To ask the Minister of Education to detail any actions he is considering to (i) understand the prevalence of bullying in our schools; and (ii) reduce the number and impact of bullying incidents.

The Addressing Bullying in Schools Act (Northern Ireland) 2016 (the Act), requires schools to record incidents of bullying type behaviour, their motivation, methods used and their outcome.

Officials are progressing work on a number of fronts with a view to ensuring the Department has access to comprehensive data to better understand the frequency, motivations and methods of bullying type behaviour.

The Department has included a range of questions in relation to bullying type behaviour for the first time in the 2024 School Omnibus Survey by including questions in relation to bullying type behaviour motivations. The results provide some insight into the prevalence, motivations and methods of bullying type behaviour in our schools.

Officials have also engaged with the ETI to ensure the inclusion of questions as part of a wider ETI pilot to help determine how schools are fulfilling their statutory obligations in relation to implementing the Act.

Schools are presently required to complete a Bullying Concern Assessment Form (BCAF) for each incident of bullying type behaviour. The BCAF records statutorily required data, however presently this data cannot be collated or anonymised. The BCAF is being digitised as part of the Education Information Solutions (EdIS) digital change programme. The Department is exploring with the EA the potential for accessing anonymised regional data resulting from the digitisation of the BCAF.

The Department has worked closely with the EA’s Addressing Bullying in Schools Implementation Team (ABSIT) who provides the Department with termly reports in relation to the referrals they deal with, the training they undertake and the associated outcomes for both.

ABSIT provides advice and support to schools on concerns of bullying type behaviour and, following a schools collaboration programme, has co-developed three tiers of updated training and resources aimed at effectively preventing and responding to reported concerns in line with legislation and guidance.

Tier 1 Training: Online session for all staff working in schools.

Tier 2: Leadership training and support for school-identified staff.

Tier 3: School based training-Targeted advice for key staff working with complex cases.