Safe Positive Schools

Anti-bullying

CODE OF CONDUCT

Our school is a place where our students come to grow spiritually, intellectually, emotionally, physically and socially in an atmosphere that is safe, positive and secure. Our school is a place where we come to know, to love and to serve our God and each other.

All people are "LIFELONG LEARNERS": sharing, supporting and growing together. To succeed is to have the skills needed to become responsible adults occupying meaningful and fulfilling roles in society, Each one of us – students, parent and staff-support, encourage and provide opportunities to be successful in our learning.

BULLY RADAR

Bullying Radar is an ongoing project at St. Angela for providing support to those who are being hurt by bullying and, just as importantly, to those who are doing the bullying. Bullying Radar judiciously uses information supplied by students to start dialogues and provide counselling, but never to punish or embarrass. Bullying Radar depends on students having a very strong sense of responsibility for the well being of others in their school community. Students, staff and parents must be committed to working towards the same end: ‘Everyone Goes Home Happy”!

These guidelines were written by our school community, students, parents and staff, for our school community. The expectation is that everyone who enters our school honours our common belief system.

Expectations and Responsibilities

Positive Behaviours

Everyone participates by modeling, reinforcing and practicing positive behaviour by the following:

Committing to the principles outlined in our Belief Statement.
Attending school regularly and being on time.
Committing to do our best.
Willingness to learn and share knowledge.
Behaving respectfully.
Participating in creating a safe positive environment for learning.
Being accountable for behaviour.
Accepting consequences respectfully.
Making healthy choices which promote the ability to learn.
Being responsible for clear communication of expectations, feelings and actions.

Bottom Line Behaviours…

These expectations apply to all members of our school community …Bottom line behaviours exist at the extremes of a continuum from behaviours directed inwardly ( extreme passive behaviours – eg. Social isolation ) to behaviours that are directed outwardly ( extreme aggressive behaviours – eg. fighting ). These actions are recognized as serious and will not be tolerated. Bottom line behaviours require immediate action to determine consequences and to provide opportunities for learning appropriate behaviour.

The following behaviours, will not be tolerated coming to and from school, on school property, or on school sponsored activities (eg. field trips, track meets).

Defiance – willfully disobeying a person in authority.
Violence – actions which physically injure someone.
Shunning – making fun of putting others down and ignoring people which isolate them.
Intimidation and Bullying – using threats, size or behaviours which impose on others.
Harassment – Inappropriate conversation or touching.
Foul Language – language such as swearing which is offensive, unkind or disrespectful.
Lying and Cheating – not being truthful or honest with yourself or to others.
Inappropriate Dress – the expectations is to wear modest clothes free from inappropriate words and/or pictures which devalue our gift of life ( ie: verbal or visual reference to alcohol, drugs, sex, violence, race or Satan ).
Pornography – creating, searching on the internet or possessing inappropriate pictures or written material which devalues our gift of life.
Stealing and Vandalism – damaging, destroying or stealing personal or public property.
Possessing Weapons – carrying any kind of weapon that may hurt someone.
Possessing Drugs – carrying any kind of illegal drugs, alcohol or tobacco in school or on school property.

General Consequences

The purpose of discipline is to teach self-discipline.

Consequences will be related, respectful and reasonable.

Consequences are used both as a deterrent and a learning tool for negative behaviour. Privileges are earned by demonstrating responsible behaviour. With unacceptable behaviours, related privileges will be withdrawn until trust and confidence have been restored. Consequences also allow for the development of coping skills, to deal emotionally and practically, with the impact of bottom line behaviour.

In the event that bottom line behaviours impact on others, support will be provided.

All those people critical to the problem solving process will be informed and/or involved directly in a plan for change. This may include:

Student

Parent/Guardian

Teacher/Staff

Principal/Vice-Principal

Mediator

School board personnel (counselor, consultants, superintendents)

Public Health

Social Services

Legal Authorities

2. The individual will complete an STARR PLAN with support, guidance, supervision appropriate to age and skill level.

S SAFETY

T TEAMWORK

A ATTITUDE

R RESPECT

R RESPONSIBILITY

3. Removal from classroom – is an opportunity to start the S.T.P. process. The length of Time Out will vary according to frequency and severity of the behaviour. Return to the classroom or school depends on the willingness of those involved to agree to and proceed with an effective plan of action.

Removal from classroom – eg: 5 minutes out of the classroom to full day out of the classroom.

Suspension – eg: student released into the care of the parent/guardian. If the suspension out of school exceeds three concurrent days, parents will receive a formal report detailing options.

4. Change of school may be necessary to allow the person involved another opportunity to develop skills in a different setting where their needs may be better addressed.

These consequences apply to all members of our school community.

Reporting Bottom Line Behaviours

Bottomline behaviours have implications that affect the nature of the entire school community. It is our responsibility to each other to support and encourage positive behaviour. It is our responsibility to report negative behaviour in a respectful and thoughtful manner. This is necessary so that change can occur before irreversible harm comes to the individual and/or to those who share that space.

Protocol for Reporting

When an individual, student or adult witnesses inappropriate behaviour or is the receiver of undesirable behaviour, a stand for what you believe in should be taken. To take a stand, it may mean doing one or more of the following:

Say "NO", "STOP" or "That is unacceptable".
Shout or holler for help.
Report the action to a staff member, the vice principal or principal.
Report the action to your parent or guardian.
Run to a safe place and find support to resolve the conflict.

ABSENCES FROM SCHOOL

If your child will be absent from school because of an illness or any other reason we appreciate a phone call or advance notice. We will attempt to reach any parent whose child is absent without notice before 9:15 a.m. or 1:15 p.m. According to the Education Act, children may not be absent from school without reasonable cause for more than four days in a month.

ST. ANGELA

ANTI-BULLYING POLICY

Statement of Policy

St. Angela School students, parents and staff will not tolerate bullying behaviour. Guided by Gospel values, the behaviour will be dealt with in a serious and timely manner.

Rationale

St. Angela School students, parents and staff believe that all students have the right to be safe, caring and respectful school environment, free from bullying behaviour. The research clearly indicates that a school community of staff, students and parents working together to emphasize a positive school climate and challenge bullying behaviours of students can make a difference.

Authority -The education Act, Section 150, 151

- Division Code of Conduct

Definition of Bullying

A student is bullied when he or she is exposed to negative hurtful acts on the part of one or more students causing emotional, psychological, and/or physical harm. These negative actions are intentional and hurtful and they can be direct (face to face ) or indirect (behind the back). Bullying can be verbal, physical, relational or reactive and is often a repeated behaviour. Bullying involves an imbalance of power, creates fear and is not gender specific.

Cyber-Bullying

We are aware of the fact that cyber-bullying is an issue in today's society. St. Angela's Anti-Bullying Policy has three responses to this issue:

As with conventional bullying, we at St. Angela believe the key is prevention. We have and will continue to educate students and parents when the opportunity arises, in the form of information and presentations regarding the Cyber-Bullying issue, the damage it causes, and how to deal with it.

Any Cyber-Bullying that occurs through the use of school or school division technology will be dealt with in the same fashion as we would deal with bullying in any other case.

When made aware of Cyber-Bullying that has happened outside school hours and technology, we will advise parents and students to contact the proper authorities for dealing with the problem.

Guidelines

In addition to the expectations outlined in the St. Angela Code of Conduct:

Students are expected to:

Promote a positive and caring environment.
Refuse to bully others and to be respectful of differences in individuals.
Refuse to be a bystander which encourages bullying behaviours.
Report all acts of bullying that they may experience or observe to appropriate school personnel.
Actively participate in school-wide and classroom anti-bullying initiatives and social skills programs.

St. Angela staff are expected to:

Provide a supportive environment that upholds Gospel values and encourages positive relations between students, staff and parents/guardians.
Address bullying behaviour in an age appropriate manner.
Implement a comprehensive anti-bullying strategy comprised of: Anti-bullying prevention programs and investigation of reports of bullying, intervention and follow-up.
Keep lines of communication open between home and school.
Encourage and teach students to report incidents of bullying behaviour.
Assist in the development of empathy by helping the students recognize and interpret cues that signal other's feelings and needs, understand the impact of bullying behaviours on others and treat others with respect.
Promote accountability in our students by helping the students develop the ability to stop and think before they act, resist peer pressure and take responsibility for their actions by making reparation for harm they inflicted on others.
Conduct themselves in a manner consistent with Gospel values and the teachings of Jesus Christ.

Parents, Guardians and School community members are expected to:

Contribute to a safe, caring and respectful school community.
Teach their children good communication and social skills at home as this will go a long way toward success at school.
Promote accountability in their children.
Frequently talk with their child about school and friends.
Learn about bullying behaviour and related issues.
Be observant for signs of being bullied and bullying behaviours.
Inform the school if bullying is suspected.
Work together with the staff and administrators at the school to resolve identified incidents of bullying.

Procedures

Prevention:

Prevention of bullying behaviour is the ultimate goal. Prevention strategies are ongoing and should include: a broad-range of educational experiences for students, staff, parents/guardians and community; Common language and understanding of bullying; Open communication and collaboration.
Establish clear school wide and classroom rules about bullying.
Encourage staff to respond sensitively and consistently to bullying.
Provide adequate adult supervision at recesses and less structures times and locations such as the playground and hallways.
Providing parents/guardians with resources in dealing with their children who are bullied and their children who are bullying.
Improving parental and student awareness of the distinction between bullying behaviours and student conflict.
Improving the students knowledge and practice of the positive power of the bystander.
Adults identifying instances of bullying and taking initiative to respond as needed even when the children do not report it.
Watching for opportunities during the school day to reinforce social skills learned from the programs and instruction in the classroom.
Teaching students coping strategies such as assertiveness and friendship skills.

Investigation of Reported Bullying Behaviour:

The safety and well-being of all students involved shall be of primary concern. The student(s) allegedly engaging in bullying behaviour shall be separated, be given the opportunity to speak, and shall be dealt with individually.
Information related to bullying behaviours shall be gathered and documented from all students involved, including all witnesses.
A Bullying Incident Report shall be completed. The report placed in a common binder to communicate the incidents for other staff in the event they must take action with the same students involved with bullying at a different time.
Communicating with the classroom teachers of the student involved.