POLICY COMMISSION MEETING

Meeting	Children and School Results Commission
Ref	CPC 03/05/06
Date	Wednesday, 3 May 2006 18.00 to 19.51
Place	Nine Acres Primary School, South View, Newport, Isle of Wight
Purpose of meeting	Formal public meeting
Attendance	Commission members – Cllrs Melanie Swan (Commissioner), Wendy Arnold, George Cameron, Deborah Gardiner, Gill Kennett, Lady Pigot Co-opted (voting) – Canon David Isaac Apologies – Mrs Urszula Topp Cabinet member – Cllr Patrick Joyce Cabinet Secretaries – Cllrs David Pugh, Alan Wells Officers – Mr Ian Sandbrook, Mr Keith Simmonds, Mrs Pru Grimshaw, Mrs Helen Lewis, Ms Karen Pothecary, Mr Steve Laycock and Ms Jane Dowdell, Associate Director for Child and Family Care Group and Designated Nurse for Child Protection.
Agenda Items
1. Notes of previous meeting	The notes of the meeting held on 5 April 2006 were agreed
2. Declarations of interest	Cllr G Kennett declared a personal interest in the item relating to Anti Bullying and Behaviour due to her paid employment.
3. Anti-bullying and Behaviour	Papers considered :- Report of Mr K Simmonds, Head of Learning Effectiveness. Stakeholders present :- Marcus Bulpitt, Kyle Le Moigne (both year 7), Vicki Newman, Charlotte Drummond (both year 8) pupils who were on the School Council at Downside Middle School accompanied by Mrs Fran Shelley, School Project Manager Evidence from Mr Keith Simmonds :- i. Initial evidence given to the Commission meeting on 7 December 2005. ii. Informal evidence gathering sessions will be arranged for pairs of members with pupils from a range of schools. iii. Evidence should be sought from standing parent groups including those representing pupils educated otherwise than at school. iv. Text and e-mail were now used as a method of bullying. Evidence from Downside Middle School pupils :- i. Pupils encouraged to report bullying and know that appropriate action will be taken by teachers. ii. A friendship magazine was produced by pupils. iii. Two youth workers were employed within the school and can be seen by pupils on a one to one basis. iv. The school had held an anti-bullying assembly. v. The School Council was involved in undertaking research work on bullying. vi. Pupils feel safe in and around the school. vii. Boys were more likely to take their own action and deal with bullying in their own way. viii. Need to understand why the person is doing the bullying. ix. Facility in the school for internal isolation so a pupil responsible for bullying can be removed from the classroom environment and given work under supervision. x. The pupils would welcome a visit to their school by members of the Commission and attend any more special anti-bullying assembly held or a meeting of the School Council. xi. The role of the Headteacher in getting issues sorted out was important to pupils. Evidence from Ms Karen Pothecary, Senior Education Welfare Officer (Child Protection) with a powerpoint presentation :- i. Bullying was meant to hurt, deliberate and repeated over a period of time. ii. It involved name calling, teasing, physical, verbal, taking, breaking or excluding. iii. It effected children’s self esteem, relationships, level of achievement and could result in self harming. iv. It occurred in the school, local community, workplace, home – generally anywhere. v. Action involves identifying the extent of the problem, developing policies, listening to young people and parents, adopting and sharing good practice. vi. The Council’s text and phone helpline had been in operation since September 2005 but use was declining. vii. Young people using the helpline did not want verbal assistance but preferred advice by text. Evidence from Mrs Helen Lewis, Healthy Schools Lead Officer with a powerpoint presentation :- i. Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning (SEAL) resource being developed. ii. This was a whole school approach. iii. A steering group of key partners and agencies were involved in the local delivery. iv. An Action Plan was in operation and reviewed quarterly. v. 10 Primary Schools had been involved in a pilot project since October 2005 with a roll-out to all Primary and Middle Schools from September 2006 vi. A planned and consistent approach will be developed with Parenting Support via the Family Resource Centre. General points arising :- i. Concerns expressed by members as to content of the bullying section on EduWight web site and in particular the Seven Steps Solution and statement on punishment. ii. Text and phone helpline needed to be refreshed but not so that it created an artificial demand for the service. iii. Although there was a relationship between the effects of bullying and level of achievement this could not be measured. iv. Health colleagues could supply information on the number of young people admitted to hospital as the result of bullying. v. The TellUs survey results did not indicate that bullying was as big a problem as had been expressed at the Right2BHeard event. vi. The Council could undertake appropriate elements of the Tellus survey on an annual basis. vii. Need to ensure relevant data collected from parents who chose to educate their children out of school. viii. Members would undertake visits in pairs to a number of schools to talk to pupils and staff about bullying and report back to the Commission.