Anti-bullying guidance published by 4Children
Neil Puffett
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
New guidance has been issued by a children's charity as part of a multi-pronged attempt to tackle bullying.
A total of eight guidance notes have been released by 4Children in partnership with the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF). The notes provide tailored advice for practitioners on: bullying in extended services; bullying during youth activities; bullying in children's homes; bullying during play and leisure; bullying on journeys; anti-bullying training resources; guidance for local authorities; and further education colleges.
Local authorities are also told how they can act to tackle bullying while separate advice has been drafted on bullying during journeys and what training resources are available.
Chris Cloke, chair of the Anti-Bullying Alliance, said: "This guidance is a timely reminder of everyone's responsibility to help create safe environments in which children and young people can live, grow, play and learn. At ABA we are looking forward to extending our regional support networks to include practitioners working in a range of community-based settings."
Their publication coincides with a new report by Sir Alan Steer into school discipline and behaviour. Sir Alan Steer's report says schools and teachers are not using the full range of powers available to them to discipline badly behaved pupils.
The Conservatives claim the government has made it more difficult for schools to permanently exclude children.
They point to figures showing the number of children excluded more than 10 times in a single year went up from 310 in 2004 to 837 in 2007.
