Fostering good relations: guidance for schools

Good practice example: bullying

A primary school is concerned there may a problem with homophobic bullying because a boy in year four is being bullied for having same-sex parents. As a result, the head teacher 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 four, five and six. The head teacher asks school 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 what the school expects in terms of dignity and respect and behaviour from pupils.

Clear boundaries are set for pupils who are found to bully other pupils, and support is given to those affected by bullying. The school then introduces new plans to eliminate bullying at the school. It focuses on years four, five and six 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: promoting tolerance and respect for different beliefs

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 of lessons to help it understand the issues affecting ethnic minority pupils. This evidence helps staff to identify what is preventing 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 combined with experiences shared at head teacher 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 attainment for these pupils improve markedly. It also helps them to integrate with the school community both in and out of lessons.