Page Contents

• Purpose, Scope, Definitions

• Bullying prevention

• Incident response

• Reporting concerns to Templestowe College

• Investigations

• Responses to bullying behaviours

• Communication of this policy

• Further information and resources

• Evaluation

Purpose

Templestowe College is committed to providing a safe and respectful learning environment where bullying will not be tolerated.

The purpose of this policy is to:

• explain the definition of bullying so that there is shared understanding amongst all members of the Templestowe College community

• make clear that no form of bullying at Templestowe College will be tolerated

• outline the strategies and programs in place at Templestowe College to build a positive school culture and prevent bullying behaviour

• ask that everyone in our school community be alert to signs and evidence of bullying behaviour, and understands the importance of reporting bullying behaviour to school staff

• ensure that all reported incidents of bullying are appropriately investigated and addressed

• ensure that support is provided to students who may be affected by bullying behaviour (including targets, bystanders, witnesses and students engaging in bullying behaviour)

• seek parental and peer group support in addressing and preventing bullying behaviour at Templestowe College.

When responding to bullying behaviour, Templestowe College aims to:

• be proportionate, consistent and responsive

• find a constructive solution for everyone

• stop the bullying from happening again

• restore and/or repair the relationships between the students involved as appropriate.

Templestowe College acknowledges that school staff have a duty of care to students to take reasonable steps to reduce the risk of reasonably foreseeable harm, which can include harm that may be caused by bullying behaviour.

Scope

This policy addresses how Templestowe College aims to prevent, address and respond to student bullying behaviour. Templestowe College recognises that there are many other types of inappropriate student behaviours that do not meet the definition of bullying which are also unacceptable at our school. These other inappropriate behaviours will be managed in accordance with our Student Wellbeing and Engagement Policy

This policy applies to all school activities, including camps and excursions. TC will also support families when bullying behaviours occur outside of school hours, including online.

Policy

Definitions

Bullying

In 2018 the Education Council of the Council of Australian Governments endorsed the following definition of bullying for use by all Australian schools:

Bullying is an ongoing and deliberate misuse of power in relationships through repeated verbal, physical and/or social behaviour that intends to cause physical, social and/or psychological harm. It can involve an individual or a group misusing their power, or perceived power, over one or more persons who feel unable to stop it from happening.

Bullying can happen in person or online, via various digital platforms and devices and it can be obvious (overt) or hidden (covert). Bullying behaviour is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time (for example, through sharing of digital records).

Bullying of any form or for any reason can have immediate, medium and long-term effects on those involved, including bystanders. Single incidents and conflict or fights between equals, whether in person or online, are not defined as bullying.

Bullying has three main features:

• It involves a misuse of power in a relationship

• It is ongoing and repeated, and

• It involves behaviours that can cause harm.

There are five main types of bullying behaviour:

• Physical – examples include hitting, pushing, shoving or intimidating or otherwise physically hurting another person, damaging or stealing their belongings. It includes threats of violence.

• Covert bullying - can be very difficult for someone outside of the interaction to identify. It can include hand gestures and threatening looks, whispering, excluding or turning your back on a person, restricting where a person can sit and who they can talk with. Social bullying (spreading rumours, manipulation of relationships, excluding, isolating) is often covert bullying.

• Verbal/written – examples include name-calling or insulting someone about an attribute, quality or personal characteristic.

• Social bullying - this is sometimes called relational or emotional bullying and includes deliberately excluding someone, spreading rumours, sharing information that will have a harmful effect on the other person and/or damaging a person’s social reputation or social acceptance.

• Cyberbullying – any form of bullying behaviour that occurs online or via a mobile device. It can be verbal or written, and can include threats of violence as well as images, videos and/or audio.

Bullying can be a form of racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia or other type of social prejudice when the behaviour is targeted at an individual or group because of a personal characteristic, such as race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability.

For further information about bullying, refer to: Bully Stoppers (education.vic.gov.au) and the Department’s Bullying Prevention and Response policy on the Policy and Advisory Library.

Other distressing and inappropriate behaviours

Many distressing and inappropriate behaviours may not constitute bullying even though they are unpleasant. Students who are involved in or who witness any distressing and inappropriate behaviours should report their concerns to school staff and our school will follow our Student Wellbeing and Engagement Policy and/or this Bullying Prevention Policy where the behaviour constitutes bullying in response and support of any affected students.

Mutual conflict involves an argument or disagreement between people with no imbalance of power. In incidents of mutual conflict, generally, both parties are upset and usually both want a resolution to the issue. Unresolved mutual conflict can develop into bullying if one of the parties targets the other repeatedly in retaliation.

Social rejection or dislike is not bullying unless it involves deliberate and repeated attempts to cause distress, exclude or create dislike by others.

Single-episode acts of nastiness or physical aggression are not the same as bullying. However, single episodes of nastiness or physical aggression are not acceptable behaviours at our school and may have serious consequences for students engaging in this behaviour. Templestowe College will use our Student Wellbeing and Engagement Policy and our Inclusion and Diversity Policy to guide a response to single episodes of nastiness or physical aggression.

Harassment is language or actions that are demeaning, offensive or intimidating to a person. It can take many forms, including sexual harassment and disability harassment.

Discrimination is behaviour that treats someone unfavourably because of a personal characteristic (for example, race, religious belief or activity, disability, sex or intersex status, gender identity or sexual orientation).

Discrimination, harassment, and any other inappropriate behaviour is not tolerated at our school and there may be serious consequences for students engaging in this behaviour. This includes any form of racism, religious or disability discrimination, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, or any other behaviour that targets an individual or group. Further information about discrimination and harassment, including definitions, is set out in our Inclusion and Diversity Policy.

Templestowe College has a number of programs and strategies in place to build a positive and inclusive school culture. We strive to foster a school culture and positive relationships to promote wellbeing. We strive to foster a school culture that prevents bullying behaviour by modelling, encouraging and teaching behaviour that demonstrates acceptance, kindness and respect.

Bullying prevention at Templestowe College is proactive and is supported by research that indicates that a whole-school, multifaceted approach is the most effective way to prevent and address bullying. At our school:

• We identify and implement evidence-based programs and initiatives from the Department of Education’s Schools Mental Health Menu that are relevant to preventing and addressing bullying and help us to build a positive and inclusive school climate.

• We strive to build strong partnerships between the school, families and the broader community that means all members work together to ensure the safety of students.

• We participate in the Respectful Relationships initiative, which aims to embed a culture of respect and equality across our school.

• We celebrate the diverse backgrounds of members of our school community and teach multicultural education, including Indigenous History, to promote mutual respect and social cohesion.

• We participate in the Safe Schools program to help us foster a safe environment that is supportive and inclusive of LGBTIQ+ students.

• Teachers are encouraged to incorporate classroom management strategies that discourage bullying and promote positive behaviour.

• A range of year level incursions and programs are planned for each year to raise awareness about bullying and its impacts.

• In the classroom, our social and emotional learning curriculum teaches students what constitutes bullying and how to respond to bullying behaviour assertively. This promotes resilience, assertiveness, conflict resolution and problem solving.

• We promote upstander behaviour as a way of empowering our students to positively and safely take appropriate action when they see or hear of a peer being bullied.

• The Peer Support Program and the Peer Mediation program encourage positive relationships between students in different year levels.  We seek to empower students to be confident communicators and to resolve conflict in a non-aggressive and constructive way.

• Students are encouraged to look out for each other and to talk to teachers and older peers about any bullying they have experienced or witnessed.

For further information about our engagement and wellbeing initiatives, please see our Student Wellbeing and Engagement Policy.

Bullying is not tolerated at our school. We ensure bullying behaviour is identified and addressed with appropriate and proportionate consequences. All bullying complaints will be taken seriously and responded to sensitively.

Students who may be experiencing bullying behaviour, or students who have witnessed bullying behaviour, are encouraged to report their concerns to school staff or another trusted adult as soon as possible.

Our ability to effectively reduce and eliminate bullying behaviour is greatly affected by students and/or parents and carers reporting concerning behaviour as soon as possible, so that the responses implemented by Templestowe College are timely and appropriate in the circumstances.

We encourage students to speak to their relevant Community Executive Team. However, students are welcome to discuss their concerns with any trusted member of staff including teachers, Connect Mentor and Wellbeing Staff etc.

Parents or carers who develop concerns that their child is involved in, or has witnessed bullying behaviour at Templestowe College should contact their relevant Community Executive Team via email or by calling through the school General Office.

When notified of alleged bullying behaviour, school staff are required to use the following process to document incidents:

1. record the details of the allegations in Compass, student files,
   and

2. inform relevant staff, Community Executive Team, Specialist Wellbeing Services Team, and Principal Team members.

The Community Executive Team is responsible for investigating allegations of bullying in a timely and sensitive manner. To appropriately investigate an allegation of bullying, the Community Executive Team may complete some or all of the following (as relevant to the situation):

• speak to the those involved in the allegations, including the target/s, the students allegedly engaging in bullying behaviour/s and any witnesses to the incidents

• speak to the parent/carer(s) of the students involved

• speak to the teachers of the students involved

• take detailed notes of all discussions for future reference

• obtain written statements from all or any of the above.

All communications with the Community Executive Team, in the course of investigating an allegation of bullying, will be managed sensitively. Investigations will aim to be completed in a timely manner.

The objective of completing a thorough investigation into the circumstances of alleged bullying behaviour is to determine the nature of the conduct and the students involved. A thorough understanding of the alleged bullying will inform staff about how to most effectively implement an appropriate response to that behaviour.

Serious bullying, including serious cyberbullying, is a criminal offence and may be referred to Victoria Police. For more information, see: Brodie’s Law.

When the Community Executive Team has sufficient information to understand the circumstances of the alleged bullying and the students involved, a number of strategies may be implemented to address the behaviour and support affected students. These decisions will be in consultation with Specialist Wellbeing Services Team, staff, teachers, the Department of Education, Student Support Services (SSS), Principal Team and the Principal.

There are a number of factors that will be considered when determining the most appropriate response to the behaviour. When making a decision about how to respond to bullying behaviour, Templestowe College will consider:

• the age, maturity and individual circumstances of the students involved

• the severity and frequency of the bullying, and the impact it has had on the target student

• whether the student/s engaging in bullying behaviour have displayed similar behaviour before

• whether the bullying took place in a group or one-to-one context

• whether the students engaging in bullying behaviour demonstrates insight or remorse for their behaviour

• the alleged motive of the behaviour

Community Executive Teams may implement all, or some of the following responses to bullying behaviours:

• Offer wellbeing support, including referral to the Specialist Wellbeing Services Team to

  • the target student or students

  • the students engaging in the bullying behaviour

  • affected students, including witnesses and/or friends of the target student.

• Facilitate a restorative conversation between some or all of the students involved to help to encourage students to take responsibility for their behaviour and explore underlying reasons for conflict or grievance. A restorative conversation is only suitable if all students are involved voluntarily and demonstrate a willingness to engage in the mediation process.

• Work with students and parents to find a suitable natural consequence for the behaviour, so that the student engaged in the bullying behaviour can ‘Make it Right’.

• Facilitate a Student Support Group meeting and/or Behaviour Support Plan for affected students.

• Prepare a Safety Plan or Individual Management Plan restricting contact between target and students engaging in bullying behaviour.

• Provide discussion and/or mentoring for different social and emotional learning competencies of the students involved, including connect affected students with an older Student Mentor, resilience programs, etc.].

• Monitor the behaviour of the students involved for an appropriate time and take follow up action if necessary.

• Implement cohort targeted strategies to reinforce positive behaviours, for example Respectful Relationships.

• Implement proportionate consequences for the students engaging in bullying behaviour, which may include removal of privileges, internal suspension, external suspension and/or expulsion consistent with our Student Wellbeing and Engagement Policy, the Ministerial Order on Suspensions and Expulsions and any other relevant Department policy.

Templestowe College understands the importance of monitoring and following up on the progress of students who have been involved in or affected by bullying behaviour. Where appropriate, school staff will also endeavour to provide parents and carers with updates on the management of bullying incidents.   

Community Executive Teams are responsible for maintaining up to date records of the investigation of and responses to bullying behaviour.

This policy will be communicated to our school community in the following ways:

• Available publicly on the school website

• Included in staff induction processes

• Discussed at staff briefings/meetings as required

• Annually referenced in Next Week @TC

• Hard copy available from school administration upon request

This policy should be read in conjunction with the following school policies:

• Statement of Values and School Philosophy

• Student Wellbeing and Engagement Policy

• Parent Disputes Policy

• Concerns and Complaints Policy

• Duty of Care Policy

• Inclusion and Diversity Policy

Our school also follows Department of Education policy relating to bullying including:

• Bullying Prevention and Response

• Cybersafety and Responsible Use of Digital Technologies

• Equal Opportunity and Human Rights - Students

• LGBTIQ Student Support Policy

The following websites and resources provide useful information on prevention and responding to bullying, as well as supporting students who have been the target of bullying behaviours:

• Bully Stoppers

• Report racism or religious discrimination in schools

• Kids Helpline

• ReachOut Australia

• Lifeline

• Bullying. No way!

• Student Wellbeing Hub

• eSafety Commissioner

• Australian Student Wellbeing Framework

This policy will be reviewed every 2 years, or earlier as required following an incident or analysis of new research or school data relating to bullying, to ensure that the policy remains up to date, practical and effective.

Data to inform this review will be collected through:

• discussion and consultation with students and parent/carers

• regular student surveys

• regular staff surveys   

• assessment of other school-based data, including the number of reported incidents of bullying in each year group and the effectiveness of the responses implemented

• Attitudes to School Survey

• Parent Opinion Survey

Proposed amendments to this policy will be discussed with student representative groups, parents’ groups, school council.