Fostering good relations: guidance for schools

Good practice example: bullying

A primary school is concerned they may have a problem with homophobic bullying because a boy in year 4 is being bullied for having same-sex parents. As a result, the headteacher asks all teachers to report incidents of homophobic bullying and name-calling.

Information gathered by the school shows that homophobic name-calling is most common in years 4, 5 and 6. The headteacher asks pastoral staff to research curriculum resources and classroom strategies to reduce and eliminate this homophobic behaviour.

In the meantime, the school arranges to talk with the parents of all the children involved. They are reminded that the school expects dignity, respect and good behaviour from all pupils.

Clear boundaries are set for pupils who bully their classmates. The school also gives support to those affected by bullying.

The school then introduces new plans to eliminate bullying at the school. It focuses on year groups 4, 5 and 6 because it knows this is where they have the biggest problem. It reviews the school's anti-bullying strategy and policy. As a result, they have fewer incidents of homophobic bullying.

Good practice example: good partnerships

An inner-city academy has a lot of pupils from a range of different ethnic backgrounds. It wants to reduce and eliminate religious tensions, which are fuelled by tensions in the wider community. To do this the school works in partnership with pupils, parents, community leaders and other local schools.

Holding discussions with these groups help the school introduce a range of actions to promote tolerance and respect for different beliefs, including:

• organising assemblies about good relations
• twinning with other schools so pupils can meet and exchange experiences with children from different backgrounds
• strengthening behaviour and anti-bullying policies to reduce tensions between different groups of pupils
• working on aspects of the curriculum that promote tolerance and friendship and share understanding of a range of religions or cultures.

Good practice example: using data effectively

A secondary school uses individual attainment data and observations from lessons to help it understand the issues affecting ethnic minority pupils. This evidence helps to identify what prevents some ethnic minority pupils from participating in extracurricular activities and interacting with pupils outside of their own ethnic group.

The school now has an evidence base. It uses this along with experiences shared at headteacher meetings with other local schools. As a result, the schools decide to share their resources to create new English language support for local pupils who do not speak English as a first language.

As a consequence, attendance rates and academic results for these pupils improve markedly. It also helps them to integrate with the school community in and out of lessons.