INTRODUCTION

Royal Crown School aspires to unleash the potential in each of our students and be the number one choice for students seeking an international school in Toronto that helps students achieve their potential in a caring and supportive environment. 

At Royal Crown, we believe that all people regardless of race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, creed, citizenship, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, family status or disability have the right to work and learn together in a caring atmosphere that is free from discrimination, threat and fear. At RCS, we believe that any form of bullying is unacceptable. This policy provides an operating definition of bullying and outline of the program that is implemented at RCS in order to address bullying.

Royal Crown School is a residence school and, therefore, pastoral care is valued.  We continually educate our students to live harmoniously.  Regular workshops and activities to promote a safe and happy environment are delivered from our residence staff and our guidance counsellors.

GUIDING STATEMENTS

At RCS, we believe that:

1.     Everyone deserves to be treated with absolute respect.

2.     It is a shared responsibility to ensure we treat others in ways we expect to be treated ourselves.

3.     It is our shared responsibility to act and be a part of resolving a bullying problem, should this occur.

4.     Faculty need to be aware of bullying tactics, as well as strategies to prevent this behavior from recurring.

5.     Students are encouraged to speak to faculty members if they experience bullying. RCS  continues to work collectively to protect individuals from any form of bullying.

6.     RCS aims to develop a consistent and sensitive approach when dealing with those who are experiencing bullying behaviors, whether these people are the bullies or the victims of bullying .

DEFINITION OF BULLYING

While conflict between students can be a healthy component of growing up, and learning to navigate social situations.  These types of behaviors are sometimes misconstrued as bullying behaviors.

Bullying can be defined as:

●      Repeated, habitual or persistent unwanted attention to an individual by an individual or group.

●      Use of force or threat to demonstrate dominance or imbalance of social or physical power    

●      Behavior that is difficult to defend against.

TYPES OF BULLYING

Bullying also involves or may involve exclusion from a group, gossiping or spreading rumors, deliberate silence/ignoring, interference with other’s possessions, or cyber-bullying. Bullying is not limited to repeated physical or verbal aggression. Bullying may be:

●      Indirect

●      Physical

●      Verbal

●      Cyber

and may also include:

●      Abusing phone privileges, Internet, cameras, videos, or sending threatening or unsettling messages.

●      Sexual

o   Unwanted sexual comments or touching, or sexually explicit comments

●      Emotional

o   Excluding, threatening, making rude gestures, damaging or hiding personal belongings, being unfriendly or mean

●      Homophobia-making comments about someone’s sexual orientation; exclusion based on sexual orientation

●      Physical

o   Use of violence (pushing, kicking, punching, etc)

●      Verbal

o   Using sarcasm, gossiping/spreading rumors, teasing, name calling

●      Exclusion

o   Ignoring someone, pretending another person is not there, excluding someone from activities, saying nothing

●      Racist

o   Racially motivated taunting or teasing, exclusion, ostracism, jokes, encouraging racist remarks, inappropriate gestures

PREVENTION

To prevent bullying we focus on:

Modeling by Adults

●      All adults in the school behave in a kindly and positive way towards students, parents, and each other. It is an expectation that older students are a positive influence on younger peers and classmates.

●      Students learn through the example of positive teacher/faculty/staff relationships.

●      Use Assemblies to focus on educational presentations that indirectly address bullying in terms of how we should treat each other.

EDUCATION

●      Ensure students are educated about the Appropriate use of Technology Policy

●      The provision of opportunities during Parent Workshops to raise parental awareness about bullying, especially about misuse of technology for bullying purposes, i.e. links to e-safety sites and videos. This includes educating parents about appropriate interactions with children who are not their own.

SCHOOL PROGRAM

●      School leadership promotion of a culture of shared responsibility for all faculty for the social and emotional well-being of our students.

●      Faculty assisting student self-esteem through specific recognition of achievements and positive behavior. All faculty ensure all students are engaged in activities inside and outside the classroom. Faculty need to intervene if they see bullying behavior.

●      School Counselor may be notified to work with students who are involved either bullying, or is bullied.

●      All faculty, but especially those involved in the Residence program, need to be aware of appropriate use of technology how to intervene in the case of possible cyber bullying.

BUILDING STRONG RELATIONSHIPS WITH PARENTS

●      Partnership building with parents that includes promoting awareness of the forms of bullying and cyberbullying and advice on how to react

●      Partnership building with parents that develops an understanding of the prevention and intervention framework used by the school.

ADDRESSING BULLYING - PROCEDURES

1) Awareness and Vigilance

All faculty are to be vigilant for signs of bullying, i.e. physical distress, tearfulness, withdrawal from group activities, isolation in class or around the school, absences, changes in approach and quality of work. In particular, registering a significant change in student behavior is important. All faculty need to be aware of issues from the perspective of perpetrators - exclusion of others in class or group activities, aggression, provocation, inappropriate joking or comments.

2) Reporting Concerns:

Any concerns, no matter how small, need to be reported to Head of Residence/Head of School at an early stage so that the situation can be assessed and action can be taken if warranted.  Early intervention is key as patterns of behavior can become established and thus more difficult to change of left alone and unchallenged.  Reporting unacceptable behavior is the responsibility of all faculty members.

If students believe bullying is occurring:  Procedures for safe Reporting of Bullying

A.    Talk to somebody (friend, parent, teacher)

B.    Check behavior - is it repeated? Is it targeted? Is it hurtful?

C.    Report the behavior using - include date, time, place, people involved.

D.    Intervention is undertaken with appropriate faculty i.e: teacher, School Counselor, Vice Principal.

E.     Support for child being bullied

F.     Restorative practices and conference/empathy training for child involved in bullying

G.    Communication with parents of bullied child, and child involved in bullying

H.    Continued monitoring of all involved

If teachers believe bullying is occurring:  Procedures for safe Reporting of Bullying

A.    Speak to children involved - collect data and check against definitions of bullying

B.    Alert Head of School/Head of Residence/Counselor

C.    Support for the child being bullied

D.    Restorative practices and conference /empathy training for child involved in bullying

E.     Communication with parents of bullied child, and child involved in bullying

F.     Continued monitoring of all involved

If parents believe bullying is occurring: Procedures for safe Reporting of Bullying

A.    Speak to Classroom teacher, Principal

B.    Teachers speak to children involved - collect data and check against definitions of bullying

C.    Teachers alert Principal/Head of Residence/Counselor

D.    School support for child being bullied

E.     School initiated restorative justice practice and conference/empathy training for child involved in bullying

F.     School will communicate with parents of bullied child, and communicate with parents of child involved in bullying

G.    Continued monitoring of all involved

3) Listening and Discussion

a) All bullying behavior must be taken seriously and investigated to aid in establishing patterns of behavior. Faculty must listen to students with regards to any incident, and should note this in writing. All matters will be reported to Head of Residence/Head of School at which point a decision will be made about how best to proceed.

b) When a concern is raised by a parent the same approach will apply.  Faculty will listen to parents with regards to any incident, and should note this in writing. All matters will be reported to Head of Residence/Head of School at which point a decision will be made about how best to proceed. We need to encourage our parents to work collaboratively with the school rather than take matters into their own hands.

c) Students involved in any incident will be informed about what action will result. We note that students may be reluctant to be involved in further action for fear of reprisal or fear of making the situation worse.  Faculty will respect students’ wishes for confidentiality insofar as possible. Faculty have a duty of care to ensure they take action on bullying. Faculty will make clear to students concerned that the school cannot condone bullying and reassure student that they will be supported throughout the process.

4) Investigation

Faculty concerned will investigate the situation. Investigation is typically difficult as many incidences take place when adults or supervisors are not present. There may be evidence of bullying behavior in the form of written texts or specific observed actions, but often there are only complaints and perhaps counter-accusations. All need to be listened to. Separate interviews of persons involved may be needed. All investigations should be made in deference to the age of persons involved and context of the investigation. A record needs to be made by investigating faculty. It is recommended that another member of faculty should be present to take notes and act as witness.

5) Reponses and Progressive Discipline

The school practices a comprehensive intervention strategy to address incidents of bullying that includes timely responses.  The strategies can range from early interventions to more intensive actions in the case of persistent bullying, with possible referral to community or social service agencies. Ongoing interventions are consistent with the needs of the students involved.  The range of options will vary in accordance with a total consideration of factors that include the age of the student, consideration of the repeated nature of the behavior and other particular circumstances.  Responses include options that include: 

A meeting with the student(s) involved

A meeting with parents

Personal counseling

Withdrawal of priviledges

Restorative Practice sessions

Suspension from Residence

Suspension from School

Expulsion

MONITORING AND REVIEW

The school will establish a monitoring and review process to determine the effectiveness of its bullying prevention and intervention policies and procedures through data collected from school based stakeholders.