Bullying Prevention Plan

SCHOOL: Ken Danby Public School DATE: September 23, 2021

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.

As an educational community, Ken Danby Public School has a responisibility to continue to identify and describe racism and oppression and then work to dismantle it. Ken Danby Public School is committed to disrupting systemic racism and opression in all of its forms. We are implementing ongoing mandatory anti-racism and anti-opression training for all staff.

Definition of Bullying

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

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,

causing harm, fear or distress to another individual, including physical, psychological, social or academic harm, harm to the individual’s reputation or harm to the individual’s property, or
creating a negative environment at a school for another individual, and

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:

Is used to upset, threaten or embarrass another person.
Uses email, cell phones, text messages and social media sites to threaten, harass, embarrass, socially exclude or damage reputations and friendships.
includes put downs, insults and can also involve spreading rumours, sharing private information, photos or videos or threatening to harm someone.

Examples of Bullying

PHYSICAL AGGRESSION: e.g., hitting, pushing, stealing, damaging property
VERBAL AGGRESSION: e.g., insults, threats, taunting someone in a hurtful way, name calling, making sexist, racist or homophobic comments
SOCIAL OR RELATIONAL AGGRESSION: e.g., spreading rumours about someone, excluding someone, gossiping
ELECTRONIC (Cyberbullying): e.g., spreading rumors and/or hurtful comments through the use of email, cell phones (texts) or on social media.

Safe Schools Committee

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

School Administrator: Blair Conrad, Jill Tutty

Equity Rep: Stacey Periard

Teacher(s): Paul Jordan, Ann Hernandez, Angela Klein, Gabriella Schaller

Support Staff: Bonnie Pomfret

Student Rep: (when appropriate) Leadership Team/Equity Club (Lucas Hannah)

Parent: Melanie Di Reto

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

Develop and annually review the School Bullying Prevention Plan
Implement and analyze data from the School Climate Survey (WHY – Wellness Health of Youth Survey) – every two years
Identify and implement bullying prevention and intervention programs that address the needs of the school
Identify relationship building and community building programs relevant to the needs of the school
Assist with training and awareness raising strategies for staff, students and parents/ guardians
Communicate bullying prevention and intervention strategies and reporting procedures to the school community

School Monitoring and Review Process

This Bullying Prevention and Inclusive School Plan was developed or reviewed by our Safe School Committee on: September 2020

Our most recent school climate (WHY) survey was or will be conducted on: 2019-2020

94 % of students in grades 4-6, 89 % of students in grades 7-8, 16 % of parents, and 23 % of staff completed our most recent school climate survey.

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

53 % of students in grade 4-6 and 42 % of students in grades 7/8 feel very safe at school.

40 % of students in grade 4-6 and 25 % of students in grades 7/8 identified that they have been bullied a few times at school over the last year.

63 % of students in grade 4-6 and 39 % of students in grades 7/8 indicated that they told an adult about bullying that had occurred.

78 % parents who completed the survey felt that adults at school were helpful in resolving bullying issues.

50 % of parents who completed the survey indicated that bullying stopped after their child told an adult about the bullying.

100 % of staff who completed the survey indicated that when steps were taken to address specific incidents of bullying, the intervention was successful.

Training Strategies for Staff and Members of the School Community

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

X☐Board professional development workshops
X☐Online training for new employees
X☐Staff meetings
X☐Provision of professional development materials and resources
X☐Other (please specify)

Parents/Community Communication and Outreach Strategies

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

X☐Including our Bullying Prevention and Equity & Inclusive Plan in our school/student handbook
X☐Including information inserts in our school newsletters and other in-house publications
X☐Sharing information during school assemblies and announcements
X☐Sharing information through bulletin board postings
X☐Sharing information at School Council and other parent meetings
X☐Sharing information at staff meetings
X☐Integrating Bullying Prevention and Equity & Inclusion into classroom instruction
X☐Posting our Bullying Prevention Plan and Safe, Equitable and Inclusive Schools strategy on our school website
X☐Informing parents and school volunteers of our procedures for reporting incidents of bullying and inequity
X☐Assisting parents to build awareness and knowledge so they may support our school Bullying Prevention and Equity & Inclusive strategies

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):

School Climate – Continue to develop a positive feeling of community in our school using events such as spirit days, toonie tuesdays, world relief efforts etc … to continue to strive to support global and local initiatives and develop socially responsible students.
Safe Schools – Staff, students, parents and school community promote and sustain student well-being and positive student behaviour in a safe accepting, inclusive and healthy learning environment. Continue to use school wide collaborative problem solving (CPS) and restorative practices.
Voice – Student, staff and community members will be given the opportunity to voice their opinions, concerns and feel confident that concerns will be addressed. Students will be given opportunities to demonstrate leadership.
Parent Community – Continue to increase the quality of home school connection and parent engagement using suggestions from parents onSchool Council, ideas generated through conversations at Open House and Family Fun night. Increased communication between home and school through home school email, Google Classroom, UGDSB App, and the school website.
Equity – Deepen our understanding of the differences and similarities of all people, with a focus on being your own person within a supportive community. We will continue to celebrate differences, value uniqueness, and “Say Something” when there is injustice. We will utilize the Equity and Inclusion Calendar to identify cultural celebrations and integrate this with the School Improvement goals.

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:

Collaborative Problem solving (CPS) (K-8)
Ongoing discussions: “Have you filled a bucket?” (K-8) Treat everyone with kindness and respect.
We will have a Remembrance/Remember your roots Assembly on Nov. 11th
Many staff have been trained on Collaborative Proactive Solutions and they will use the strategies taught to deal with issues and they come up.
Spirit Teams (cross grades) help create a positive community climate (team activities, random act of kindness (need to find a way to continue during COVID)
Sharing information with students and community via front hall TV, school website and twitter
Black history month and Indigenous rights will be celebrated. Students and staff can share their experiences in videos/class discussions. Literature and media will explicitly include persons of colour or specific cultural background.
Including a Land Acknowledgement in our morning announcements, as well as various versions of Oh Canada.
We will participate, as a school, in Pink T-shirt and Orange T-shirt Days.
We will continue to encourage a system for reporting bullying and allow students to feel safe.
We will develop and foster a culture where all feel safe, appreciated and valued (i.e., Learning Buddies, Spirit Teams, GSA etc.).
We will have designated safe spaces recognized by individual staff members

Bullying Prevention and Equity & Inclusive Responsibilities

Staff:

Closely supervise students in all areas of the school and school grounds
Watch for signs of bullying/racism and stopping it when it happens
Respond quickly and sensitively to bullying/racism reports (Affirm, Ask, Assess, Act)
Take seriously parents’ concerns about bullying/racism incidents
Assign consequences for bullying/racism
Teach students our procedures for reporting incidents of bullying/racism
Provide a safe environment for students who report bullying/racism (protection from retaliation)
Treat others respectfully
Model positive ways of getting along with others

Students:

Treat each other respectfully
Refuse to bully/say racist things to others
Refuse to let others be bullied/say racist things to others
Refuse to watch, laugh or join in when someone is being bullied/attacked because of a race/cultural difference
Include everyone in play, especially those who are often left out
Report bullying/racism to an adult

Parents:

Model positive ways of getting along with others
Help their child find ways to express anger that do not involve hurting others physically or emotionally
Teach problem solving skills
Inform school staff if their child tells them about a bullying/racist incident
Support the schools bullying-prevention/equity efforts
Help their child understand the value of accepting and celebrating individual differences
Be alert to signs their child is being bullied/attacked because of racial/cultural differences or may be bullying/racially targeting others

Intervention Strategies

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

Acknowledge the Incident / Affirm

“You were right to report/get help from an adult.”
“I’m glad you asked for help with this.”

Gather Information / Ask Questions

“Tell me more about what happened.”
“Has this happened before?”
“Did anyone try to help you?”
“Are you telling me this is to get someone in trouble or to keep someone safe?”

Assess Safety / Make a Plan

Determine what the student needs to feel safe now
What can the student do if the bullying continues
What steps need to be taken to limit the possibility of retaliation for the person reporting the bullying
Who the student will tell if there is another incident

Act / Follow-up

Determine “next step” or refer the student to an administrator
Tell them what will happen next
Check with the student to determine the success of the intervention

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:

Safe Schools Incident Reporting (on-line)
On-line Bullying Reporting Tool
Tell an adult in the building (phone, in person, email etc.)
Parent / Teacher interviews
Make an appointment to meet with school staff

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:

Well-Being strategies and programs;
providing students with the opportunity to learn life skills such as conflict resolution, anger management and communication skills;
collaborative problem solving;
utilizing models based on the concepts of peer mediation;
documenting incidents requiring disciplinary measures;
use of progressive discipline and consideration of mitigating factors;
ensuring that contact is made with the parent(s)/guardian(s) of students, under the age of 18, early in the disciplinary process and involving them in a plan to improve the behaviour;
CYC support
referral to outside agencies (e.g., CMHA, DCAFS)
restorative justice practices (e.g., written or verbal apology, community service)