Dundee schools praised by experts for anti-bullying effort

Tele Reporter Laura Devlin chats with the panel about bullying.

Experts have praised school bosses for their approach to tackling bullying.

Anti-bullying service Respect Me has singled out the city for praise in its approach to safeguarding children.

Lorraine Glass, partnership manager for the charity, was invited to Downfield Primary School.

She said: “I can say hand on heart that the work happening in Dundee is hugely impressive.

“The call for every single school to have their own policy is robust and it is exactly in line with national guidance.

“We have had a partnership with Dundee City Council since 2014 and I am impressed by the work of the authority – it’s not an easy issue to deal with.”

Laura chats to some of the P6 and P7 pupils about bullying.

Meanwhile, a senior staff member at a city secondary school said there were different challenges facing staff than in the past due to modern technology.

Rebecca Lapadula, depute head teacher of St John’s RC High School, said: “The majority of issues that are brought into the school actually happened outside it.

“It’s happening more and more and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to deal with.”

However, the head teacher at Downfield said that procedures had been put in place throughout city schools to tackle the problem.

Karen Emmett added: “Some of the situations we are involved in are not easily resolved and sometimes they bubble for a long time.

“A lot of the bullying incidents we deal with are to do with social media and they can happen over the weekend. We are faced on a Monday morning with a whole storm of stuff and they are not necessarily of our making.

“But it is important that kids learn more than just literacy and numeracy in a school setting and the social aspect is a huge focus.

“Sometimes there can be a perception schools are not that bothered about bullying and they can be a bit blase about it but I would strongly refute that. I don’t think you ever get a time where you put groups of children together and you don’t get a conflict.”

The praise comes after questions were raised around the city council’s approach when staff learn children are being picked on.

Julie Mitchell previously claimed her daughter Paige was forced to leave Braeview Academy because of the bullying she endured.