19/03/25

12/05/25

20/05/25

28/05/25

Half Day Closure: Staff completed training and discussed the Bullying Reporting template. 

ISM team reviewed the policy. 

Met with Julie Down from Oide.

Staff reviewed, discussed and approved Bí Cineálta Policy

29/05/25

Focus Group conducted with Bí Cineálta Committee and child friendly policy created

12/03/25-19/03/25

May 2025 

June 2025

Survey Conducted with Parents

Meeting with Parents’ Association

Policy sent to parents/guardians

19/06/25

BOM ratified Bí Cinéalta Policy

June 2025

Policy published on website

• Create a school environment and culture where

-students and staff experience a sense of belonging, safety, connection and support. 

–bullying behaviour is unacceptable and a consistent approach to addressing bullying behaviour is adopted.

-diversity and inclusion are promoted in all aspects of school life

-open communication and a telling environment are promoted 

• Create and foster relationships between all members of the school community based on respect, trust and care. 
• Fostering and enhancing the self-esteem of all our pupils through both curricular and extracurricular activities. Pupils are provided with opportunities to develop a positive sense of self-worth through formal and informal interactions.
• Uphold clear expectations for behaviour and enforce them consistently.
• Ensure effective routines and transitions are implemented across the school.
• Use Restorative Practice, Nurture Room, Zones of Regulation and circles across the school to continue to build a positive relationships, culture and environment. 
• Create safe spaces in our school building and yards e.g. Zoned areas on yard.
• Encourage a sense of belonging with ownership over their own space through art and creativity.  
• Anti Bullying signs and messages will be displayed throughout the school.

Curriculum 

• Anti Bullying is covered in the SPHE curriculum through various programmes including; The Walk Tall Programme is a self-esteem building programme, the Stay Safe programme seeks to enhance children’s skills including their ability to recognize and respond to bullying, the Relationships and Sexuality (RSE) Programme provides opportunities for the children to learn about sexuality and relationships and the Grow in Love Programme which is taught to pupils from infants to sixth class (unless a family explicitly chooses to opt out) teaches and promotes an attitude of respect for oneself and others
• Teach two SPHE lessons a week. 
• Teach at least one specific anti bullying lesson a month. 
• Discuss the school’s anti bullying shield on a regular basis with the children. 
• Explicit teaching of emotional literacy and appropriate communication (Through Zones of Regulation and Restorative Practice).
• Organising initiatives such as Cineáltas week/Internet Safety Week.
• Students are given regular opportunities to work in small groups with peers, which can help build a sense of connection, belonging and empathy.

Policy and Planning 

• Develop a clear and consistent Bí Cineálta Policy that is enforced by all staff members.
• Review and update the Bí Cineálta Policy yearly.
• Establish clear procedures for reporting and responding to bullying incidents. 
• Ensure that the children’s voice is meaningfully included in Policy and Planning e.g. Child Friendly Bí Cineálta Policy.  
• Other policies such as the school’s Acceptable Use Policy, Supervision Policy, Special Education Needs Policy, RSE policy, Student Friendly Bí Cineálta policy, Attendance policy, Child Safeguarding Statement and Code of Behaviour will support implementation the Bí Cineálta policy.
• Wellbeing of the school community should be at the heart of school policies and plans.
• School staff will have opportunities throughout the year to share their experiences and examples of best practice.
• Staff regularly engage in teacher professional learning courses, when possible, to support school staff to prevent and address bullying behaviour, to promote diversity and inclusion and in wellbeing in general. 

Relationships and Partnerships 

• Encouraging and continuing to foster strong interpersonal relationships between student, staff, parents and other stakeholders. These relationships are supported through structures such as the Student Council, Parents’ Group, School Clubs etc. 
• Support the active participation of parents in school life, including those who may find it difficult or daunting to engage with the school due to being unfamiliar with the education system or due to language or cultural barriers. 
• Collaborating with community organisations to provide additional support and resources. City Connects can assist with this.
• Supporting activities that build empathy, respect and resilience, promote kindness and teach problem solving skills. 
• Engaging parents and students in actively contributing to the formation of a Child Friendly Anti Bullying Policy to make them active participants in promotion of and discussion of useful ways to identify and reduce bullying behaviour and highlight procedure and how to deal with it if it does occur.  
• Organising of age and stage appropriate awareness initiatives that engage the student body in looking at their own behaviour – promoting acts of kindness and friendship, being an active help to others and looking at the causes of and impact of bullying during SPHE lessons.
• Conducting workshops and seminars for students, school staff and parents to raise awareness of the impact of bullying
• Ensuing clear protocols are in place to encourage parents/guardians to approach the school if they suspect that their child is being bullied. 

Preventing Cyberbullying Behaviour

• Implementing the SPHE curriculum. 
• Implementing the Digital Media Literacy curriculum which teaches students about responsible online behaviour and digital citizenship. 
• Having regular conversations with students about developing respectful and kind relationships online. 
• Developing and communicating an Acceptable Use Policy for technology. 
• Referring to appropriate online behaviour as part of the standards of behaviour in the Code of Behaviour. 
• Promoting or hosting online safety events for parents who are responsible for overseeing their children’s activities online. 
• Holding an Internet safety day to reinforce awareness around appropriate online behaviour.

Preventing Homophobic/Transphobic Bullying Behaviour 

• Maintaining an inclusive physical environment such as by displaying relevant posters and storybooks/resources. 
• Encouraging peer support such as peer mentoring and empathy building activities.
• Challenging gender stereotypes. 
• Conducting workshops and seminars for students, school staff and parents to raise awareness of the impact of homophobic bullying behaviour. 
• Encouraging students to speak up when they witness homophobic behaviour

Preventing Racist Bullying Behaviour 

• Fostering a school culture where diversity is celebrated and where students “see themselves” in their school environment. 
• Having the cultural diversity of the school visible and on display. 
• Conducting workshops and seminars for students, school staff and parents to raise awareness of racism. 
• Encouraging peer support such as peer mentoring and empathy building activities.
• Encouraging bystanders to report when they witness racist behaviour. 
• Providing support to school staff to respond to the needs of students for whom English is an additional language and for communicating with their parents.
• Providing support to school staff to support students from ethnic minorities, including Traveller and Roma students, and to encourage communication with their parents. 
• Inviting speakers from diverse ethnic backgrounds. 
• Ensuring that library reading material and textbooks represent appropriate lived experiences of students and adults from different national, ethnic and cultural backgrounds. 

Preventing Sexist Bullying Behaviour 

• Ensuring members of staff model respectful behaviour and treat students equally irrespective of their sex.
• Ensuring all students have the same opportunities to engage in school activities irrespective of their sex. 
• Celebrating diversity at school and acknowledging the contributions of all students.
• Organising awareness campaigns, workshops and presentations on gender equality and respect. 
• Encouraging parents to reinforce these values of respect at home.

• It is school policy to supervise children at all times, particularly during breaks and morning assembly time. 
• Children are expected to walk on the left-hand side of corridors and stairwells at all times. 
• Two staff  are on duty at the entrance from 8.45am when the doors open.
• One teacher and at least one SNA are on yard duty each break. Staff circulate the yard and ensure all areas are visible. 
• Incidents on yard are recorded in the relevant yard book. 
• S.N.As are on duty during all breaks.  While the SNAs provide individual supervision for designated children with special educational needs, they can act in an observing and reporting capacity, bringing instances to the attention of the teacher on yard duty.  
• Relevant staff are made aware of children who have recently clashed in class/on yard/outside of school.
• For out of school activities such as games, swimming, tours, extra provisions are put in place to ensure adequate levels of supervision.  The level of supervision is usually one adult per 10 children maximum with individual staff in charge of specific groups.

• The primary aim for the relevant teacher in investigating and dealing with bullying is to resolve the issues and to restore the relationships of the parties involved.
• Any pupil, parent(s)/guardian(s) or staff may bring a bullying incident to the attention of any teacher in the school.
• It is the responsibility of the class teacher(s) to investigate all instances of reported or suspected bullying behaviour with a view to establishing the facts.
• When investigating and dealing with bullying, the class teacher(s) will exercise his/her professional judgement to determine whether bullying has occurred and how best the situation might be resolved.
• When identifying if bullying behaviour has occurred the teacher should consider the following: what, where, when and why? (See Appendix C)
• If a group of students is involved, each student should be engaged with individually at first. Thereafter, all students involved should be met as a group. At the group meeting, each student should be asked for their account of what happened to ensure that everyone in the group is clear about each other’s views. Each student should be supported, as appropriate, following the group meeting. It may also be helpful to ask the students involved to write down their account of the incident.
• Incidents can occur where behaviour is unacceptable and hurtful but the behaviour is not bullying behaviour. Strategies that deal with inappropriate behaviour are provided for within the school’s Code of Behaviour.

Addressing bullying behaviour: 

• School staff know what to do when bullying behaviour is reported to them or when they witness bullying behaviour. The school’s Bí Cineálta policy, and the student friendly policy, explains what actions will be taken when bullying behaviour is reported.
• The school is not expected to deal with bullying behaviour that occurs when students are not under the care or responsibility of the school. However, where this bullying behaviour has an impact in school, the school is required to support the students involved. Where the bullying behaviour continues in school, the school will deal with it in accordance with their Bí Cineálta policy.
• Where the student displaying the bullying behaviour is not a student in the school, but the student who is experiencing the bullying behaviour is a student in the school, the school will support the student who is experiencing the bullying behaviour as appropriate and engage with them and their parents to determine what steps can be taken.
• The following principles must be adhered to when addressing bullying behaviour: 

> ensure that the student experiencing bullying behaviour feels listened to and reassured

> seek to ensure the privacy of those involved

> conduct all conversations with sensitivity

> consider the age and ability of those involved

> listen to the views of the student who is experiencing the bullying behaviour as to how best to address the situation

> take action in a timely manner

> inform parents of those involved

• Where bullying behaviour has occurred, the parents of the parties involved will be contacted at an early stage to inform them of the matter and to consult with them on the actions to be taken to address the behaviour as outlined in the Bí Cineálta Policy. In circumstances where a student expresses concern about their parents being informed, the school will develop an appropriate plan to support the student and for how their parents will be informed.
• Request to take no action: The student may not want to be identified as having told someone about the bullying behaviour. Where this occurs, it is important that the member of staff shows empathy to the student, deals with the matter sensitively and speaks with the student to work out together what steps can be taken to address the matter and how their parents will be informed of the situation. If a parent requests no action, the parent will complete the request to take no action form (Appendix D). 
• However, while acknowledging the parent’s request, the school may decide that, based on the circumstances, it is appropriate to address the bullying behaviour.

Recording Bullying Behaviour: 

• All incidents of bullying behaviour should be recorded. The record should document the form and type of bullying behaviour, if known, where and when it took place and the date of the initial engagement with the students and their parents (See Appendix A).
• These records should be retained in accordance with the school’s record keeping policy and in line with data protection regulations.
• Records of bullying behaviour will be recorded on Aladdin. 
• Where a Student Support File exists for a student, the school will place a copy of the record on the student’s support file.

Reviewing progress: 

• The class teacher must engage with the students and parents involved no more than 20 school days after the initial discussion to review progress following the initial intervention. 
• Important factors to consider as part of the review are the nature of the bullying behaviour, the effectiveness of the strategies used to address the bullying behaviour and the relationship between the students involved. 
• Even though the bullying behaviour may have ceased, ongoing supervision and support may be required for both the student who has experienced the bullying behaviour as well as the student who has displayed the behaviour. 
• If the bullying behaviour has not ceased, the teacher should review the strategies used in consultation with the students and parents and agree to meet again over an agreed timeframe until the bullying behaviour has ceased. 
• The teacher will inform the principal of behaviour that has occurred; on more than one occasion or once off behaviour deemed very serious.
• Where it becomes clear that the student who is displaying the bullying behaviour is continuing to display the behaviour after all interventions/strategies have been exhausted, then the school’s Code of Behaviour may need to be invoked (See Code of Behavior). If disciplinary sanctions are considered, this is a matter between the relevant student, their parents and the school.  
• If a parent is not satisfied with how bullying behaviour has been addressed by the school, in accordance with these procedures, they should be referred to the school’s complaints procedure.
• In the event that a student and/or parent is dissatisfied with how a complaint has been handled, a student and/or parent may make a complaint to the Ombudsman for Children if they believe that the school’s actions have had a negative effect on the student.

• The school’s programme of support for working with pupils affected by bullying involves a whole school approach. Given the complexity of bullying behaviour, no one intervention/support programme works in all situations.
• Ensure reports of bullying behaviour are dealt with promptly and sensitively. 
• Teach lessons that empower students to stand up for themselves and others in an appropriate way (e.g. through drama).
• Supporting the pupils who have experienced bullying behaviour, witnessed bullying behaviour and engaging in bullying behaviour.
• Engaging in restorative conversations to repair harm that has been caused and restore the relationships. 
• Promote a positive school culture where students feel safe, respected and valued. 
• Indicating clearly that the bullying behaviour is not the fault of the targeted pupil through anti-bullying lessons and initiatives.
• Engaging in problem solving circle time as a class. 
• Fostering strong staff relationships with pupils and giving them the space to talk if they need to. 
• Helping students raise their self-esteem by encouraging them to become involved in activities that help develop friendship and social skills.