Rationale

At the out of school club, staff, parents and children work together to create a happy, caring environment. Bullying will not be tolerated. It is everyone’s responsibility to aim to prevent occurrences of bullying and to deal with any incidents quickly and efficiently.

Definition

Bullying can be described as being a deliberate act done to cause distress solely in order to give a feeling of power, status or other gratification to the bully.

Bullying:

• Is a social behaviour often involving groups
• Takes place repeatedly, over time
• Involves an imbalance of power
• Meets the needs of those holding power
• Causes harm to those who are powerless to stop it
• Can take many forms: verbal, physical, psychological

Purposes

• To reduce and eradicate wherever possible instances in which children are subjected to bullying in any form
• To establish appropriate means of providing after care should an incident of bullying occur
• To ensure that all children and staff are aware of this policy and fulfil their obligations to it
• To meet any legal obligations which rest with the club

Guidelines

The club will establish and maintain a number of activities in an effort to combat bullying behaviour:

• Staff will be trained to ensure that all responsibilities in respect of this policy can be delivered in a competent, caring and efficient manner
• Current issues with regard to bullying will be discussed with the children on a regular basis whilst at the club in appropriate groups
• Ongoing review will include examination of preventative measures such as alteration to the club environment, procedures and practices in an effort to reduce the risks of bullying behaviour occurring
• Incidents of bullying will be reviewed and analysed to see if patterns emerge
• The adoption of the “7 steps No Blame approach” will only be used when all other strategies have been exhausted. This approach will be used for persistent, long term bullying

The No Blame Approach

When bullying has been observed or reported then the No Blame offers a simple seven-step procedure which can be used by a staff member or other facilitator. Note that each step has been carefully planned as a single part of a whole and variations may undermine the success of the method.

Step one – talk with the victim

When the facilitator finds out that bullying has happened, she starts by talking to the

victim. During this conversation the listener encourages the victim to describe how he

feels with reflective comments such as, “That must be very hard for you ... So you have felt really upset”. The purpose is not to discover factual evidence about this or other events; if the victim wants to include evidence in the account this is always reframed to establish the resulting distress. For example a comment like, “They have all been ignoring me, nobody will talk to me.” might be replied to with a response like, “So, you felt really lonely and you were upset that you had nobody to talk to”.

 The facilitator should end the meeting by:

• Checking that nothing confidential has been discussed which should not be disclosed to the group.
• Asking the victim to suggest the names of those involved, some colluders or observers and some friends who will make up the group.
• Inviting the victim to produce a piece of writing or a picture which will illustrate his unhappiness.
• Offering the victim an opportunity to talk again at any time during the procedure if things are not going well.

 The victim is not invited to join the group to present his own account, as it is possible that he will make accusations, provoke denial or justification and undermine the problem-solving approach.

Step two – convene a meeting with the people involved

The facilitator arranges to meet with the group of pupils who have been involved and suggested by the victim. A group of six to eight works well. This is an opportunity for the facilitator to use her judgement to balance the group so that helpful and reliable young people are included alongside those whose behaviour has been causing distress. The aim is to use the strengths of group members to bring about the best outcome.

Step three – explain the problem

The facilitator starts by telling the group that she has a problem - she is worried about “John” who is having a very hard time at the moment. She recounts the story of the victim’s unhappiness and uses the piece of writing or a drawing to emphasise his distress. At no time does she discuss the details of the incidents or allocate blame to the group.

Step four – share responsibility

When the account is finished, the listeners may look downcast or uncomfortable and be uncertain about the reason for the meeting. Some may be anxious about possible punishment. The facilitator makes a change in the mood here by stating explicitly that:

• No-one is in trouble or going to be punished
• There is a joint responsibility to help John to be happy and safe
• The group has been convened to help solve the problem.

Step five – ask the group members for their ideas

Group members are usually genuinely moved by the account of John’s distress and relieved that they are not in trouble. No-one has been pushed into a defensive corner by accusations and the power of the group has shifted from the “bully leader” to the group as a whole, whose members withdraw consent for the behaviour to continue. Each member of the group is then encouraged to suggest a way in which the victim could be helped to feel happier. These ideas are stated in the “I” language of intention.” I will walk to school with him.” “I will ask him to sit with me at dinner ideas are owned by the group members and not imposed by the facilitator. She makes positive responses but she does not go on to extract a promise of improved behaviour.

Step six – leave it up to them

The facilitator ends the meeting by passing over the responsibility to the group to solve the problem. No written record is made - it is left as a matter of trust. She thanks them, expresses confidence in a positive outcome and arranges to meet with them again to see how things are going.

Step seven – meet them again

About a week later, the teacher discusses with each student, including the victim, how things have been going. This allows the teacher to monitor the bullying and keeps the young people involved in the process. These meetings are with one group member at a time so that each can give a statement about his contribution without creating a competitive atmosphere. It does not matter if everyone has not kept to his intention, as long as the bullying has stopped.

The victim does not have to become the most popular person in school, just to be safe and happy.

Parents too can play a vital role by:

• Stressing to their children the importance of sociable behaviour
• Reporting any misgivings they have concerning either victims or perpetrators of bullying
• Actively endorsing and supporting the bullying policy

Evaluation Procedures

In order to assess the effectiveness of this policy, the variations in the number of reported incidents will be used as a means of measuring performance.

Conclusion

Responsibility for the implementation of this policy will rest with the staff and committee. However, it is important to remember that all staff, children and parents have an active part to play, both in the evolution development and maintenance of this policy.

The ultimate aim should be to provide an environment free of any threat or fear, thus being conducive to the attainment of individual aspirations.