Welsh Government launches anti-bullying guidance

The Welsh Government has launched anti-bullying guidance to challenge bullying in schools.

The guidance, aimed at governing bodies for maintained schools, local authorities, parents, carers and children and young people, has been launched ahead of Anti-Bullying Week which starts Monday, November 11.

Education Minister Kirsty Williams said: "We are committed to ensuring that all our learners feel safe, secure and are properly supported to achieve their full potential.
 
"We are determined to address bullying holistically and this is achieved by understanding and dealing with the root causes of unacceptable behaviour.

"We want our schools to be inclusive and engaging environments where priority is placed on well-being, so learners feel safe and are ready to learn.
 
"It is so important that children and young people are taught, both at home and in school, about building and maintaining respectful relationships and this new guidance will help achieve that."

The revised guidance outlines the Welsh Government’s expectations for schools to take a proactive approach to prevent bullying. It wants schools to have an anti-bullying policy linking to school policies including behaviour and safeguarding. It also wants schools to  record and monitor incidents of bullying to help take pro-active steps to challenge bullying; and to regularly review their anti-bullying policy and strategy in collaboration with their learners at least every 3 years.

The Welsh Government has also produced new resource toolkits to accompany the new guidance. The toolkits include factsheets, supplementary guidance, incident recording template forms and best practice case examples to help local authorities support schools in challenging bullying.