Consultation on the Review of the Action Plan on Bullying and the Review of the Anti-bullying Procedures for primary and post-primary schools

Have Your Say

The Department of Education is currently reviewing the Action Plan on Bullying and the Anti-bullying Procedures for primary and post-primary schools.

We want to ensure that the Action Plan on Bullying and the Anti-bullying Procedures for Primary and post-primary schools are effective in preventing and tackling bullying in schools.

As part of this work, the department is seeking your views about what should be done to prevent and tackle bullying in our schools.

The department is inviting you to make written submissions and to complete a short questionnaire as part of the public-consultation process.

We would like to hear from:

• children
• young people
• parents
• school staff (including non-teaching staff)
• education partners
• organisations
• individuals

An online questionnaire can be found at this link:

• https://dessurveys.education.gov.ie/surveys/Anti-Bullying-Action-2022-Plan-Have-your-say

Written submissions can be made here:

• https://dessurveys.education.gov.ie/surveys/Written-Submissions-Have-Your-Say

This consultation will be open until 21 June 2022.

Approach

A Steering Committee has been established to oversee this work.

The Steering Committee consists of senior officials from the Department of Education, including the Inspectorate and the National Educational Psychological Service, representatives of the National Parents’ Council Primary, National Parents’ Council Post-Primary, Irish Second Level Students’ Union (ISSU), the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, the National Anti-bullying Research Centre in DCU and other external experts and representatives of advocacy organisations which include BelongTo, Webwise, Parentline National Traveller Women’s Forum, Women’s Aid and the Independent Living Movement Ireland.

The Steering Committee will be chaired by Dr. Noel Purdy, Director of the Centre for Research in Educational Underachievement (CREU), Stranmillis University College in Antrim.

The terms of reference for the Steering Committee are as follows:

•to review the actions and progress under the current Action Plan on Bullying (published in 2013);

•to develop a new Action Plan with any new priority areas that need to be addressed to help prevent and tackle bullying in schools;

•to identify the actions which need to be taken to address these areas.

The review will take account of the significant developments and relevant research since the action plan was published in 2013. It will specifically consider cyber bullying, gender identity bullying and sexual harassment, among other areas.

The review will give detailed consideration to the recommendations contained in the Oireachtas Joint Committee Report on School Bullying and the Impact on Mental Health which was published last August.

The anti-bullying procedures for primary and post-primary schools will also be reviewed and updated in parallel with this work.

The Steering Committee is comprised of the following members:

• Aileen Hickie, CEO, Parentline

• Áine Lynch, CEO, National Parents’ Council Primary.

• Deirdre Shanley, Schools Division, Department of Education.

• Emer Neville, President, Irish Second-Level Students’ Union

• Emer O’Neill, Anti-racism Activist, Teacher, Presenter

• Prof. James O’Higgins-Norman, Director, DCU Anti-Bullying Centre.

• Jane McGarrigle, Project Officer, Webwise.

• Judith Lyons, Parents and Learners Unit, Department of Education.

• Mai Fanning, President, National Parents Council Post-Primary.

• Majella O’Dea, Teacher Education Section (ITE & Professional Development), Department of Education.

• Maria Bracken, Teacher Education Section (Digital, Teacher Supply), Department of Education.

• Maria Joyce, Coordinator, National Traveller Women’s Forum.

• Moninne Griffith, CEO, BelongTo.

• Niamh Molloy, Parents and Learners Unit, Department of Education.

• Dr. Noel Purdy, Director, Centre for Research in Educational Underachievement (CREU) Stranmillis University College, Chair of Committee.

• Rebecca Galligan, Inspectorate, Department of Education.

• Ronan Kielt, Curriculum and Assessment Policy Unit, Department of Education.

• Sarah Benson, CEO, Women’s Aid.

• Seònaid ÓMurchadha, Director, Independent Living Movement Ireland.

• Sharon Eustace, National Educational Psychological Service, Department of Education.

• Bridget Wilson, Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration, and Youth.

• Yvonne Keating, Inspectorate, Department of Education.

• Zak Moradi, Anti-racism Activist.

Next Steps

The consultation phase will be open from 26 May 2022 to 21 June 2022.

If you have any queries regarding this work please contact antibullying2022@education.gov.ie

To view the consultation click the button below.