bullying - do something

www.optimus-education.com/sc223

‘Bullying exists. Any school that claims it doesn’t have a bullying problem is not facing up to the facts,’ says David Edwards, headteacher of Penmorfa primary school in Denbighshire, Wales.

While any child can be subjected to persistent abuse, pupils with special educational needs are especially vulnerable. Bullies pick on children less resilient than themselves and if someone has trouble communicating or signifi cant learning diffi culties, that makes them an easy target. The situation is often made worse because they don’t have a network of close friends to stand up for them, or even just provide a shoulder to cry on.

Unless, that is, they attend Ysgol Penmorfa. When Mr Edwards is

Bullying affects not just the perpetrator and the victim, but the entire school community. Alison Thomas fi nds out about a structured programme that encourages pupils to look after each other

investigating an alleged bullying incident, after interviewing both parties, he doesn’t just send the victim back into class unsupported. He identifi es two or three classmates he knows he can trust to help the child settle into the lesson and get over their distress.

A hi-viz profi leTogether with a class teacher and a higher level teaching assistant, Mr Edwards is one of the three people who make up the KiVa team. There is no mistaking who they are, because they all wear high-visibility vests with the word KiVa emblazoned on the back. ‘You can see us from the furthest corners of the playground,’ he says. ‘So there is no excuse if someone sees another child being bullied and fails to report it

straight away.’ And every child knows that this is what

you do, because this is a KiVa school.

A Finnish modelKiVa means ‘nice’ in Finnish. It is also an acronym made up of the fi rst two letters of the Finnish words for ‘against’ and ‘bullying.’ This makes it a really good name for the structured and systematic anti-bullying programme developed by Professor Christina Salmivalli and her team at the Finnish university of Turku.

The children know this, and their vocabulary has been expanded in other ways too. ‘If teachers give you the words to explain different situations, then it is easier for us to see if a situation could get bad,’ says Lauren who attends Ysgol

Don’t just stand there, do something

8 Special Children 223

Pupils at Ysgol Llanllechid show off the KiVa rules displayed on the classroom wall


Llanllechid in Gwynedd, another KiVa school. ‘We also have words to report it and to discuss solutions before any bullying takes place. I mean words like silent bullying, cyberbullying, exclusion, assistant or reinforcer of the bully and silent approvers.’

Modifying bystander behaviourThe focus on the role of the bystander is a major feature of the KiVa programme. Bullying can be a strategy to gain status and power within a peer group, and that requires an audience. Some people join in and give the bullies a helping hand; others egg them on by laughing or jeering. Then there are those who just watch and do nothing.

According to research conducted by Professor Salmivalli, ‘reinforcers’ and ‘silent approvers’ have a signifi cant impact on the way events can unfold and whether or not the bully persists in their abusive behaviour.

‘Initially we had to introduce the concept of bystander bullying,’ says Mr Edwards. ‘Children hadn’t fully appreciated that by simply standing there watching, they became part of the event and in the victim’s eyes they were almost condoning it.

One of the goals of the programme is to develop empathy so that children can imagine what it’s like to be in the victim’s shoes and are therefore less likely to give bullies their tacit support.’

Providing clarityFirst, however, everyone has to be very clear about what bullying actually means.

‘There tends to be a misconception amongst pupils and parents regarding the defi nition of bullying,’ says Huw Jones, deputy headteacher of Ysgol Llanllechid. ‘It’s not the same thing as occasional confl icts or fi ghts and the KiVa defi nition is very explicit: “Bullying is aggressive, harmful behaviour which is targeted repeatedly at one and the same individual.”’

The children’s understanding of this is developed through a series of carefully structured 90-minute lessons that take place once a month as part of their PSHE curriculum.

The programme starts by exploring social skills, being friendly, being part of a team and learning an emotion vocabulary, before gradually moving on to address the issues of bullying more specifi cally. A comprehensive suite of resources is provided and includes detailed lesson plans together with video clips, online materials, PowerPoint presentations, worksheets and booklets.

Developing awareness‘The children really love the sessions, and these are delivered by the class teacher to embed the ethos across the school,’ says Mr Edwards. ‘They comprise a mixture of discussion work, practical work, problem-solving and thinking skills, and there are computer games where the children have to zap inappropriate comments and let through the positive ones. It just helps to fi ne tune their ability to distinguish between what is acceptable and what is not. They also do role play exercises and look at scenarios to identify what is appropriate and inappropriate.’

Mr Jones agrees. ‘KiVa encourages pupils to think on their own, search for answers and use their own experiences,’ he says. ‘It allows them to make a link between the skills covered during the lessons and other social situations.

‘At the end of each session, a KiVa rule is presented based on what they have learned during that lesson. These rules are often mentioned during the school term and displayed on the classroom wall as a gentle reminder.’

‘The children have been particularly inspired by this quote from Martin Luther King,’ he adds. ‘“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”’

A supportive cultureBoth teachers have been impressed by the impact on the school culture.

‘Pupils are more aware of others,’ says Mr Jones. ‘On the yard, for example, they notice when a pupil is looking lonely and help them out, and they are far more willing to express their concerns to members of staff on duty. The effects of KiVa were picked up by the head of Year 7 at the local secondary school, who commented on how caring our pupils were of each other when they transferred there from Year 6.’

The same is true of pupils at Ysgol Penmorfa, who also go out of their way to support each other. Mr Edwards also notes that KiVa has helped the school to become more inclusive.

‘We have a full range of pupils, including children with autism, ADHD and physical disabilities,’ he says. ‘It has promoted greater tolerance of difference and helped pupils understand that bullying is never acceptable under any circumstances. They have also learned to distinguish between a remark deliberately designed to wound and a comment made by a child with ASD, say, that has no malice behind it.’

Bullying can be a strategy to gain status and power, and that requires an audience

Elis, Lauren and Gethin of Ysgol Llanllechid say ‘Yes’ to KiVA


Mental health

Three pupils are busy working on a KiVa task


Dealing with incidents of bullyingNo preventative programme will make bullying disappear all together, and when incidents do occur KiVa has a clear and consistent structure for dealing with them. This is the responsibility of the KiVa team, who fi ll out an initial form noting the names of the individuals involved and the nature of the alleged incident. They then have to decide whether or not this is a genuine instance of bullying.

‘If we conclude that it is, we interview all the people involved separately to fi nd out exactly what has happened,’ says Mr Edwards. ‘The victim then returns to the class, where the teacher will already have enlisted the support of a group of pupils to look after them. In the case of the bully or bullies, we try to encourage empathy and get them to think of what they can do so that this doesn’t happen again.

‘A few weeks later we have follow-up meetings where, again, we talk to everyone separately to see if the situation has changed. Usually we are reassured to hear:

“It is fi ne. It’s all stopped.” But we don’t wait until the next incident arises to deal with it all over again. KiVa is proactive – you check to make sure that all is well.’

On the rare occasions when bullying dies down and then fl ares up again, he has detailed records to remind him of the full history. ‘These are far more accurate than any records we kept before,’ he says. ‘That too is part of the KiVa process. Having all the evidence to hand is really useful if a parent objects when I have to resort to disciplinary action. Likewise, the thoroughness of the process reassures parents because they know that, if ever their child complains of bullying, we will listen and take action.’

A safe school environmentAnother feature of the KiVa programme is an annual anonymous online survey where children report on whether or not they have been bullied, have bullied or are aware of bullying. Each school receives its own results and the combined results of other schools.

A comparison of children’s responses at Ysgol Penmorfa in the summer terms of 2013 and 2014 showed that the incidence of bullying had declined. So too had pupils’ perceptions of being bullied because they now understood the difference between bullying and the inevitable squabbles that take place every day. Children’s self-image in the playground had also improved.

By coincidence, the school had an Estyn inspection at the end of the summer term 2014 and the quality of its care

support and guidance was deemed to be outstanding. This was refl ected in pupils’ answers to the question: ‘Do you feel safe in school?’ and in their parents’ perceptions.

Pupil surveys at Ysgol Llanllechid have been equally positive and the reduction in bullying has had benefi cial effects on the children’s general well-being, attitude towards school and academic motivation. ‘The programme ensures a safe school environment and promotes healthy, supportive relationships as well as positive interactions between all pupils,’ says Mr Jones.

Getting parents on boardSchools are provided with an information leafl et for parents and encouraged to hold a parents’ evening early in the school year to outline the key elements of the programme.

Mr Edwards opted instead for regular entries in the school newsletter. ‘When you hold this type of meeting, you tend to fi nd that only a handful of people turn up,’ he explains. ‘So we decided to drip-feed information along the lines of: “The pupils have been piloting the KiVa scheme. Please ask your child about KiVa and what they have been doing in school, and what they should do if they see bullying taking place.’

There is also an online KiVa Parent Guide, which includes a summary of current research into bullying, different types of bullying, how it can affect a whole class, and how to know if your child is being targeted.

The guide also gives parents advice on supporting their children at home, including how to encourage a child to be more open about their experiences at school, how to support them if they are being bullied and, of course, how to engage with school staff to ensure that the bullying stops.

Pupils love itEvaluation carried out during the fi rst Welsh trial (see box) shows that teachers fi nd the materials engaging and easy to deliver and that the children look forward to the lessons.

Perhaps the last word should lie with two more pupils from Ysgol Llanllechid.

‘Doing KiVa not only means that we have no bullying,’ comments Gethin, ‘but also that we are more confi dent to solve problems if we see them outside school or when we get to secondary school. In a way it has helped me grow up and be more caring.’

Elis puts it succinctly. ‘I think KiVa is a brilliant way to have a happy school.’

An evidence-based approachKiVa is designed for children aged 7-15 and is based on robust research showing how the responses of bystanders maintain or decrease bullying behaviour.

It was developed and piloted in Finland between 2006 and 2009 and is now implemented in 90 per cent of the country’s comprehensive schools. A randomised controlled trial (RCT) involving more than 28,000 children in 234 Finnish schools found that it was highly effective in reducing bullying, particularly in the mid- to late-primary school years.

The fi rst KiVa trial in the UK was run by Bangor University in 17 primary schools in Wales and Cheshire during the 2012-13 academic year with very positive results. This has been followed by a larger Big Lottery-funded RCT running for

two years from 2013-2015 and undertaken by a partnership between Bangor University and Dartington Social Research Unit. In a further development, Powys is training schools and trainers with a possible view to rolling the programme out.www.kivaprogram.net and http://bit.ly/sc223-31

TrainingThe KiVa programme currently available for use in England and Wales covers Key Stage 2. Bangor University is an accredited training centre.

Training for schools is a two-day event and covers all aspects of introducing and implementing the programme. There is also a three-day certifi ed course that qualifi es participants to train their own staff. http://bit.ly/sc223-30

Sessions are delivered by the class teacher to embed the ethos across the school


Mental health

KiVa posters are displayed all around the school

bullying - do something

Education