Reporting systems

Establish clear procedures for reporting bullying where reasonable consequences are given to students when rules are broken.

Tips for establishing a reporting system

Reporting systems help track individual incidents and responses as well as trends over time. When developing a reporting system it's important to:

  • make it easy - people are more likely to report when it’s easy to do
  • maintain reports in a way that shows emerging problems and patterns over time.

Keep reports confidential and private.

Building respectful communities Practice Guide

The Click on Wellbeing 'Building respectful communities Practice Guide' is designed to support schools to develop a whole school approach to the complexities of bullying. The Practice Guide provides a comprehensive user-friendly incident management tool that assists in reviewing policies and planning for effective responses to a range of bullying incidents.

It also supports schools through understanding the need for paradigm shift in relation to bullying. 

Bullying is a simple term for a collection of complex social dynamics. Taking a one size fits all approach has not worked. We need a fresh look at the evidence which highlights the overwhelming importance of school climate and culture, the covert and overt aspects and social dynamics of bullying, the power of the bystander, understanding the increased vulnerability at transition times and the need for building a repertoire of appropriate responses to bullying incidents. In short, the guide assists schools in changing the social architecture.

An important aspect of changing the social architecture is to develop a common language across the school community to enable informed discussion about bullying issues. This supports a community to feel confident to find creative strategies and solutions to respond to all those who are affected by bullying.