeling Safe policy (Catholic Education Archdiocese of Brisbane) children are encouraged to report incidents of bullying to any one of five adults that he or she trusts, such as the school principal, a teacher, parent, family friend or counsellor.

Any report of bullying, by a child to one of these trusted adults, must be referred to one of the School Protection Contact people.  These people will be identified to the children on a regular basis.

The staff of Mary MacKillop School will be responsible for the implementing the program and ensuring that incidences of bullying are dealt with in a manner consistent with the policy and as soon as possible after it is reported or observed.

Strategies we will use to deal with Bullying

At Mary MacKillop we will:

  • Talk openly about bullying – what it is, how it affects us, and what we can do about it.              
  • Teach our children the skills that will build their self-esteem and empower them to take the responsibility for themselves – and give them the opportunity to practise these skills.
  • To clearly state in our policy the steps we will take to deal with bullying behaviour.
Responsibilities of Children:
  • To have an understanding of bullying and bullying behaviours.
  • To ‘tell’ if they are being bullied or if they see someone else being bullied – both at school and on the way to and from school.
  • To help someone who is being bullied.
  • To not bully others.

Responsibilities of staff: 

  • To model appropriate behaviours at all times.
  • To deal with all reported and observed incidences of bullying as set out in this policy.
  • To ensure that children are supervised adequately.
  • To deal with all reported incidences of bullying following the steps outlined in this policy.

Responsibilities of Parents:

  • To support the anti-bullying policy of the school.
  • To watch for signs that their child may be being bullied.
  • To speak to their child’s class teacher if they suspect that their child is being bullied.
  • To instruct their child to ‘tell’ if they are bullied.

Evaluation & Review

Evaluating the Program

We will evaluate the program after six months and then after twelve months.  It will be evaluated by:

  • Noting if there has been a reduction in reporting or observed incidences of bullying at Mary MacKillop School.
  • Conducting surveys about bullying incidences in certain year levels in the school to identify outstanding issues.
  • Noting if there has been a change in the ethos of our school.
  • Speaking to teachers at a staff meeting about these issues and the program’s effectiveness.
  • Speaking to parents who have reported incidences to find out if the problem has been resolved.
 

Review

We will review the program –

  • At the beginning of the school year on Assembly, reminding the students of our policy.
  • At the beginning of the school year at a Staff Meeting, reminding the staff of our policy and the strategies that they need to teach their students.
  • Include a copy of the policy in the Parent Handbook for parents at our school.
  • Throughout the year, parents will be informed and reminded of our policy in the school newsletter.
  • Revising the classroom activities on anti-bullying.

Relevant Reading and Support Documents

Berne, Sue(1999) Bullying: An Effective Anti-bullying Program for Primary Schools.  Hawker Brownlow Education, Australia.
Fuller, Andrew(2000) Beating Bullies.  G.N. & E.J. Ridgway, Australia.
Catholic Education Archdiocese of Brisbane(2002) Feeling Safe-An in-service for School Personnel.

See Also

Bullying - Be Aware and Chill Out!

Student Care