23rd April

Bullying - Beating the Bullies Wherever They Are
Last week, Sir Alan Steer issued his report on pupil behaviour. He made it clear that bullying is no longer restricted to schools.

It is now everyone's business. The government responded with a plethora of new guidance. Bullies, those who persistently hurt or humiliate their victims, will be targeted in six areas: on journeys to and from school; in further education colleges; at play and leisure provision; in youth activities; in children's homes; and in extended services. Lauren Higgs and Neil Puffett investigate what this means for professionals across the sector

YOUTH ACTIVITES

An effective response to bullying relies on a close partnership between staff in youth groups and other services. As well as promoting equality and addressing bullying incidents, youth groups should:

- Ensure a close partnership with the schools and colleges the young people attend

- Develop contacts with local partner agencies and the local authority anti-bullying lead

- Collaborate with local transport providers to ensure that young people travel to and from the service safely

- Link up with the local Safer Schools Partnership

Many young people also look to youth clubs as a refuge from bullying they are experiencing elsewhere.

JOURNEYS

Local authorities, transport providers, police and community safety teams all have a part to play in tackling the issue of children being bullied as they travel.

Journeys, either on foot or public transport, are often unsupervised situations, with large numbers of young people travelling to or from school or other activities. All agencies bear a responsibility to identify hotspot journey routes, and to know how to deal with incidents. Where incidents are uncovered, the organisations involved have a duty to report them to schools or play providers, which should act on them.

Richard Piggin, operations manager at charity Beatbullying, says the guidance is overdue recognition that bullying happens in the community. But he adds more can be done to educate the public about what to do if they see a child being bullied. "Children are told to tell a teacher if they are bullied at school, but outside school it is difficult for them to know where to turn."

EXTENDED SERVICES

- Pupils who are bullied at school are highly likely to be bullied when using extended services

- Staff should work with the school, local authority and other partners to develop anti-bullying strategies

- Parenting support, provided as part of extended services, can help support parents to address the behaviour of their child, if their child is the one bullying others

- Extended services should offer a range of games and activities, so that children who are less suited to particular activities do not feel left out

- Children should be consulted on spaces where they do not feel safe and staff should rearrange equipment and levels of supervision to rectify this

LOCAL AUTHORITIES

Local authority anti-bullying teams, children's trusts and local safeguarding children's boards are jointly responsible for the strategic planning of anti-bullying work. Councils should promote their anti-bullying policy, and make sure private and voluntary sector partners do the same.

One way to do this is to create an anti-bullying sub-group, as part of the children's trust or local safeguarding children's board. This group could take a lead on communicating anti-bullying aims to partners and the general public. It could launch an accreditation scheme to award organisations that take a positive approach to preventing bullying.

Commissioning is also important. When a provider is awarded a contract to run a service, the council can require it to develop a proper anti-bullying policy.

John Chowcat, general secretary of children's services union Aspect, says children's trusts are critical to tackling bullying. He claims multi-agency anti-bullying groups could be the answer: "There would be concrete gains in more collaboration between schools, local authorities and other relevant agencies."

But he warns that such partnerships need time to develop: "Like all collaborative activity, this will take a while to do properly."

Chowcat is also supportive of local authorities offering accreditation schemes to organisations that are working effectively to tackle bullying. "In a recession, rewarding people is one of the things that can be very effective in improving morale," he says.

Frances Migniuolo, bullying policy analyst at the Children's Services Network, says the new guidance will help to co-ordinate anti-bullying work in local authorities. She says councils must always consider anti-bullying when commissioning services. "There will be a number of voluntary groups and providers that have their own anti-bullying policy, but it must be written into their contract with the local authority. Then people can be held to account."

Councils must also make sure staff are putting policy into practice and getting the training they need.

PLAY

Play and leisure activities can give young people confidence through working together and developing team skills. However, some children find they are always left out or never picked as a partner and can be humiliated by other young people or by an activity leader or coach.

This form of bullying can prevent children and young people from playing outside or moving around their neighbourhood.

The guidance reveals the importance of intervening early to ensure young people feel safe to play, learn and socialise. It also encourages play supervisors to look out for tell-tale signs of young people having damaged clothing or equipment.

Meanwhile, it states that all forms of prejudice should be challenged.

Ute Navidi, chief executive of London Play, sees the guidance as a welcome contribution to the discussion but feels it could better reflect dilemmas faced by play supervisors. This includes an absence of reference to the principles of play that govern how supervisors interact with children.

"The principles help play workers define for themselves at what point they should intervene and when they should leave things to the children," she says. "This document could have enhanced understanding of the principles by applying them to a bullying situation."

FURTHER EDUCATION

- A nominated member of staff, or "anti-bullying lead", should take charge of co-ordinating the college's anti-bullying work

- This leadership role should include responsibility for maintaining anti-bullying policies and arranging training

- They should also respond to and keep records of bullying incidents, and work with the local authority anti-bullying team and other partners

- An inclusive college ethos is essential to prevent bullying. To promote this, colleges are advised to display a charter of rights, endorsing equality and respect

- Learners should be involved in developing the college's anti-bullying policy, which should also be publicised

TRAINING

- A key element of anti-bullying training is creating and publicising a strong anti-bullying policy

- All policies should be developed with input from children and young people, and a child-friendly or easy-read version of the policy should be made available

- Policies should start with a statement of principles, for example, "every student or member of staff has the right to study or teach without discrimination or threat"

- The policy must then provide a definition of bullying, what steps will be taken to prevent bullying, what will happen if a child or young person reports bullying and clear guidelines for staff

- The government also suggests that professionals in different settings should use anti-bullying training sessions to identify potential partner agencies

- This sort of mapping exercise should help organisations to list things such as where they could turn if there was a serious bullying incident, where they can access training on cyberbullying or how they can help a parent of a child who is bullying other children

- Anti-bullying training should involve as many key partners as possible. Local authorities, police community safety teams, large voluntary sector groups and the Anti-Bullying Alliance should also be able to support training

CYBERBULLYING

The impact of cyberbullying should be discussed in lessons to ensure everyone in schools understands the impact, the new guidance advises.

Cyberbullying, which can be carried out by electronic means such as email, chat rooms, websites, mobile phones and digital cameras, typically consists of threats, harassment, humiliation or defamation.

New guidance produced by the Department for Children Schools and Families, alongside Childnet International, advises school staff about how cyberbullying happens and what can be done to prevent it.

Lessons such as information technology, citizenship, social and emotional aspects of learning, and personal, social and health education are the most effective ways of addressing cyberbullying with pupils.

The guidance states that schools need to develop clear guidance to help protect every member of the school, ensuring that the way cyberbullying is tackled is appropriate and consistent.

This approach then needs to be relayed effectively to and discussed with pupils, school staff and parents.

Meanwhile, every school should have policies in place outlining the acceptable use of technologies for both pupils and staff. This can even include behaviour outside of school, such as pupils' use of social networking sites such as Facebook or Bebo, if it harms others or brings the school into disrepute.

The document builds on previous advice on cyberbullying. Claude Knights, director of Kidscape, says it is useful because no framework existed two or three years ago. "It is very necessary to have this kind of comprehensive resource," she says.

Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, which helped form the guidance, says: "For too long cyberbullying has been a partially hidden world that many schools have been unsure how to deal with. This guidance will help to open it up and greatly assist schools in protecting staff and educating pupils."

CHILDREN'S HOMES

Children in care are among the groups most vulnerable to bullying. Steps that staff can take include:

- Considering forms of bullying that are particularly likely in a residential setting, such as taking money or deliberately getting someone into trouble

- Being alert after any home visits - a time when children may be distressed, or feel sensitive and vulnerable, making them more likely to pick on others

- Holding regular review meetings at which children can raise their worries

- Providing private quiet times alone with a young person to explore bullying experiences in the way that a parent might do.

source: Children & Young People Now15th April

The Think Fathers' Shed Goes On Tour to Listen to Dads
On Sunday 19th April a real-life garden shed, complete with old bikes and wellies will hit the road to explore what fatherhood means to people across the country.

The Think Fathers Shed is designed to stimulate debate about modern fatherhood and will be visiting major cities in April and May to gather the views of dads, granddads, mums and children about what makes a great dad and how fathers' roles have changed over the years.  This footage will create candid snapshots from acrosss the country of what fatherhood means - visit the following website in May to see what's been said (www.think-fathers.org).

The Shed will be visiting Briggate in Leeds on 19th April and will be open from 11am to 4pm so go along and have your say.

6th April

New Grant for Pregnant Women
A government grant of £190 will be made available to every pregnant woman from this week.

Women will be entitled to the Health in Pregnancy Grant - which will become available on 6 April - from the 25th week of pregnancy.

Under the Department of Health initiative, women will be able to claim the grant following a consultation with a health professional, such as a midwife, who will advise them on their needs as well as those of their baby.

The aim of the payment is to support the health of women in the last months of pregnancy. According to experts, good health in late pregnancy is important for the health and development of a child in later life.

Women will be given a claim form to sign and the money will be paid directly into their bank or building society account.

The grant will not be taxable and will be disregarded for the purpose of income-related benefits.

Kate Green, chief executive of Child Poverty Action Group, said: "The Health in Pregnancy Grant answers an important, and until now unmet, need for families expecting a child - the costs of raising a child hit parents' pockets weeks before a child is born as they make their home ready for the new arrival.

"The grant will particularly help the poorest children get a fair start in life, as their parents will be much better resourced to provide the care they need from the day they are born."

source: Ben Cook, Children & Young People Now