Complaint

The complaint was brought by the mother of a teenage girl who raised concerns that her daughter was being bullied in school. The mother advised that she had reported the matter to the school and was of the view that the school had not taken her concerns seriously and had not implemented its anti-bullying policy.

Investigation

Having examined the matter the Office established that the mother had raised her concerns about bullying with the school, both verbally and in writing, on a number of occasions over the previous years. The school acknowledged that concerns had been raised with them but were of the view that this was an informal discussion and that at no time had the anti-bullying policy been invoked by the child or the family. Therefore no formal investigation had taken place.

Findings

The Office found that there were difficulties in relation to the process to be followed in invoking the anti-bullying policy which had led the young person and her family to believe that the school were not taking their concerns seriously. The parents understood that in raising the concerns with the school both verbally and in writing that this would lead to the implementation of the anti-bullying policy. No evidence was provided to indicate that the anti-bullying procedure had been followed by the school. The school had responded to this communication by initiating their complaints procedure.

The Office found that there had not been adequate communication by the school with the family in relation their concerns about bullying and particularly that the family were not advised of the steps required to invoke the anti-bullying procedure. Furthermore, there were further difficulties with communication from the school to the family in relation to the investigation of their complaint.

Recommendations and response

The Office recommended that the school review its anti-bullying policy, specifically in relation to the steps required to invoke the anti-bullying policy. The Office also recommended that the school and Board of Management give consideration to reviewing their procedures for communicating with parents when concerns of this nature arise in order to ensure that students and parents are aware that the matter is being taken seriously and to ensure that a positive working relationship is maintained.

The school agreed to arrange a meeting with the family to discuss their concerns and undertook to address the issues raised in relation to policy, procedure and practice.

Posted in: Investigations Bullying