BALD FACE PUBLIC SCHOOL
Our School Anti-Bullying Plan
The Anti-Bullying Plan – NSW Department of Education and Communities



Our School Anti-Bullying Plan
This plan outlines the processes for preventing and responding
to student bullying in our school and reflects the Bullying:
Preventing and Responding to Student Bullying in Schools
Policy of the New South Wales Department of Education and
Communities.




A staff committee will develop a draft plan. This will be presented to
whole staff for discussion and input.
Students will be consulted via the SRC for discussion and input.
The school community will be consulted through the parent
representative body, the P&C and through a parent workshop at school.
The plan will be put on the school’s website for further comment before
being ratified.
Statement of purpose
At Bald Face we believe all students, staff and parents have the right to be
treated fairly and with dignity in an environment free from disruption,
intimidation, harassment, discrimination and victimisation. Respect and
tolerance of others is valued at Bald Face PS. Positive relationships are fostered
through strong welfare programs and high expectations of exemplary behaviour
are maintained at all times.
Underpinning all our school policies and programs are our core values:
 Respect
 Honesty and Trustworthiness
 Tolerance and Inclusion
 Care and Compassion
 Integrity
 Freedom
Responsibility
Doing your Best
Fair Go
Protection
At Bald Face, bullying is defined as repeated verbal, physical, social or
psychological behaviour that is harmful and involves the misuse of power by an
individual or group towards one or more persons. Cyberbullying refers to
bullying through information and communication technologies.
Conflicts or fights between equals and single incidents are not defined as
bullying.
Bullying takes many forms. Bald Face PS considers the following behaviours as
examples of bullying:
Physical:
 Pushing/ shoving
 Hitting/ punching
 Kicking
 Throwing objects
 Taking other’s belongings/ stealing from others
 Damaging other’s property
 Spitting at others
 Intimidation
Verbal:
 Threatening
 Name calling/ teasing
 Swearing at others
 Ridicule (making fun) of another person because of their actions,
appearance, physical differences, religious beliefs or cultural background
Indirect:
 Spreading rumours
 Excluding others
 Writing notes
School Anti-bullying Plan – NSW Department of Education and Communities
Cyber bullying:
 Flaming – heated exchange
 Harassing and threatening messages
 Denigration – sending nasty SMS, pictures or prank phone calls, “Slam
Books” (websites or negative lists)
 Impersonation – using a person’s screen name or password eg message
to hate group with personal details
 Outing or trickery – sharing private personal information, messages,
pictures with others. Posting “set up” images/ videos
 Ostracism –intentionally excluding others from an online group eg
knocked off buddy list
 Sexting – sharing explicit material via mobile phone
At Bald Face PS we are committed to maintaining a positive climate of respectful
relationships where bullying is less likely to occur. To achieve this, the whole
school community has a responsibility to take positive and consistent actions to
deal effectively with bullying.
Staff Responsibilities:
School staff has a responsibility to:
 model appropriate behaviour at all times
 respond in a timely manner to incidents of bullying according to the
school’s Anti-Bullying Plan.
 implement school programs which promote positive relationships that
incorporate strategies to deal with bullying.
 have knowledge of school and departmental policies relating to bullying
behaviour
 communicate bullying incidents with parents when needed
In addition teachers have a responsibility to:
 provide curriculum and pedagogy that supports students to develop an
understanding of bullying and its impact on individuals and the broader
community
 document incidents of bullying as outlined in ‘Reporting’
Student Responsibilities:
Students have a responsibility to:
The Anti-Bullying Plan – NSW Department of Education and Communities
 behave appropriately, respecting individual differences and diversity.
 behave as responsible digital citizens
 behave as responsible bystanders
 report incidents of bullying according to the school’s Anti-Bullying Plan
 follow the school’s Anti-Bullying Plan
Parents and Caregivers
Parents and Caregivers have a responsibility to:
 support their children to become responsible citizens and to develop
responsible on-line behaviour
 be aware of the school’s Anti-Bullying Plan and assist their children in
understanding bullying behaviour
 support their children in developing positive responses to incidents of
bullying consistent with the school Anti-Bullying Plan
 report incidents of school related bullying behaviour to the school
 work collaboratively with the school to resolve incidents of bullying when
they occur
The School Community
All members of the school community have the responsibility to:
 model and promote positive relationships that respect and accept
individual differences and diversity within the school community
 positively support the school’s Anti-Bullying Plan through words and
actions
 work collaboratively with the school to resolve incidents of bullying when
they occur
 report incidents of school-related bullying behaviour to the school,
consistent with the school Anti-Bullying Plan
Prevention
Strategies to prevent bullying include:
 Teaching skills and understandings that will lead to reducing and
eliminating bullying behaviours





Explicit teaching of the School’s Values and associated behaviours
Social skills program taught K-6
Peer support and Buddies programs
School rules
Information dissemination through the school Bulletin and the school website

Bald Face PS is embedding anti-bullying messages across the curriculum K-6 by:
1.
Classroom and school practices promoting respectful relationships:








2.
Teaching, revisiting and reinforcing the school’s rules
SRC
“Buddies” program in Kindergarten
Explicit teaching of the school’s Core Values.
Monthly value printed on homework sheets and in the Bulletin
Acknowledgement of cultural festivals eg NAIDOC week. Ramadan;
Chinese New Year, Harmony Day
Teaching units eg COGS; Child Protection, Personal Development,
Health
High School Transition Program
Training and development for staff and community to enable all school
community members to recognise and respond to bullying, harassment and
victimisation:



Parent workshops
Staff professional learning
Bulletin
Early Intervention
At Bald Face, students who are identified as being at risk of developing longterm difficulties with social relationships, and those students who are identified
at or after enrolment as having previously experienced bullying or engaged in
bullying behaviour will be involved in one or more of the following:









Referral to the Learning Support Team
Counsellor support
Individual behaviour management plan and program
Regular reviews with parents/caregivers
Playground behaviour monitoring through playground folder (if
appropriate)
Reflection of behaviours as per Restorative Practices/ ‘Stop, Think, Do’
Social skills program
Peer Support
Better Buddies

Annual workshop with police / school liaison officer re cyber bullying and
the legal ramifications for parents and stage 3 students
Values Education
Response
The whole school community is empowered to recognise and respond
appropriately to bullying, harassment and victimisation and behave as
responsible bystanders. Bald Face PS is committed to:
 Provide workshops for parents and students to train them in the
recognition and reporting of school based bullying
 Publicise clear procedures for reporting incidents of bullying to the
school
 Respond to incidents of bullying that have been reported to the school
quickly and effectively
 Match a planned combination of interventions to the particular incident
of bullying
 Educate bystanders in how to take positive steps to intervene, condemn
and report bullying
 Provide updates, within the bounds of privacy legislation, to parents or
caregivers about the management of incidents
 Provide support to any student who has been affected by, engaged in or
witnessed bullying behaviour
Bald Face procedures for dealing with bullying and inappropriate behaviour are
as per our Student Welfare Policy.
Severity of Bullying Situations Factors that influence the severity of bullying
include:



Duration
Frequency
Type
The following table outlines types of bullying behaviour and the appropriate
response and intervention:
School Anti-bullying Plan – NSW Department of Education and Communities
Mild Behaviours
Thoughtless acts that happen occasionally

Attitude – voice/ tone

Invading personal space

Occasional –
o Name calling
o Exclusion
o Kicking balls away

Hurt feelings/ friendship not running
smoothly

Non-deliberate rough play

Thoughtless acts/ not cooperative

Deliberate negative body language

Jostling in line

Domination via peers
Action
Dealt with at playground or class level by
the teacher:
Discussion with student/s to resolve
problem
Reminder of playground/ school rules
Refer to social skills and values strategies
Walk with teacher on duty
Teacher may choose to record incident in
the playground folder
After three entries on the sheet the
student maybe referred to the principal
Support to students who have experienced mild bullying behaviour will be
provided by classroom and playground duty teachers. This may take the form of
discussion with student group and receiving verbal apology.
Medium Behaviours
A behaviour which is ongoing for some
time and becoming systemic and hurtful
for the person being bullied.
 Ongoing after first warning given
 Deliberate continual ‘bumping’.
 Name calling
 Stand over tactics
 Inappropriate gestures/ looks’
 Rumours
 Exclusion
 Power being applied
 Swearing in an abusive manner
 Physical – scratching/ slapping/
pushing/ tripping/ spitting
 Continual rough play resulting in
arguments
Action
Dealt with as outlined in the school’s
Welfare Policy.
Name recorded in playground folder
Principal will withdraw student from the
playground .
Student reflects on behaviour and
completes Restorative Practices.
Principal informs student of consequences
eg further withdrawal time/ daily follow
up/ playground monitoring until behaviour
improves/ letter sent home where
appropriate.
Executive informs class teacher of
outcome
The Anti-Bullying Plan – NSW Department of Education and Communities
Support to students as per mild behaviour and monitoring by the classroom
teacher.
Severe Behaviours
When behaviours are extended over a
period of time and intensely cruel and
threatening.
They
are
constant,
threatening and cause the person being
bullied severe distress.
 Kicking/ hitting/ punching
 Constant psychological abuse –
including cyber bullying- resulting
in emotional trauma
 Intimidation – verbal/ body
language/ physical
Action
Executive need to ensure the safety of all
involved. Interviews conducted with all
concerned, including the bully, the person
being bullied, bystanders and parents.
Red card- send for an executive
Immediate withdrawal from the
playground
Principal/ Executives establish details of
incident
Parents notified
Police/ DOCS notified if appropriate
Fair discipline code applies – detention/ inschool or out of school suspension may
occur
Possible referral to school Counsellor
Principal may enforce a short or long term
suspension. Behaviour plan drawn up and
agreed to by parents, student and school
before readmission to school
Ongoing classroom/playground monitoring
Support to students who have experienced severe behaviour will be coordinated
by the executive team and classroom teacher.
All teachers have the responsibility to record and respond to reported incidences of
bullying and inform the classroom teacher and the Principal.
Parents/ caregivers report incidents of bullying to the class teacher, Stage supervisor or
the Principal. All reported cases will be recorded, responded to and feedback given to
the parents/ caregivers on the action taken.
All incidents of bullying will be dealt with quickly and effectively to ensure the safety
and well-being of students.

In any cases where there are child protection issues or ongoing concerns for any
child’s safety or wellbeing, the Principal will contact the Child Wellbeing Unit
and/ or Community Services where appropriate. Incidents which involve
assaults, threats, intimidation, harassment illegal weapons or substances will
always be reported to the police and the School Safety and Response Unit.
o
School Safety and Response Hotline 1300 363 778
o
Department of Community Services Helpline 133627
o
Bald Face PS website http://www.baldfaceps.com. au
Principal’s comment
At Bald Face Public School we seek to provide a quality learning environment which is
inclusive, safe and secure and free from bullying, harassment, intimidation and
victimisation.

In any cases where the school has any doubt about whether an incident should
be reported to the police, the Principal will contact the School Safety and
Response unit to seek advice.
Our Anti-Bullying policy, which has been developed in consultation with staff, students
and parents, reflects the Department of Education and Communities’ Bullying:
Preventing and Responding to Student Bullying in Schools Policy (2011).

While most complaints will be resolved according to our school policy, a parent
can at any time during the process lodge an appeal if they feel the policy has not
been followed fairly or properly. The Department of Education and Communities
Complaints Handling Policy Guidelines outlines the appropriate procedures for
lodging a complaint.
Underpinning our policy are the school’s core values:










A complaint can be about:
o Any aspect of the service provided, or not provided, in any
Department of Education and Communities site,
o The behaviour or decisions of staff, or
o Practices, policies or procedures
Bald Face’s Anti-Bullying plan has been developed by staff, students and parents. The
plan is implemented within the school and reviewed every three years. The
effectiveness of the plan will be reported on regularly as part of the school’s annual
school reporting mechanisms – Bulletin newsletter and the Annual School report.
A current copy of the plan is maintained on the school website http://www.
baldfaceps.com.au and the School Education Director also holds a copy which is
submitted by the school whenever it is reviewed. The School Education Director is
responsible for monitoring the local implementation of the policy and reports to the
Regional Director.
Respect
Honesty and Trustworthiness
Tolerance and Inclusion
Care and Compassion
Integrity
Freedom
Responsibility
Doing your Best
Fair Go
This partnership between the school, students and their families is based on a shared
commitment to provide opportunities for students to take responsibilities for their
actions and to have a greater say in the nature and content of their learning.
Collaboration between school staff, students and parents or carers is an important
feature of discipline in government schools.
Student Discipline in Government Schools (2006)
Sally Lawson
Principal
Additional Information
Email:
baldface-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au
Contacts:
Website
http://www.baldfaceps.com.au
o
School Liaison Police Officer 9375 8599
o
Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800
School Anti-bullying Plan – NSW Department of Education and Communities