Minister for Education Norma Foley TD has today (Saturday 13 April) announced new initiatives to progress work on addressing bullying in schools from September 2024, as part of the Department of Education’s Cineáltas: Action Plan on Bullying. These will include the roll-out of new anti-bullying modules in primary and post-primary schools and the hosting of a Cineáltas showcase event.
The modules have been created by the Anti-Bullying Centre in DCU and build on the existing FUSE programme which addresses bullying-related topics including noticing, responding and reporting bullying, building bystander confidence and dealing with cyberbullying and online conflict. Currently, 440 primary and 570 post-primary schools are delivering the FUSE anti-bullying programme which is funded by the Department of Education and has been available to all schools since 2023.
The new modules include a new first year resource which supports students in their transition from primary to post-primary, addressing bullying-related topics such as new spaces and places, new technology and new friendships and relationships both off and online.
Minister Foley said: “I believe these new lessons will help us to address bullying, which can rob a child or young person of their happiness and satisfaction, often causing lifelong damage for them. We need to do everything we can to prevent the scourge of bullying among young people, in all its forms.”
Prof. James O’Higgins Norman, UNESCO Chair on Bullying at DCU Institute of Education said: “FUSE is a research-based anti-bullying programme developed specifically for Irish schools at DCU Anti-Bullying Centre. It is designed to support teachers, parents and students to recognise, respond and report bullying behaviour in person or online.”
Minister Foley has also announced that a Cineáltas showcase and awards event will be held this September to celebrate the good work school communities are doing to prevent and address bullying behaviour and promote equality, inclusion, diversity and wellbeing.
This event will include an awards ceremony to recognise individuals or groups within school communities, who, through their personal leadership, participation, or achievements, have made an outstanding contribution to preventing and addressing bullying and promoting equality, inclusion, diversity and wellbeing in their school community.
Minister Foley said: “I am pleased to announce that we will hold the first annual Cineáltas showcase event on 25 September 2024. My department will randomly select approximately 30 schools that will be invited to participate in the showcase event and highlight what they have already done to promote Cineáltas in their school community and the impact that it has had on the life of their school.
“I recognise that schools face different challenges and are at different places on their Cineáltas journey and I look forward to learning how schools have addressed these challenges. I am pleased to also announce that we are asking school communities to nominate groups or individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to preventing and addressing bullying and promoting equality, inclusion, diversity and wellbeing in their school communities.
“This is an opportunity for us all to acknowledge the members of our school communities who have gone above and beyond to make an outstanding contribution to ensuring that all our schools are safe and happy places for all our students.”
School communities will be invited to submit their nominations for the awards ceremony during the month of May.
As part of the Cinéaltas plan, work is well underway to update the anti-bullying procedures for primary and post-primary schools which were published in 2013. The updated procedures will provide guidance as to when an incident of bullying becomes a Child Protection Concern, will ensure appropriate oversight at school level, and will ensure that a school’s anti-bullying policy is developed and reviewed in consultation with the whole school community. It is intended that the procedures will be published in the coming months.
Another commitment in Cineáltas is to develop a national database to facilitate data collection on bullying behaviour, on an anonymous basis. This will be used to inform a national annual report on bullying in schools which can then be used to inform provision of continuous professional development for staff, research and anti-bullying programmes. Work on this important action has commenced.
