Let’s Talk About Great Valley School District 2011

Let’s Define it

What is Bullying?

 Social Power  Physical Power  Intellectual Power  Financial Power  Cultural or Racial Power  Verbal Power  Gender Power What are the different types of power?

 Physical  Verbal/Written Language  Emotional/ Social  Cyberbullying

What can Bullying look like?

What can bullying look like?

What can Bullying look like?

 School districts must develop and implement research based violence prevention programs, which include, but are not limited to bullying.  GVSD adopted two policies: policy 248, Unlawful Harassment and Policy 249, Bullying/Cyberbullying  GVSD identified the Implementation of the Olweus Program as a district goal in the strategic plan beginning with the 08/09 School Year

Implement OLWEUS Bullying Prevention Program:  A systemic and research based program designed to improve the culture of schools to ensure that ALL students feel safe and have an equal opportunity to succeed.

 It is important to create an environment, characterized by warmth, positive interest, and involvement with adults.  It is important to have clear and firm limits around unacceptable behavior.  When limits and rules are violated, it is important that interventions and consequences be consistently applied.

 Posting of school and community expectations.  Opportunities for students to learn how to intervene when they see someone being harassed.  Support for the students who are the targets of harassment.  Intervention for the students who harass others.  A system of identification, documentation,and tracking of bullying incidents.

 3 rd, 4 th, and 5 th grade anonymous survey: Provides information regarding the type, frequency, and extent of the problem. Identifies the problems that need to be addressed in our schools.  Interventions: School Level Classroom Level Individual Level

 A collective commitment by the administrators, faculty, staff, parents, and students to the responsibility of implementation.  The development of attitudes and norms that decrease the extent of the problem.  Supervision in high density/unstructured areas and times.  Class meetings  Honoring positive and healthy behaviors through reinforcement and school wide programs like; pillars of character.  Consistent follow through with interventions and consequences.

 Cultivate positive and safe learning environment.  Posting of the school and community expectations.  Teacher led regular class meetings.  Taking advantage of “teachable moments”.  “On the spot” interventions to bullying.

 Provide interventions and support to the target and bully in manner that respects the privacy and dignity of all students.  Educate and affirm the bystander.  Parent contact as indicated.

 A substantial reduction in students’ reports of bullying.  Improvement in the climate of the school.  We believe that if GVSD continues on its current path, we too, will see these same results in our District.