Over the past year, the Anti-Bullying Alliance (ABA) has been supporting strategic leads and practitioners across England to develop their work on tackling bullying in the community including working with youth clubs, children's homes, on transport and further education colleges.
Following a seminar to raise awareness of the issues nationally, ABA delivered a series of regional conferences that gave over 750 local practitioners an opportunity to understand more about tackling bullying in the community and to share best practice.
Building on the high levels of interest and enthusiasm generated at the conferences, our 10 ABA regional advisers are now developing and embedding good practice through support and training in their local anti-bullying networks. This work is underpinned by a wealth of information and tools on the ABA website, including the local authorities toolkit, which includes key information on all aspects of anti-bullying work, relevant law, policy and guidance and is illustrated throughout with case studies of best practice.
There are encouraging signs that tackling bullying in the community is being taken seriously. A recent ABA survey of local authority anti-bullying leads suggests that the majority of local authorities have established a multi-agency steering group to support their anti-bullying work.
For more information on the local authority toolkit visit www.anti-bullyingalliancetoolkit.org.
Mark Vickers, tackling bullying in the community project lead, Anti-Bullying Alliance
EXAMPLE OF AN ANTI-BULLYING PARTNERSHIP
Fears about bullying can limit children and young people's use of local amenities and services. This can be about safety on their journeys. This is particularly true for children and young people in rural areas who rely on transport to and from school.
In this case study a partnership between a local authority, schools, parents, pupils and local bus companies resulted in a package of measures designed to address all areas of home-to-school transport and included:
- Driver customer care training
- Clarity of roles for all stakeholders
- Disciplinary guidelines for schools
- Educational sessions for primary and secondary school pupils
- Behavioural expectations when using transport
