You are here: Home » Education » Information for Governors » Sheffield Association School Governing Bodies » Executive Director's Briefings » Executive Director's Briefing 17 March 2008
Executive Director's Briefing 17 March 2008
Tackling Bullying Together
Mike Killingley, Chair of SASGB reports:
Governors were welcomed by Maggie Williams, Head of the Learning & Achievement Service, who emphasised the importance of keeping children safe and happy in schools. Maggie referred to a survey of children in Sheffield in which all age ranges rated their number one concern as bullying.
Chris Anderson (School Improvement Adviser - Healthy Schools) and Mark Heaton (Senior Consultant - Healthy Schools) then gave a presentation, a copy of which is available to download below. Chris addressed the question of whether bullying is getting worse. Whilst a number of national surveys indicate that it is becoming worse, the fact that work to address bullying has been increased may have affected children’s perceptions.
In Sheffield's Children and Young People's Plan published in November 2007, Chapter 2 is devoted to Staying Safe, one of the 5 Desired Outcomes of the Every Child Matters agenda.
Amongst papers made available on the evening were:
- Sheffield's Anti-Bullying Policy – June 2005
- Bullying data – 2006-2007
- Safe to Learn booklet from the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF)
- Pamphlet on Cyberbullying
Say No to Bullying (SN2B) is an initiative run each year and Anti-Bullying Week, organised by the Anti-Bullying Alliance, takes place from 17-21 November 2008.
Questions posed to Governors were:
- Is your school making use of the Anti-Bullying DVD provided to all schools as part of a resource pack?
- Is your school making use of the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) 'Bullying – a Charter for Action'? This document can be downloaded from the DCSF's Don't Suffer in Silence web page)?
Chris Anderson ended his input by suggesting a number of positive actions Governors could take.
There was then a presentation by Sue Hopkinson of work undertaken at Dobcroft Junior School in which she commented on the helpfulness of the Every Child Matters agenda. Sue highlighted material from the Philosophy4Children project which featured:
- Rights linked with responsibilities
- What is Bullying – the Cause & Effect Approach
- Training of midday supervisors
- Strong systems to record & monitor
- A follow-up to every incident
Two thoughts in particular struck a chord with the audience – that there is no such thing as an innocent bystander and that pay-back or revenge leads to more hurt.
If you have any queries regarding this briefing, please Contact the Governor Support Team.
Downloads
View or download the presentation made to Governors by Chris Anderson (School Improvement Adviser - Healthy Schools) at the Executive Director's Briefing, 17 March 2008 (1.71 MB)
How useful is this page?