Schools are to be assessed on how much effort they are
making to comply with the latest attempt to reduce the scourge
of bullying, it emerged today.
Young people’s minister Ivan Lewis said that inspectors from
education watchdog Ofsted would judge whether schools were doing
enough to implement the anti-bullying charter he was launching
today.
In an interview with PA News, Mr Lewis urged schools to consider
a range of measures including creating “special safe places”
for vulnerable pupils and having an “anxiety box” in which children
could submit anonymous complaints.
While some schools were better than others at tackling bullying,
all should do more to stamp out what amounted to “physical or
emotional assault” that could have tragic consequences, he said.
The anti-bullying charter will be sent to all schools in England
for signing by the chairman of governors, the headteachers and
a pupil representative.
It will mark a public pledge by the school to keep its anti-bullying
policy up to date, support staff to tackle the problem “appropriately”
and reassure pupils their concerns will be dealt with “sensitively
and effectively”.
It will also commit schools to reporting back quickly to parents
when they raise concerns about bullying.
On the flip side of the charter there are “ideas for schools
to consider” including the adoption of safe spaces, anxiety
boxes and informing parents about complaints procedures.
Speaking before the first of the Government’s regional conferences
on bullying, Mr Lewis acknowledged it would not be legally binding
on schools.
“Ofsted have been asked, when they look at behaviour and indiscipline
as part of school standards, to look at what schools are doing
to tackle bullying.
“One of the ways of doing that will be to look at whether they
are putting into practice the charter, the spirit of the charter,
in terms of the action that they are taking.”
He added: “The accountability, if you like, in terms of the
way schools tackle this problem is very much in relation to
Ofsted inspections of schools.”
Ofsted already looks at the anti-bullying policies that schools
have by law to have in place in assessing discipline standards
and asks for the views of parents and pupils as part of that,
a spokeswoman said.
Schools were also being asked to return a signed copy to the
Anti-Bullying Alliance “to indicate their willingness to sign
up to the principles of the charter”, said Mr Lewis.
A spate of suicides earlier in the summer by children apparently
seeking to escape their bullies sparked calls for renewed efforts
to tackle the problem.
Mr Lewis was himself bullied at William Hume Secondary School
in Manchester and managed to end two years of suffering by taking
the bullies on in a physical fight, in which his nose was broken.
But he has insisted that violence was not the answer to the
problem. The suggestions on the back of the charter represented
examples of “best practice” for schools to consider.
“I think every school needs to do more on bullying, frankly.
But I think some schools are far more advanced than others.
“Some schools are using very innovative approaches – for example,
peer mentoring, where they’ve got young people training to be
available to other young people because sometimes you feel more
able to share things with peers.”
The mentors could then help the child that was being bullied
to approach a teacher or other adult within the school, he went
on.
Mr Lewis made clear he believed his experiences showed the value
of open discussion of the problem.
“I think if there had been more of an upfront discussion about
bullying, and a series of things going in the school which recognised
it could be a problem, and messages to me which said, ‘If this
is getting too much for you, come and chat to somebody’ I think
it would have helped in a big way.
“I think the fact it wasn’t spoken about, that in a sense you
felt obliged to internalise it, that made you part of the problem.”
Asked whether things had improved since then, Mr Lewis replied:
“In many schools, yes, in some, no.
“And let’s be clear, there are still people who have a view
that this is part of growing up, it’s character building and
I don’t accept any of that.”
Gill Frances of the Anti-Bullying Alliance said: “We will work
with schools to engage staff, parents and pupils in providing
safe environments for children and young people to learn and
play.
