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Equity and Bully Prevention Plan

SCHOOL: GCVI DATE: September,  2024

Everyone at our school is committed to making our school a safe, inclusive and equitable environment for all.  We treat each other with respect and we will refuse to tolerate inequities in any form at our school. We know that a “whole-school” approach where all stakeholders are involved in supporting our students helps create and maintain a positive school climate.  

Definition of Bullying

“Bullying” means aggressive and typically repeated behaviour by a student where, 

  1. The behavior is intended by the student to have the effect of, or the student ought to know that the behavior would be likely to have the effect of,
  1. The behavior occurs in a context where there is a real or perceived power imbalance between the student and the individual based on factors such as size, strength, age, intelligence, peer group power, economic status, social status, religion, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, family circumstances, gender, gender identity, gender expression, race, disability or special education needs.

Bullying takes different forms of contexts with age.  It can be physical, verbal, social/emotional or through electronic means (cyber-bullying).  Bystanders contribute to bullying by doing nothing to prevent it or become actively involved in supporting it.

“Cyberbullying” includes electronic communication that:

Examples of Bullying

Safe Schools Committee

(Note: mandatory for all schools – an existing committee may assume this role)

School Administrator: James Cako, Lindsay Baumgartner and Whitney Jackman 

Equity Rep: Barb Muscat

Teacher(s): Brennan Powers, Sarah Bolton, Natalie Brown, Angela Snell, Natalie Gallant, Heather Buck

Support Staff: Bill Bulmer

Student Rep:  (when appropriate) TBD

Parent: Teresa Bain Parent Council

Community Partner:  (if possible)      

The role of this committee should include but is not limited to the following: 

School Monitoring and Review Process

This Bullying Prevention and Inclusive School Plan was developed or reviewed by our Safe School Committee in September,  2024

Our most recent school climate (WHY) survey was conducted on: 2024

56% of students 64# parents, and 7# staff completed our most recent school climate survey.

Data from our most recent climate (WHY) survey indicated that:

89.5% of students feel safe at school.

18.8% of students identified that they have been bullied at school or on the bus in the past year.

35.8% of students indicated that they told an adult about bullying that had occurred.

Training Strategies for Staff and Members of the School Community

Members of our school community will receive Bullying Prevention and Equity & Inclusive training through:

Parents/Community Communication and Outreach Strategies

We will communicate our Bullying Prevention and Equity & Inclusive strategies and initiatives by:

Bullying Prevention and Equity & Inclusive Strategies, Education Programs/Activities

Note:  Our Bullying Prevention and Equity & Inclusive goal(s) are determined after analysis of the results of our school climate (WHY) survey.

School Bullying Prevention and Equity & Inclusive Goals(s):

  1. Foster a learning environment that gives all students a sense of safety and belonging so that they are empowered to take risks, explore new ideas, and take responsibility for their learning.
  2. Include the voices, stories, cultures, and histories of all the students in the classroom, their families, and the greater community.
  3. Support staff in accessing resources to ensure teaching practice is being presented from an anti-racist and anti-oppressive stance.
  4. Increase our connection to and engagement of the parent community through communications, and parental involvement opportunities.
  5. Continue to update our equity and student inclusion goals based on student equity surveys and student voice

Bullying Prevention and Equity & Inclusive, Education Programs and Activities:

Our school currently implements or will implement the following bullying prevention and equity & inclusive education programs and activities that focus on developing healthy relationships and provide leadership opportunities for our students:

  1. Ensure classroom activities are culturally responsive. 
  2. Implement Student success strategies (GAELS Awards, Credit Recovery, Open Door, Alt. Ed programming
  3. Social skills and healthy lifestyle development (Social Worker and Child and Youth Counsellor, intramurals, clubs, activities, arts, service and sports)
  4. Student leadership, mentorship, and agency (Link Crew, Multicultural Club, GCVI Black Student Association, GSA, Senate, Open Minds, etc.)
  5. Focus on building relationships in the classroom
  6. Acknowledging Identity Activity with all staff at September PA day
  7. GCVI Student Equity Survey
  8. Embedding Equity activities in every Professional Development Day

Bullying Prevention and Equity & Inclusive Responsibilities

Staff:

Students:

Parents:

Intervention Strategies

Our staff will use the following process when bullying is reported:

Acknowledge the Incident / Affirm

Gather Information / Ask Questions

Assess Safety / Make a Plan

Act / Follow-up

Reporting Incidents of Bullying

Students, parents, school staff and volunteers may use the following methods to report incidents of bullying as appropriate:

Student to Student:

When responding to a bullying incident, our school staff uses a progressive discipline approach.  Use of Progressive Discipline supports a safe, inclusive and equitable learning and teaching environment in which every student can reach his or her full potential. Strategies may range from early intervention to more intensive intervention in cases of persistent bullying, with possible referral to board support personnel, community or social service agencies.   

These may include but are not limited to: