C.B.S Primary Bí Cineálta Policy
The Board of Management of C.B.S Primary School Nenagh has adopted the following policy to prevent and address bullying behaviour.
This policy fully complies with the requirements of Bí Cineálta: Procedures to Prevent and Address Bullying Behaviour for Primary and Post-Primary Schools 2024.
The Board of Management acknowledges that bullying behaviour interferes with the rights of the child as set out in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. We all, as a school community, have a responsibility to work together to prevent and address bullying behaviour and to deal with the negative impact of bullying behaviour.
We are committed to ensuring that all students who attend our school are kept safe from harm and that the wellbeing of our students is at the forefront of everything that we do. We recognise the negative impact that bullying behaviour can have on the lives of our students and we are fully committed to preventing and addressing bullying behaviour.
We confirm that we will, in accordance with our obligations under equality legislation, take all such steps that are reasonably practicable to prevent the harassment of students or staff on any of the nine grounds specified: gender, civil status, family status, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, race and membership of the Traveller community.
We confirm that we will take all steps that are reasonably practicable to prevent all bullying or harassment of our students in whatever form and however motivated.
Catholic schools have a distinctive understanding of the human person, recognising that every person is created in God’s image and likeness and has inherent dignity as a child of God. This is the basis for ensuring that everybody in our school is treated with respect and care, in accordance with the Catholic Schedule.
As a Catholic school, we are committed to respecting the dignity of every individual. No human person is to be devalued and everybody has a part to play in the school community, regardless of difference.
Definition of bullying
Bullying is defined in Cineáltas: Action Plan on Bullying and Bí Cineálta: Procedures to Prevent and Address Bullying Behaviour for Primary and Post-Primary Schools as targeted behaviour, online or offline that causes harm. The harm caused can be physical, social and/or emotional in nature. Bullying behaviour is repeated over time and involves an imbalance of power in relationships between two people or groups of people in society. The detailed definition is provided in Chapter 2 of the Bí Cineálta procedures.
Each school is required to develop and implement a Bí Cineálta policy that sets out how the school community prevents and addresses bullying behaviour. Strategies to deal with inappropriate behaviour that is not bullying behaviour are provided for within the school’s Code of Behaviour.
Section A: Development/review of our Bí Cineálta policy to prevent and address bullying behaviour
All members of our school community were provided with the opportunity to input into the development/review of this policy.
| Date consulted | Method of consultation | |
| School Staff | 09/10/2024 20/01/2025 26/02/2025 12/05/2025 | Meeting Meeting Questionnaire Half day closure |
| Students | 28/02/2025 08/04/2025 | Student Council meeting Pupil Questionnaire |
| Parents | 04/12/2024 25/02/2025 | Parents Council Meeting Questionnaire |
| Board of Management | 09/10/2024 17/02/2025 28/04/2025 09/06/2025 | BOM Meetings |
| ISLM Team | 07/11/2024 06/01/2025 12/03/2025 01/05/2025 | ISLM Meetings |
| Wider school community as appropriate, for example, bus drivers | 12/05/2025 | Bus Escort – Meeting |
| Date policy was approved: 09/06/2025 | ||
| Date policy was last reviewed: 09/06/2025 | ||
Section B: Preventing Bullying Behaviour
| This section sets out the prevention strategies that will be used by this school to address all forms of bullying behaviour, in whatever form and however motivated, including online bullying behaviour, homophobic and transphobic bullying behaviour, racist bullying behaviour, sexist bullying behaviour and sexual harassment. |
| In developing the preventative strategies which this school will use to prevent all forms of bullying behaviour, we come from the context of our Catholic ethos, where inclusivity permeates our school in a real way. This school takes positive steps to ensure that the culture of the school is one which welcomes a respectful dialogue and encounter with diversity and difference by ensuring that prevention and inclusivity strategies are given priority and discussed regularly at our board of management and staff meetings. The dignity and the wellbeing of the individual person is of paramount concern in our Christian response. This school will listen closely to and dialogue with parents, thereby building a relationship of mutual understanding, respect, trust and confidence. In continuing to develop prevention strategies, this school will listen to young people and parents, to help establish their particular context and needs. Frequent periods of reflection and further engagement by the school, young people and parents, will be used to discern appropriate supports for young people in this school and to help inform future prevention strategies The Board of Management recognises the very serious nature of bullying and the negative impact that it can have on the lives of pupils, and is therefore fully committed to the following key principles of best practice in preventing and tackling bullying behaviour: – Providing a positive school culture, ethos and climate which – is a space where students and school staff experience a sense of belonging and feel safe, connected and supported – is welcoming of difference and diversity and is based on inclusivity – encourages pupils to disclose and discuss incidents of bullying behaviour in a non-threatening environment and – promotes respectful relationships across the school community Implementation of education and prevention strategies (including awareness raising measures) that – Build empathy, respect and resilience in pupils and – Explicitly address the issues of cyber-bullying, homophobic and transphobic bullying behaviour, racist bullying behaviour, sexist bullying behaviour and sexual harassment – Providing effective school leadership that adopts a whole school approach to the prevention of bullying – Effectively supervising and monitoring pupilsSupporting staff in addressing and dealing with bullying behaviour – Consistently recording, investigating and following up of bullying behaviour (including use of established intervention strategies) and – On-going evaluation of the effectiveness of the Bí Cineálta policy The prevention strategies to prevent bullying behaviour implemented in our school are as follows: Preventing Bullying (general prevention strategies) – Implementation of the anti-bullying (Bí Cineálta) module of the SPHE programme as it applies during each school year – At least five awareness-raising exercises per school year for each class group pro-actively explaining the nature and variety, causes, consequences and unacceptability of bullying. – See Anti-Bullying Schedule – Pupils are helped to examine the issue of bullying in a calm rational way, outside of the tense context of particular bullying incidents. In the process they are made more aware of the nature of bullying and the various forms that it can take. – Pupils are made aware that the consequences of bullying behaviour are always bad for those who are targeted, even if this is not always obvious at the time. – Pupils are encouraged to recognise, reject and report bullying behaviour, either spontaneously or through questionnaires that are regularly used in the school. Supporting the active participation of students in school life by listening to student voice on how to prevent bullying behaviour i.e. Student Council and Wellbeing Committees – Promoting and acknowledging random Acts of Kindness at a whole school level i.e. Kindness Tree – Supporting the active participation of parents in school life, including those who may find it difficult or daunting to engage with the school due to being unfamiliar with the education system or due to language or cultural barriers. – Participation in Anti-Bullying week on an annual basis. – Pupils complete two Bí Cineálta Surveys each year. These surveys are followed up by staff and issues are addressed. Through continuous training and provision of information, the school staff and parents/guardians are made aware of the nature of bullying and the signs that might indicate that a pupil is being bullied. They are encouraged to be vigilant in watching out for signs of bullying, and to report any suspicion of bullying they may have to a trusted adult within the school. Preventing Cyberbullying Behaviour – Implementing the Digital Media curriculum which teaches students about responsible online behaviour and digital citizenship – Developing and communicating an Acceptable Use policy for technology – Referring to appropriate online behaviour as per the standards in our Code of Behaviour – Participation in Internet Safety week on an annual basis where Internet safety talks are held for pupils to reinforce awareness around appropriate online behaviourPromoting and hosting online safety events for parents who are responsible for overseeing their children’s activities onlineImplementation of the school’s Code of Behaviour in conjunction with the schools Bí Cineálta policy – Internet safety lessons for all pupils with regular conversations about respectful behaviour online Preventing homophobic/transphobic bullying behaviour – Maintaining an inclusive physical environment – Challenging gender stereotypes – Encouraging students to speak up when they witness homophobic behaviour – Conducting workshops and seminars for students, school staff and parents to raise awareness of the impact of homophobic bullying behaviour Preventing racist bullying behaviour – Organisation of Multi-cultural Day and promoting diversity through visuals in the school – Fostering a school culture where diversity is celebrated and where students “see themselves” in their school environment – Conducting workshops and seminars for students, school staff and parents to raise awareness of racism – Encouraging bystanders to report when they witness racist behaviour – Providing supports to school staff to respond to the needs of students for whom English is an additional language Regular communication with parents and translation of school communications into multiple languages – Providing supports to school staff to support students from ethnic minorities, including Traveller and Roma students, and to encourage communication with their parents – Inviting speakers from diverse ethnic backgrounds – Ensuring that library reading material and textbooks represent appropriate lived experiences of students and adults from different national, ethnic and cultural backgrounds Preventing sexist bullying behaviour – Ensuring members of staff model respectful behaviour and treat students equally irrespective of their sex – Ensuring all students have the same opportunities to engage in school activities irrespective of their sex – Celebrating diversity at school and acknowledging the contributions of all students – Encouraging parents to reinforce these values of respect at home – Organising awareness campaigns, workshops and presentations on gender equality and respect Preventing sexual harassment – Promoting positive role models within the school community – Challenging gender stereotypes that can contribute to sexual harassment – Teach students about healthy relationships and how to treat each other with respect and kindness – Provision of the Relationships and Sexuality Education (R.S.E) curriculum to all students on an annual basis |
| The school has the following supervision and monitoring policies in place to prevent and address bullying behaviour (see Chapter 5 of the Bí Cineálta procedures): |
| The Board of Management confirms that appropriate supervision and monitoring policies and practices are in place to both prevent and deal with bullying behaviour, and to facilitate early intervention where possible. In our school we have the following supervision and monitoring policies in place to prevent and address bullying behaviour: – Provision of safe, well maintained, physical spaces around the school that support psychological safety – We have ensured good lighting is present to avoid dark corners or spaces – We have put visual panels in all classroom doors and removed visual barriers where necessary – Staff wear high visibility jackets when completing supervision duty to ensure pupils are aware of the presence of a ‘trusted adult’ – Our school building is colourful and vibrant, with school values displayed across corridors – CCTV cameras are in operation on the school premises – Our school provides a daily supervision rota to ensure the safety of students during break times A minimum of 4 adults are on supervision duty at all times – 10.30am to 10.45am and 12.30pm to 12.55pm – Supervision also takes place before and after school when pupils are arriving and dispersing – 8.40am to 8.50pm in the Junior Yard and in corridors and classrooms, 2.30pm to 2.40pm at the school gate – Students are provided with a mix of organised activities during break times – Active School activities: Board games, Chess, Soccer, Basketball, Chalk Drawings, Sensory Garden, Climbing Walls, Yard games and trails – Our school regularly reviews our supervision and monitoring policies and gathers feedback from the whole school community. – Pupils’ complete questionnaires twice yearly to prevent bullying behaviour |
Section C: Addressing Bullying Behaviour
The teacher(s) with responsibility for addressing bullying behaviour is (are) as follows:
- All teachers within our school, supported by Special Needs Assistants and Ancillary staff
When bullying behaviour occurs, the school will:
- ensure that the student experiencing bullying behaviour is heard and reassured
- seek to ensure the privacy of those involved
- conduct all conversations with sensitivity
- consider the age and ability of those involved
- listen to the views of the student who is experiencing the bullying behaviour as to how best to address the situation
- take action in a timely manner
- inform parents of those involved
| The steps that will be taken by the school to determine if bullying behaviour has occurred, the approaches taken to address the bullying behaviour and to review progress are as follows (see Chapter 6 of the Bí Cineálta procedures): |
| Identifying if bullying behaviour has occurred – Where there is a report of alleged bullying behaviour our school will begin by asking the following 3 questions: Is the behaviour targeted at a specific student or group of students? Is the behaviour intended to cause physical, social or emotional harm? Is the behaviour repeated? If the answer to each of the questions above is Yes, then the behaviour is bullying behaviour and the behaviour will be addressed using the Bí Cineálta Procedures. Note: One-off incidents may be considered bullying in certain circumstances. A single hurtful message posted on social media can be considered bullying behaviour as it has a high likelihood of being shared multiple times and thus becomes a repeated behaviour. If the answer to any of these questions is No, then the behaviour is not bullying behaviour. Strategies to deal with inappropriate behaviour are provided for within the school’s Code of Behaviour. When identifying if bullying behaviour has occurred teachers should consider what, where, when and why? – if a group of students is involved, each student should be engaged with individually at first – thereafter, all students involved should be met as a group – at the group meeting, each student should be asked for their account of what happened to ensure that everyone in the group is clear about each other’s views – each student should be supported as appropriate, following the group meeting – it may be helpful to ask the students involved to write down their account of the incident(s) For all meetings two teachers will attend, and where possible, there will be one male and one female teacher present. Where bullying behaviour has occurred parents are an integral part of the school community and play an important role, in partnership with schools, in addressing bullying behaviour. Where bullying behaviour has occurred, the parents of the students involved must be contacted at an early stage to inform them of the matter and to consult with them on the actions to be taken to address the behaviour – it is important to listen to the views of the student who is experiencing the bullying behaviour as to how best to address the situation – a record should be kept of the engagement with all involved – see template Appendix A – this record should document the form and type of bullying behaviour, if known (see Section 2.5 and 2.7 of the Bi Cineálta procedures), where and when it took place and the date of the initial engagement with the students involved and their parents – the record should include the views of the students and their parents regarding the actions to be taken to address the bullying behaviour Follow up where bullying behaviour has occurred the teacher must engage with the students involved and their parents again no more than 20 school days after the initial engagement – important factors to consider as part of this engagement are the nature of the bullying behaviour, the effectiveness of the strategies used to address the bullying behaviour and the relationship between the students involved – the teacher should document the review with students and their parents to determine if the bullying behaviour has ceased, and the views of students and their parents in relation to this. – A copy of the record should be kept on the Student Support File where it exists. – the date on which it has been determined that the bullying behaviour has ceased should also be recorded – any engagement with external services/supports should also be noted – ongoing supervision and support may be needed for the students involved even where bullying behaviour has ceased If the bullying behaviour has not ceased the teacher should review the strategies used in consultation with the students involved and their parents. A timeframe should be agreed for further engagement until the bullying behaviour has ceased.if it becomes clear that the student who is displaying the bullying behaviour is continuing to display the behaviour, then the school should consider using the strategies to deal with inappropriate behaviour as provided for within the school’s Code of Behaviour. If disciplinary sanctions are considered, this is a matter between the relevant student, their parents and the school. if a parent(s) is not satisfied with how the bullying behaviour has been addressed by the school, in accordance with the Bí Cineálta Procedures to Prevent and Address Bullying Behaviour for Primary and Post-Primary Schools, they should be referred to the school’s complaints procedures if a parent is dissatisfied with how a complaint has been handled, they may make a complaint to the Ombudsman for Children if they believe that the school’s actions have had a negative effect on the student Request for school to take no action A student reporting bullying behaviour may ask that a member of staff does nothing about the behaviour other than “look out” for them. Where this occurs, it is important that the member of staff shows empathy to the student, deals with the matter sensitively and speaks with the student to work out together what steps can be taken to address the matter and how their parents will be informed of the situation. It is important that the student who has experienced bullying behaviour feels safe, but parents must still be made aware. Parents may also make schools aware of bullying behaviour that has occurred and specifically request that the school take no action. Parents should put this request in writing to the school. However, while acknowledging the parent’s request, schools may decide that, based on the circumstances, it is appropriate to address the bullying behaviour. |
| The school will use the following approaches to support those who experience, witness and display bullying behaviour (see Chapter 6 of the Bí Cineálta procedures): |
| The primary aim in addressing reports of bullying behaviour should be to stop the bullying behaviour and to restore, as far as practicable, the relationships of the students involved, rather than to apportion blame. To support those who experience, witness and display bullying behaviour our school will: ensure that the student experiencing, witnessing or displaying bullying behaviour feels listened to and reassured – seek to ensure the privacy of those involved – conduct all conversations with sensitivity – consider the age and ability of the students involved – listen to the views of the student who is experiencing, witnessing or displaying the bullying behaviour as to how best to address the situation – take action in a timely manner – inform parents of those involved – put interventions in place to help the pupil who is experiencing, witnessing or displaying bullying behaviour i.e. add to the school’s Continuum of Support, – access Nurture support – Additional supports that will be provided to the child, staff and family include: Nurture support as part of the school Nurture programme – Access to Counselling/Play Therapy if they are deemed as suitable supports, and if they are available – Use of local family support groups i.e. Silver Arch Family Resource Centre – NEPS Professional guidance from Oide – Use of Webwise materials to help with Cyberbullying – Talks for Parents by the National Parents Council – DCU Anti-Bullying Centre – Túsla – where there is a child protection concern – Employee Assistance Service for staff |
All bullying behaviour will be recorded. This will include the type of behaviour, where and when it took place, and the date of the engagement with students and parents. The actions and supports agreed to address bullying behaviour will be documented. If the bullying behaviour is a child protection concern the matter will be addressed without delay in accordance with Child Protection Procedures for Primary and Post-Primary Schools.
Section D: Oversight
The principal will present an update on bullying behaviour at each Board of Management meeting. This update will include the number of incidents of bullying behaviour that have been reported since the last meeting, the number of ongoing incidents and the total number of incidents since the beginning of the school year. Where incidents of bullying behaviour have occurred, the principal will also provide a verbal update which will include where relevant, information relating to trends and patterns identified, strategies used to address the bullying behaviour and any wider strategies to prevent and address bullying behaviour where relevant. This update does not contain personal or identifying information. See Chapter 7 of the Bí Cineálta procedures.
This policy is available to our school community on the school’s website and in hard copy on request. A student friendly version of this policy is displayed in the school, in pupils Homework Journals, and is also available on our website and in hard copy on request.
This policy and its implementation will be reviewed, following input from our school community, each calendar year or as soon as practicable after there has been a material change in any matter to which this policy refers.
Signed: Donal Smyth Date: 09/06/2025
(Chairperson of Board of Management)
Signed: William Greene Date: 09/06/2025
(Principal)