Minutes
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Question to the Cabinet Member for Education and Skills: Bullying in Schools Minutes: Councillor Chris Evans asked:
Could you tell me how many total instances of bullying have been recorded in Newport schools over the last 18 months, could you also provide a total number of incidents of racially motivated bullying and instances of bullying and/or abuse recorded in relation to sexual orientation. Could you further explain what support your administration offers the victims of abuse and how closely you monitor how schools, who we trust with the wellbeing of our children, deal with abuse/bullying and what support you offer children and/or parents/carers who feel their schools may not be taking their concerns seriously.
Councillor Gail Giles responded:
In 2017-18 there were 212 incidents related to race and 53 related to sexual orientation. In 16-17 there were 216 incidentsrelated to race and 55 related to sexual orientation.
The bullying incidents recorded over the last 18 months are as follows:
Education Services coordinates a Wellbeing Monitoring Group which convenes on a termly basis to discuss bullying and behavioural incidents in schools related to protected characteristics. The group is made up of Head teachers and local authority officers.
A detailed analysis of school based incidents is discussed within the group to identify trends and foci for appropriate interventions across the city. As such further development of partnerships such as Show Racism the Red Card have been embedded. A training event for schools was undertaken this term, to share good practice linked to the reporting and addressing of behavioural incidents. In addition, the Newport Pupil Participation Network encourages School Councils to develop anti bullying based projects. In recent years the local authority has provided ‘Children as Researchers’ grants which have supported the establishment of school buddy systems and peer mentoring to support vulnerable pupils.
Parents should always express their concerns around bullying via the schools’ complaints policy. The Head teacher and Governing Body is responsible for ensuring that school based complaints are addressed. The local authority has a duty to ensure that schools carry out their complaints procedures in a manner which reflects their complaints policy.
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