Anti-bullying guidance for adults working with children and young people

Implementing your policy

Education authorities, schools and organisations will have different ways of putting the principles of anti-bullying into practice to reflect local environments and culture. However, the involvement of all stakeholders is vital in converting robust anti-bullying policy into practice.

Successful policy implementation is reliant on relevant staff having sufficient capacity, confidence and competence to prevent bullying from happening in the first place, and to respond effectively to it when it does. Appendix 3 illustrates how the various roles can successfully combine to achieve a whole-setting approach to anti-bullying policy and practice.

Preventing bullying

Anti-bullying policies should not simply focus on steps that will be taken to respond when bullying occurs; preventing bullying is imperative.

Preventative strategies which reduce the likelihood of bullying happening in the first place can be highly effective. Creating an inclusive, safe culture and ethos where the promotion of respectful relationships, development of the skills required to repair relationships where appropriate, and assurance of a meaningful response to all forms of prejudice will help drive a climate where bullying cannot thrive.

There are several approaches through which schools and organisations can work to prevent bullying, including:

• school/organisational culture and ethos, inclusive of youth voice
• policies and practice
• professional learning and development
• high quality learning and teaching
• out-of-school activities, including social skills development.

Engaging with appropriate partners may form an element of both preventative and responsive approaches to bullying. Staff can call on a range of support from within education, health and local authority services, Community Learning and Development and other third sector organisations.

Culture and ethos

The most successful anti-bullying interventions are embedded within a positive climate, ethos and culture that clearly articulates and embeds inclusion, diversity and human rights. By creating inclusive, safe and consistent environments, bullying can be openly acknowledged, candidly discussed and universally challenged as a form of unacceptable behaviour.

Organisational cultures that promote respect, recognise, celebrate and normalise difference, highlight the importance of equalities, social justice and rights, and encourage positive relationships serve as both protective and preventative interventions in anti-bullying work.

Young people consistently tell us about the importance of having good relationships with education staff and other adults involved in their lives. The One Good Adult Job Description describes the skills required by adults to help develop safe, nurturing and encouraging relationships with children and young people.

HM Inspectors have identified five practices that contribute to creating inclusive, safe and consistent learning environments.

1. Effective partnership working helps senior leaders to plan, deliver, monitor, and evaluate approaches.

2. High-quality professional learning builds teacher confidence and skills in responding to bullying effectively.

3. Whole-school universal measures and targeted approaches help to prevent bullying.

4. High-quality curriculum improves understanding of bullying amongst staff, pupils and other stakeholders.

5. Involving children and young people creates a culture of collaboration and respect.

In the context of anti-racism, the Breaking the Mould principles for an anti-racist curriculum, and the Coalition for Racial Equality and Right’s guidance on developing an anti-racist curriculum encapsulate expectations and factors that form learning environments that embed a range of vital aspects of social justice, inclusion and rights and the importance of safeguarding all children and young people from harm.

The Inclusion, Wellbeing and Equalities Professional Learning Framework offers high quality professional learning to support more inclusive environments.

respectme, Scotland’s Anti-Bullying Service, offers free, high-quality training to adults across Scotland and has developed a validated self-assessment toolkit, the ‘respectme reward’, to support schools and settings to evaluate their anti-bullying work and measure its impact. This process uses new data sets gathered from children and young people, parent(s) and staff/volunteers to generate new local intelligence, which is then used to review policy, ensure practice is aligned, and improve outcomes for all stakeholders.

Newark Primary School case study

Newark Primary School experienced an increase in prejudice-based bullying as the school community became more diverse. Senior leaders prioritised building racial literacy and provided staff with training to address and discuss race confidently. The school updated its curriculum to include diverse literature and anti-racist critical thinking. These efforts empowered children to identify and report racist behaviour, promoted cultural learning, and improved staff confidence in handling racial issues. Additionally, trauma-informed practices were implemented to support new learners, creating a supportive and inclusive environment.

Policy and practice

Responses to bullying should sit in the wider context of a school’s approach to relationships and behaviour. A school’s relationships and behaviour policy is core to communicating the school’s expectations of behaviour and how it will manage any situations which arise. The anti-bullying policy should therefore closely align with this broader policy.

There are a range of strategies being used throughout Scotland to improve relationships and behaviour, promote equality and challenge inequality, and develop emotional wellbeing to help prevent and respond to bullying. Examples include mentoring, peer support and bystander education (including Mentors in Violence Prevention for secondary schools and Everyone’s Included for primary schools).

Professional learning and development

Professional learning will support staff to follow a consistent approach to anti-bullying in their schools (for example, respectme anti-bullying training, the Inclusion, Wellbeing and Equalities Professional Learning Framework and Keeping Trauma in Mind). There is a need to ensure that all staff and adults have access to high-quality Career-Long Professional Learning which will help improve the health and wellbeing outcomes of children and young people that they work with. Professional learning and skills development are an important part of building adult confidence, competence and capacity to recognise, prevent and respond to bullying locally. Information on professional learning and development can be found at Section 6.

All education authorities should include its Local Negotiating Committee for Teachers in discussions about professional learning and implementation of this guidance.

Curriculum

Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) is underpinned by the values of wisdom, justice, compassion and integrity. This is further emphasised by the purpose Scotland’s curriculum – to develop the Four Capacities: respectful citizens, confident individuals, effective contributors and successful learners. All aspects of the curriculum hold the potential to embed equality and respect in the school setting and challenge the structures, attitudes and behaviours which cause bullying.

The Health and Wellbeing aspect of CfE offers particular opportunities to support the prevention of bullying. The experiences and outcomes within Responsibility of All emphasises that everyone in a learning community whatever their contact with children and young people share the responsibility for creating a positive ethos and a climate of respect and trust. Learning in health and wellbeing ensures that children and young people develop the knowledge and understanding, skills, capabilities and attributes which they need for mental, emotional, social and physical wellbeing now and in the future.

Experiences and Outcomes withinand Relationships, Sexual Health and Parenthood (RSHP) education offer opportunities to support children and young peoples’ learning and understanding of issues that are age and stage appropriate.

RSHP education is intended to help children and young people build positive relationships as they grow older and presents facts in an objective, balanced and sensitive manner within the framework of curricular values and an awareness of the law. School staff can embed education on healthy relationships and respect using a range of resources and programmes including the Compassionate and Connected Classroom and Cool in School resources, for example.

As well as general learning on healthy relationships and respect, there are opportunities to use the curriculum to address forms of prejudice. This may include:

• opportunities for children and young people to learn about the causes, manifestations, impacts and prevention of prejudice in its various forms (Appendix 2).
• the development of a curriculum which fosters good relations by including meaningful, integrated representation of all protected characteristics and opportunities for organic learning about diverse people, families and communities in society.
• considered learning experiences for children and young people to develop their knowledge and understanding of diversity, rights, and Respect for All.

Aberdeen Grammar School case study

Aberdeen Grammar School involved young people in identifying priorities, leading to a focus on addressing prejudice-based bullying. A working group of students and staff reviewed and updated the Personal and Social Education (PSE) curriculum to cover protected characteristics and current issues like online bullying. The interdisciplinary approach ensures meaningful and relevant content. The revised curriculum has empowered students with the language and confidence to discuss and report bullying, leading to a decline in prejudice-based incidents and fostering a more inclusive environment.

Another important part of the curriculum is about staying safe online which can help prevent online bullying. This may include:

• teaching about respectful online communication and the impact of online behaviour through the Health and Wellbeing curriculum.
• The Experiences & Outcomes for the Technologies area of the curriculum provides an opportunity to educate about the risks of sharing personal information and the importance of good cyber hygiene.
• PSE and Health and Wellbeing lessons can be used to teach about the importance of peer support and bystander intervention strategies, as well as discussing strategies on dealing with the emotional impacts of online bullying.
• cross-curricular activities could be used to reinforce positive online communication, encouraging kindness, respect and inclusivity.

Staff may wish to involve children and young people in the design and delivery of lessons/sessions.

In research by YouthLink Scotland on cyber resilience, young people told us:

Online safety should be discussed regularly with young people with adults they can trust and who can help them seek support.

Young people want information and support on online safety from primary school age to reflect that is when they often gain access to their own devices and social media accounts^[1].

Online safety work must be engaging and fun. This makes it more memorable for young people.

Youth workers can play a key role in supporting young people to discuss and understand online safety.

Young people want opportunities for peer education so they can share their learning with other young people.

Think B4 You Type: anti-bullying toolkit

Think B4 You Type is a free toolkit to help staff support secondary school-aged children and young people to design and lead their own campaign around online bullying. It is designed for use in schools but is helpful for any adults working or volunteering with groups of children to prevent and respond to bullying. Templates, useful resources and case studies are also included in the toolkit.

Responding to bullying

To instil confidence that bullying is taken seriously, it is important for schools and other organisations working with children and young people to take a consistent approach to responding to concerns or allegations of bullying behaviour.

Step 1: Reporting

There are different ways in which a school or organisation may become aware of potential bullying behaviour.

• It may be raised by the child or young person who believes they are being bullied.
• It could be raised by another child or young person who has witnessed behaviour they perceive as bullying.
• It could be raised by a parent or other family member.
• It could be observed by a member of staff or adult volunteers/youth leaders.

It is essential that children, young people and family members feel empowered to report allegations of bullying incidents. Their confidence to raise concerns will be informed by a number of factors including their understanding of the process for reporting, the transparency and rigour of the process for investigating allegations and confidence in the actions that will be taken in response.

There should be clear information within a school or organisation’s anti-bullying policy of the mechanisms through which allegations of bullying should be reported. Given some children, young people and families may be concerned about the potential for escalation of behaviour if they are found to have reported behaviour, consideration should be given to whether it would be appropriate to have mechanisms for anonymised reporting, alongside other reporting mechanisms.

Staff or volunteers who observe bullying should follow their internal procedures for raising concerns about behaviour. All adults should be adequately informed of the details they are expected to provide to the person responsible for recording, which will be related to the content of the recording system.

Step 2: Recording the incident/concern

It is recommended that once an incident or concern has been raised, this should be logged on a school’s or organisation’s recording system as soon as possible. For public schools, in accordance with the education authority’s advice on recording and monitoring personal data; this is ideally within three working days.

It is not necessary for an allegation to be substantiated before it is recorded. Rather details of the reported incident should be recorded, capturing information about the behaviour that took place, who was involved, where and when it is reported to have happened, any potential underlying prejudice, including details of any protected characteristics, and whether the impact indicates any wellbeing concerns or the need for additional support. An investigation into the incident should follow, as set out in the following section, with the recording system being updated throughout the process on the outcome of this investigation, and any action taken as a result.

What information should be recorded?

It is important that a thorough picture of the bullying incident be recorded. When recording potential bullying incidents, the following information must be included:

• the children and young people involved, as well as staff/volunteers or any other adults who witnessed the incident or were involved in the initial response;
• where and when bullying has taken place;
• the type of bullying experienced, e.g. name-calling, rumours, threats;
• any prejudice-based attitudes or behaviour presenting;
• details of any protected characteristic(s);
• consideration of personal or additional support needs and wellbeing concerns;
• the outcome, including if the issue was resolved, not resolved or unfounded;
• the impact of the incident, including consideration of personal or additional support needs and wellbeing concerns; and
• actions taken including resolution at an individual or organisational level.

In line with the UNCRC (including Article 12, children and young people have the right to an opinion and for it to be listened to and taken seriously, and Article 16, children and young people have the right to a private life), where possible, the content of this record should be agreed with the child or young person. In cases where the recording system does not allow for this level of detail and monitoring, schools/organisations may want to review their systems.

Evidence from the Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research 2023, HMIe’s thematic inspection on recording and monitoring bullying incidents, and a 2023 summit on recording and monitoring incidents in schools, indicates that those working with children and young people can be reluctant to record bullying incidents. This can be for a variety of reasons, including concern about inaccurately labelling children as ‘bullies’ or ‘victims’, or a fear that a higher number of incidents recorded could reflect poorly on the school or organisation.

If a school/organisation has very few or no recorded incidents of bullying, it may suggest that children and young people do not feel comfortable reporting incidents or there is staff uncertainty over recording concerns.

The Scottish Government is clear that recording concerns or allegations of bullying plays a crucial role in ensuring all those working with children and young people support their wellbeing. All reports made about bullying should therefore be recorded.

Accurate recording of bullying incidents serves a number of important purposes.

• It demonstrates that bullying is taken seriously, that children are listened to and is the first step in protecting children from bullying.
• It enables monitoring of specific incidents to ensure that an appropriate response has taken place and that the correct support is in place for children and young people.
• It enables monitoring of recurring patterns or trends, thereby encouraging early intervention and making improvements in policy or practice at a local level.
• It enables schools and organisations to assess the effectiveness of their policy and practice, which should be reviewed and updated on a regular basis.

Where bullying has an element of discrimination or abuse based on a protected characteristic, this should be recorded as part of the incident report. SEEMiS enables the person entering the data to identify and record multiple types of incidents (‘nature of incident’) under one incident. There is also the ability to record a range of ‘perceived reasons for the incident’, including if there is a belief that this incident is motivated by racism, sexism, ableism, transphobia, or homophobia and whether any protected characteristic has been targeted. This enables public schools and education authorities to analyse data to identify intersectionality which may be linked to the behaviour.

It is expected that organisations will use a digital recording system where possible and adhere to data protection principles. Public schools should refer to their own Data Protection Team within the education authority regarding local procedures for obtaining permission to record personal data. Other organisations supporting children and young people should refer to their own data protection policies.

Depending on the setting, different systems will be available to record bullying incidents.

For education authorities and public schools, the Bullying and Equalities Module within the SEEMiS system has been identified as the most appropriate tool for such schools and education authorities to record and monitor bullying incidents. Education authorities will have local guidance on recording and monitoring, and public schools should refer to this when developing their approach. Further information on training and support is available in the resources and support section. Where Community Learning and Development staff are working within schools and have access to SEEMiS, they should record incidents on the system but only where protocols have been agreed within the education authority and/or the school.

Independent schools, grant-aided schools and children and young people’s organisations should have robust recording and monitoring systems in place that capture the information set out above.

Whole-school/organisation approach to recording and monitoring

Bullying can be a sensitive topic for staff, children and young people and parents, due to the connotations associated with the term. Parents and young people may have concerns about unfounded allegations being on their record. It is therefore important to build understanding among the whole school community of what will be recorded, how and why.

Labelling children and young people as ‘bullies’ or ‘victims’ can be disempowering and is unhelpful in supporting them to change their behaviour, or in scaffolding their recovery from a bullying experience. It is advised that stigmatising language be avoided when recording concerns about bullying behaviour. SEEMiS for example uses the language ‘child displaying bullying behaviour’ and ‘child experiencing bullying behaviour.’

Labelling an action as bullying behaviour, rather than labelling the person themselves, distinguishes the behaviour from the individual and is a more effective way of helping a child or young person to develop empathy skills and reflect upon their behaviour. This can support and effect change, without stigmatisation. Challenging bullying behaviour in an authoritative, respectful way does not diminish its seriousness or impact and helps to maintain adult focus on the behaviour being the problematic issue, rather than the individual themselves.

All organisations should make parents, children and young people aware of their complaints procedures including any review or appeal process.

Step 3: Investigation

Bullying is a combination of behaviour and impact and should be addressed with compassion and professional curiosity when investigating incidents. Although bullying is often persistent, a single incident can have a significant impact on the health and wellbeing of children and young people and instil a fear that it might happen again. Impact on the individual/group’s health and wellbeing and/or learning and school environment can be established through an investigation of alleged, observed or reported bullying incidents.

The National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland 2021 (updated 2023) makes clear that individual agencies are responsible for ensuring that their staff are competent and confident in carrying out their responsibilities for safeguarding and promoting children’s wellbeing. We expect teachers and all those working with children to identify and act on any concerns to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the child or young person concerned, in line with their local child protection procedures.

A helpful approach would be to ask:

• what was the behaviour?
• what impact did it have?
• what does the child or young person want to happen?
• what do i need to do about it – for example, is there a child protection concern?
• what attitudes, prejudices or other factors may have influenced the behaviour?

Once an investigation has concluded, the system should be updated with the outcome of the investigation. This should include whether the incident was found to be resolved, not resolved or unfounded. Where an incident is found to be bullying, schools should record what supports/interventions were put in place for both for individuals/groups affected by the behaviour and those displaying the behaviour.

If the incident is not bullying, but due to other factors such as changing friendship groups or interpersonal conflict, it can still be difficult for a child or young person and their parents. In these situations it is important for those involved to understand that even though the incident is not bullying there will still be a response from staff who can work with the child or young person and potentially peers to improve the situation.

Understanding responsibility to respond

The pervasive nature of bullying means that it can take place in a variety of locations and situations making it difficult for schools and organisations to hold clear boundaries on where their responsibilities begin and end. For example, situations can begin online and follow the child or young person into the school day or vice versa. For a school to investigate an allegation of bullying, it is likely there will have to be some connection to the school day. However, given the blurring of such boundaries, there is a need to understand that the impacts of such incidents can affect learning, participation and wellbeing and the school or organisation may require to support the child or young people involved even if they do not need to investigate and respond to the incident itself. While in a school or organisation’s care, there is a responsibility to support children and young people’s wellbeing.

However, while schools and organisations have a role in outlining appropriate standards of behaviour in their setting, outwith the setting and online it must be clear in any policies that no one party is, by default, the responsible party to investigate pupil to pupil interactions which take place online and outwith the school day.

Schools and organisations should clearly set out to parents the limitations of the locus of their responsibility to investigate an incident that has taken place away from the school premises, out of hours or online. However, they should detail how they will support the health and wellbeing needs of the child or young person whilst in their care.

Staff members must ensure that appropriate support is provided within school or organisation to the child or young person(s) involved, even when there is no duty to investigate the incident itself.

Step 4: Responding to bullying incidents

All responses to alleged bullying incidents should be child-centred and reviewed individually, rooted firmly in the values of rights, fairness, respect, equality and inclusion. Consideration should be given to how to support the child or young person experiencing the bullying behaviour, and also the person displaying this behaviour, to prevent similar behaviour happening in the future.

A school’s relationships and behaviour policy is core to communicating the school’s expectations of behaviour and how it will manage any situations which arise. It is likely that a range of different practices may be adopted before finding one that is an effective response, as what works for one person may not work for another.

Schools and organisations should be clear on how they will communicate their response to all relevant parties (children and young people involved and their parent(s)). There may be instances where privacy concerns relating to the other child or young person involved means information cannot be shared with the person affected. This lack of information may make the child or young person affected, or their family members, feel that nothing has been done in response to the incident. In such instances the need to respect privacy should be explained and reassurance given that corrective action has been taken.

Supporting the young person experiencing bullying

When supporting a young person who is experiencing bullying, it is crucial to listen to them, take them seriously, understand the impact the behaviour is having on them, and reassure them that the bullying taking place is not their fault. Children and young people need adult help to maintain perspective when they are feeling bullied to reduce the mental impact on them. Getting it right for every child (GIRFEC) and the National Practice Model, including the wellbeing assessment, should guide the support offered.

Where there is not a child protection concern, staff should gain consent from children and inform them, where possible, before contacting families. Where there is not a child protection concern, the child is over the age of 12, has sufficient maturity and understanding^‹ Age of Legal Capacity (Scotland) Act 1991 (legislation.gov.uk)› and no criminal offence has been committed, they may decide that they do not wish for their parent(s) or families to be informed.

Support can include:

• active listening/counselling/talking. This can help them process what is happening, cope with the emotional impact of bullying and think about potential solutions, any consequences of these and support available.
• reporting bullying. Encourage them to share their experience with a trusted adult and report the bullying to the relevant authorities, such as school, youth leaders or the online platform where the bullying occurred.
• peer support. Peer support groups can provide a safe space for them to share their experiences and feelings.
• developing a wellbeing plan. Agreeing next steps, monitoring progress and making adjustments to the plan, particularly if initial actions are not successful.

Children and young people value choice when responding to bullying. Adults can support children and young people to explore a range of options that may suit them, and help them to make informed choices, whilst being aware of any potential consequences of their decisions. The child or young person should be included in decision-making about any plan put in place.

If a child or young person discloses that they are being bullied in multiple settings (at school and an after-school club, for example), staff should follow agreed local processes and procedures regarding confidentiality and sharing of information, respecting the child and young person’s right to privacy, and in line with Getting it right for every child GIRFEC information sharing guidance, relevant data protection legislation and National Guidance for Child Protection. Data protection law allows relevant personal data to be shared lawfully if it is to keep a child or young person at risk safe from neglect or physical, emotional or mental harm, or if it is protecting their physical, mental, or emotional wellbeing. Public schools should contact their education authority for more information on this.

Supporting the child or young person displaying bullying behaviours

Children and young people who exhibit bullying behaviour need adult support to understand the underlying thoughts and feelings driving their actions, and to develop healthier responses and relationships. It is crucial to help them recognise the harm their behaviour causes, repair relationships when possible and desired, and challenge prejudicial attitudes through education and building empathy.

Responses should focus on challenging behaviour, encouraging reflection and preventing reoccurrence. A school’s/organisation’s relationships and behaviour policy should set clear expectations of acceptable and unacceptable behaviour, and the associated responses, including consequences, which staff can utilise, and staff should respond to bullying in line with this policy.

Responses will vary depending on the children or young people and the nature of the incident. While individual responses will vary, there should be consistency in all approaches by focusing on repairing the harm caused where possible and preventing it from happening again. Getting it right for every child (GIRFEC) and the National Practice Model, including the wellbeing assessment, should guide the support offered.

For young people displaying bullying behaviours, adult support can include:

• active listening. To understand what is lying behind the behaviour and help them develop healthier ways to cope with difficult feelings.
• education. Promote empathy and kindness, and help them understand the impact of their actions and why their behaviour is unacceptable.
• parental involvement. Where appropriate, and with the young person’s consent, engage parents in monitoring the situation and guiding more positive behaviour.
• restorative actions. Encourage them to make amends and repair harm, where appropriate.
• developing a wellbeing plan. Setting out responses, monitoring progress and making adjustments to the plan, particularly if initial actions are not successful.

It is important that the appropriate support is put in place for all children and young people involved in a bullying incident. In some instances, this will include children and young people who have witnessed an incident. This may be through pastoral support and could include counselling, peer support, solution-oriented approaches or restorative practice.^‹ School Bullying: a Social Justice Issue? How Restorative Approaches May Prevent Future Violence› Consideration should also be given to any additional factors that may impact upon a child or young person’s wellbeing, including whether any additional support for learning input is required. More information on ways to support children and young people can be accessed via respectme and Education Scotland. Guidance on techniques such as restorative practice and solution-focused approaches can be found in Included, Engaged and Involved 2.

Additional Support Needs

The Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 provides a comprehensive legal framework for the provision of additional, targeted support for children and young people who face barriers to learning. Social emotional or behavioural needs which can arise from bullying, may be considered an additional support need if the bullying is having an impact on the child’s or young person’s learning. This includes children and young people who are demonstrating bullying behaviour as well as those who may be on the receiving end of it.

Children with additional support needs may experience bullying differently and may be targeted because of their additional support needs. They may face additional barriers to understanding or communicating about bullying they are experiencing. Practitioners should fully take into account the additional support needs, including how support needs intersect, and the principles of inclusion in order to deliver sensitive and holistic measures that address bullying. This includes consideration of how children and young people’s views can be included in decisions about what will happen next, and how planned outcomes and actions are communicated clearly to children and young people in a way that works for them following an incident.

Prejudice-based bullying

Preventing and responding to prejudice-based bullying will require a line of enquiry that directly addresses the prejudice(s) that has motivated the bullying behaviour. This will include proactively challenging the root causes of different forms of prejudice – such as harmful stereotyping, stigma, negative perceptions, and ‘othering’ – through the Four Contexts for Learning. It will also include fostering good relationships between different groups, for example working with children and young people with disabilities to raise awareness of disabilities and their impact amongst their peers.^‹ Children in Scotland – Inclusion Ambassadors ›

Schools and other organisations need both ‘reactive’ and ‘proactive’ measures in place to address prejudice-based bullying and should be mindful that distinct forms of prejudice may require targeted interventions. The reporting of bullying, without the inclusion of prejudice, can lead to the under-reporting of hate incidents such as racist incidents. Staff should be mindful that issues of structural inequality are not diluted or avoided when responding and reporting prejudice-based bullying.

Reactive approaches in response to prejudice-based bullying

A ‘reactive’ (or responsive) approach to prejudice-based bullying would include interventions that equip staff with the necessary tools and information to effectively address prejudice-based incidents when they occur. This includes:

• an anti-bullying policy that includes the seven protected characteristics in the Equality Act 2010 relevant to school education (see Appendix 2) and provides clear information about recording procedures, next steps for staff, and processes for child-led family engagement.
• provision of pastoral care for those who have reported that they are experiencing prejudice-based bullying.
• staff consistently responding to manifestations of prejudice, such as pejorative and derogatory language use, or harmful stereotypes.
• well-planned mechanisms for responding to prejudice-based incidents and ensuring they are not repeated.

Schools and organisations should consider whether there are particular patterns of behaviour within their communities, and take proactive or preventative steps to address systemic or structural aspects of school culture or group ethos which may enable prejudices to develop. These steps should be embedded across the curriculum and the whole-setting, as opposed to only standalone events and assemblies that can risk exacerbating prejudice-based behaviours.

Online bullying

Responses to online bullying should be informed by an understanding of such behaviour as a human relationships and wider social interaction concern, rather than merely a technology-enabled phenomena.

Although the devices and platforms allow young people to communicate with their peers at a much faster rate than previous generations, we should also be aware that there is a significant correlation between experiencing online bullying and loneliness among adolescents.

When responding to online bullying in the short term, a young person should be made aware that they are able to use the platform safety settings to reduce the volume of content and messages they are receiving, where appropriate signposting to sources of assistance. Staff can then also support the young person from an emotional/relationships perspective.

Schools and organisations should be clear in their communications and policies that the same standards of behaviour are expected online as they are offline. Inappropriate online behaviour, including bullying, the use of inappropriate language and the soliciting and sharing of nude or semi-nude images and videos, should be subject to the same principles as offline behaviour. Teachers and schools, when managing incidents of concern which take place online, should follow the local child protection policy, ensure they have contacted the designated safeguarding lead when an incident raises a safeguarding concern, with the safeguarding lead contacting Police Scotland as necessary.

Managing incidents of concern which take place online

If staff suspect an electronic device contains bullying material, they should inform the Headteacher or SMT, who will then handle the situation with parents or Police Scotland. In Scotland, teachers do not have the statutory right to search students, and should not investigate the content of devices, as this could raise safeguarding, data protection and potentially other legal issues. More guidance is available for school staff in the Scottish Government’s guidance on mobile phones in Scotland’s schools.

Step 6: Monitoring

Monitoring data on bullying incidents can provide valuable information on the scope and scale of the issue; the data can help identify numeric trends, specific issues around equality and diversity and other relevant data/patterns which may help organisations, schools and education authorities to prevent and respond to bullying incidents efficiently.

This information should be used to identify whether there are trends that indicate specific interventions would be beneficial or where improvements to policy or practice could be made. It can also be used to help identify how effective interventions are, whether there are matters which would benefit from training opportunities and where good practice can be shared locally.

An increase in reports of bullying, including prejudice-based bullying, does not necessarily mean an increase in such behaviour in the setting. This can sometimes be attributed to previous under-reporting of incidents and an improvement in staff confidence in identifying and reporting behaviours following professional learning, policy developments and improvement plans.

Areas that schools, organisations and education authorities may wish to give particular consideration to when monitoring bullying incidents are:

• number, type, location, year group and timing of bullying incidents and whether there is change over time.
• incidents of prejudice-based bullying and whether there is a change over time.

All education authorities have access to the SEEMiS Business Intelligence (BI) Reporting Tool which allows them to view and filter data recorded in the Bullying and Equalities module e.g. how many incidents of specific incident type have occurred across the authority and where incidents are occurring in their schools, for example. These reports can also be made available to individual schools for their own school data, should the education authority choose to make the reports accessible to them.

As approaches vary across Scotland as to how or if education authorities use the Bullying and Equalities module, it would be for individual schools to contact their authority for further information on access to these Business Intelligence reports, if they cannot currently do so.

The most granular level of monitoring data is best carried out at individual school/organisation level, where it can be best understood and used to support the improvement of targeted support and interventions that can be applied in a focused, responsive way. Schools and organisations are also best placed to recognise the unique nuances of geography and demographics.

Recorded incidents of bullying should be monitored by the Senior Leadership Team of a school/children and young people’s organisation on a regular basis. In a school setting this should be more than once a term.

Education authorities should monitor incidents to identify whether individual schools may require any bespoke support to address particular behaviours. They should also monitor trends across the whole education authority.

It is recommended that education authorities monitor school-based incidents at the end of each term. Data should not be analysed in isolation. The local context and other relevant information should be considered alongside the statistical evidence.