This page is designed to enable schools to access up-to-date information, guidance and training to support their work in creating safe learning environments in which commonalities are identified and celebrated, difference is valued and nurtured, and bullying, harassment and violence are never tolerated.
Policy and guidance
To access documents (e.g. model policy, self-assessment and action planning tools, incident form templates, etc.) that support your work to effectively prevent and tackle all forms of bullying, visit our Policies and guidance page.
Types of bullying
Resources and guidance to help you tackle the following types of bullying:
- Internet safety and cyberbullying
- Homophobic and biphobic and transphobic bullying
- Racism, religious and cultural bullying
- Sexist and sexual bullying
- Special needs and disability bullying
For general resources to support you with tackling bullying, including lesson plans and activities.
Parent/carers and young people
Direct parents/carers and young people to our Help if your child is being bullied page for more information on bullying, what to do if they are experiencing (or accused of) bullying and for useful links.
Universal offer to all Oxfordshire Schools:
Oxfordshire County Council’s Learner Engagement Service has a designed officer who works in partnership with our young people, schools, families and professional networks to:
- Offer support where relationships have broken down and young people don’t feel safe to attend school;
- Capture data to inform our work to prevent and tackle all forms of bullying in schools;
- Promote and provide training on creating a safe environment for all;
- Promote and provide training on the different ways that schools can celebrate diversity and achieve a sense of belonging and connectedness for young people;
- Promote and provide training on relationships (restorative) practice; and
- Share quality inclusive practice through the termly ‘We All Matter’ newsletter, webpages and Twitter @OCC_Be_Kind
For more information on free training available to all Oxfordshire Schools, go to: learner-engagement-school-training-offer
For more information on Learner Engagement Services, go to: learner-engagement-service
Early Intervention / Preventative Curriculum
In addition to the above training, you can access information and guidance to support you work in delivering the statutory Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education (Secondary) and Health Education Curriculum on the below page: rshe-curriculum-resource-hub
Read our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Self-Evaluation for Educational Settings (docx format, 120KB) to support your ongoing work to:
- Eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct that is prohibited by or under the Equality Act 2010
- Advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it
- Foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it.
Becoming a Restorative School
Dealing with conflict and bullying in school can be challenging and time consuming. If dealt with effectively, the whole school community benefits. If not dealt with effectively, the whole school community can end up suffering.
A restorative school is one which takes a restorative approach to resolving conflict and preventing harm. Becoming a restorative school has many benefits, including increased attendance, reduced exclusions and improved achievement. Staff who have been trained in restorative practice report feeling more confident when dealing with bullying and conflict in school.
- Preview free training in restorative practice available to all schools (pdf format, 82Kb)
- More information is on our restorative practice webpage.
Additional sources of training
As part of their All Together programme, the Anti-Bullying Alliance have developed a suite of free online training for anyone that works with children and young people.
Topics include:
- What is bullying?
- Bullying and the Law
- Bullying and SEN/disability
- Ten principles to reduce bullying
- Preventing bullying
- Responding to bullying
- Cyberbullying (Online bullying)
Celebrating good practice and keeping up-to-date with latest news
‘We All Matter’ is a termly publication from the Lead for Learner Engagement which aims to share good practice, raise awareness of topical issues, distribute resource links and promote training on issues that impact on learner engagement in Oxfordshire.
Please contact us if you would like to see previous editions.
Anti-Bullying Week 2020
Anti-Bullying Week happens in the UK every November and is time set aside for people to come together to acknowledge the devastating impact bullying can have on people and reflect on ways we can effectively prevent and tackle bullying in our schools.
This year, Anti-Bullying Week will happen from Monday 16 - Friday 20 November and will start with Odd Socks Day. The theme for Anti-Bullying Week 2020 is: United Against Bullying.
More information on Anti-Bullying Week 2020 and to access useful resources.
Live Webinar
There will be a live Anti-Bullying Week webinar on Tuesday 17 November between 1pm and 2.30pm via MS Teams. This will be for designated staff and pupils to celebrate what they are doing to eradicate bullying in their school, to learn from others and to find out more about what Oxfordshire County Council is doing to ensure all Oxfordshire Schools are safe environments for all learners. For more information on how to participate in this event, email clare.pike@oxfordshire.gov.uk
2020 Oxfordshire Schools' Primary and Secondary Anti-Bullying Survey
The primary and secondary surveys open to all schools on Monday 2 November and close on Monday 21 December 2020 at 5pm.
To participate, young people will need access to a computer that is connected to the internet, the appropriate survey link (see below) and up to 30 minutes to complete. Primary aged children will benefit from adult supervision.
Primary link (https://consultations.oxfordshire.gov.uk/consult.ti/2020_Primary_Bullying_Survey/consultationHome) - the primary survey is suitable for pupils in Year 4, 5 and 6.
Secondary link (https://consultations.oxfordshire.gov.uk/consult.ti/2020_Secondary_Bullying_Survey/consultationHome) - the secondary survey is suitable for students in Year 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13.
County results will be published in Schools News on Tuesday 12 January 2021. Individual school results will also be emailed out to the Headteachers of participating schools by this date.
We urge all Oxfordshire Schools to participate in this consultation as it will inform our strategic work to prevent and tackle all forms of bullying at a county-level.
By participating in the annual survey, you will also receive a breakdown of your own school’s results which can further inform your strategic work to eradicate bullying in your setting and create a safe environment for all learners.
Anti-Bullying Ambassador training
Watch pre-recorded Anti-Bullying Ambassador training aimed at Anti-Bullying Lead staff and young people in Key Stages 2, 3 and 4 who would like to take action in preventing and eradicating bullying in their school.
The training clip is 50mins and 53secs in length. The first half covers definitions of bullying, different types of bullying, the law, the impact of bullying and hate crime. The second half, which starts at 28mins and 43 secs, covers strategies to prevent bullying from happening in your school and the role of Anti-Bullying Ambassadors. It is advisable that you set aside two hours for this training to allow time for comfort breaks/discussion.
The presentation and other relevant resources to accompany this training can found below:
- ABA job description (pdf format, 135Kb)
- ABA checklist (pdf format, 96Kb)
- ABA action plan (doc format, 20Kb)
- Bystanders sheet (pdf format, 160Kb)
This is the first time we have produced pre-recorded training. If do use this resource, please feedback on what worked well and what could be better. You can feedback and request a copy of the training presentation by contacting clare.pike@oxfordshire.gov.uk
Additional sources of support
Did you know that the following organisations have many resources that may also support your work in eradicating bullying from your setting?
Oxfordshire 2019 Anti-Bullying Survey – Results
- Results of the 2019 Primary Anti-Bullying Survey (pdf format)
- Results of the 2019 Secondary Anti-Bullying Survey (pdf format)
Headlines:
- Verbal bullying was the most common type of bullying experienced by respondents in both surveys.
- Difference in appearance was perceived as the most common factor influencing bullying behaviours.
- Respondents reported to telling their family then friends about bullying before reporting to school.
Key questions for all Oxfordshire schools to consider:
- What is your setting doing to prevent and tackle name calling, sarcasm, rumour spreading, threats, teasing and belittling?
- What is your setting doing to prevent and tackle malicious banter? Advice on where to draw the line between acceptable language and unacceptable language.
- What is your setting doing to ensure differences are celebrated?
- What is your setting doing to ensure children and young people report hurtful behaviour immediately and to a member of staff?
Tell us what you would like to see
In order to make the resources and information available as relevant and useful as possible, email clare.pike@oxfordshire.gov.uk
- Did you find what you were looking for?
- Is the information easy to access and understand?
- What other information or resources would be useful?