Recording and monitoring of bullying incidents in schools: supplementary guidance

Who is this document for?

• All school staff – It is crucial that everyone within the school community has a consistent approach to addressing bullying within their establishment and that all staff are aware of the process within the school for recording these incidents on the SEEMiS system.
• Nominated school staff who have responsibility for logging information into SEEMiS. This could include senior management, guidance staff or office staff. In authorities in which the SEEMiS Bullying and Equalities module is not being used currently, decisions on this should be taken at the Local Negotiating Committee for Teachers ( LNCT) and other council negotiating forums.
• Relevant local authority staff in ensuring that SEEMiS is accessible for all schools and used consistently to ensure that bullying incidents across the authority are monitored on a regular basis.

13. This guidance does not apply to early learning and childcare settings outwith the remit of local authorities. However, it should support early learning and childcare settings in developing their own policies on promoting positive relationships and behaviour on anti-bullying.

14. The Scottish Council of Independent Schools ( SCIS) and Education Scotland support the advice within ' Respect for All' and recommend that individual schools continue to develop and improve recording and monitoring systems in keeping with their chosen management information system.

15. This guidance will assist local authorities and schools in implementing the recording and monitoring procedures within their local anti-bullying policy, in line with ' Respect for All'.

16. This guidance also outlines the responsibilities of local authorities and head teachers to monitor bullying incidents at a local level; and identify how improvements can be made to ensure their schools are supporting the wellbeing of all children and young people within the school community.

17. Where Community Learning and Development ( CLD) 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 local authority and/or the school.

18. The National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland 2014 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.