The Scottish Government

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B

Buildings for Children's services and community use

Headteachers and schools' CP Co-ordinators should consider a regular risk assessment of buildings used by children and young people and of facilities that may be used for specific purposes such as trips and residential activities. In addition to the usual aspects of health and safety, consideration should be given to issues which may arise concerning children's and young people's safety and wellbeing.

It is important to take sensible precautions which ensures that all aspects of safety have been considered to the extent that parents, children and young people may reasonably expect. With foresight and planning, this can be achieved without compromising the educational benefits to children and young people of trips and residential visits, or reducing access to educational facilities by the general public.

Issues which should be assessed and planned for may include:

• the level of access to areas of the building by the general public while children and young people are unsupervised (for example, changing areas in pools and sports facilities; areas around bedrooms in hotels or hostels). Access need not necessarily be restricted where there is staff awareness and supervision is well planned
• the level of disclosure checks, recruitment arrangements and staff supervision by the managers of the building or of contractors or other organisations working in the building. Disclosure checking may not be appropriate in all cases but the nature of contact with children and young people by staff other than those school staff/volunteers directly responsible should be considered
• what guidelines are used by the other employers for their staff regarding propriety and other relevant issues while children and young people are in their building. It may be advisable for school staff to share in advance their guidelines on, for example, a code of conduct for pupils and staff procedures for safety and responding to concerns
• the policies and procedures used by the building owners towards CCTV monitoring (for example, in leisure complexes) and the use of cameras and other image recording devices.

See also Disclosure Checking

Bullying involves a range of behaviours, which at times may be understood as a form of abuse, where deliberately hurtful behaviour is repeated over a period of time, and where the victim may find difficulty in defending him/herself. Staff should never ignore bullying and in most cases well designed anti-bullying and victim support procedures should address the issues.

• Record incidents and the schools response. Schools may wish to follow similar guidelines for recording as those for child protection concerns. This will assist the school if formal procedures are required or if these are instigated by the child or a parent/carer. For example, they may refer bullying incidents to the police for legal action.
• Prepare for the return to school of an excluded pupil. Where it has been considered necessary to exclude a pupil for bullying, the Circular (8/03) on Exclusion encourages schools to consider the steps it will take to ensure that the child can be re-integrated into the school in ways that continue to address the behaviour, as well as ensuring there is appropriate support for the victim of the bullying incident.
• Support victims of serious or sustained bullying. Some pupils may suffer serious problems (such as mental ill-health or self harm). In such cases simply stopping the bullying or removing the bully is only part of the action required by schools to support the pupil who has been bullied. Schools should consider how support and learning, and personal development opportunities within the school, will contribute to all pupils' skills and resilience to cope with and recover from adverse experiences.
• Investigate the cause of bullying or aggressive behaviour and plan intervention. Some abusers are acting out in response to their own distress and possibly their own experience of abuse. Pupils' social, emotional and behavioural difficulties may warrant an assessment of their additional support needs (see Additional Support Needs and Co-ordinated Support Plans).

Rarely, a pupil harms others through very serious physical or sexual assault. Where this happens or is alleged, child protection procedures should be followed for both the victim(s) and the alleged abuser(s). Children and young people who are abusive towards other children require comprehensive assessment and therapeutic intervention by skilled child care professionals. The headteacher and the education authority Child Protection in Education Manager also need to consider whether other procedures need to be put in place to protect other children and young people from the abuser(s), or whether to refer incidents of serious assault to the police.

"In our school we are always doing anti-bullying things. We know we can tell and people will help us. We helped to write the school policy on bullying."
(pupil)

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