Dealing with harassment: racist, disablist and homophobic

Equalities and Inclusion graphic

The Reporting Process

Since April 1st 2004 schools have been required to complete a Racist Incident Reporting Form for each incident that occurs in a school, a copy retained in the school and a copy returned to the Race Equality Officer at the LA. This process has been extended to include homophobic and disablist incidents from April 2007 due to requirements of the Equality Act and Disability Discrimination Act.

Using the forms aids schools in complying with their legal responsibilities and introduces a consistent recording and monitoring process of incidents for all schools and also enables the LA to:

monitor the effectiveness of the reporting and follow-up work and to support schools in their response to racist, disablist and homophobic incidents
obtain a full picture of the frequency, nature and trends of racist, disablist and homophobic incidents in Bristol schools
analyse and monitor incident reports and produce data for schools, governing bodies and contribute to the multi-agency work in Bristol

To support schools in dealing with, recording and follow-up action in relation to racist, disablist and homophobic incidents in schools, we have developed guidelines, “Guidelines for Dealing with Harassment in Bristol Schools”. These give clear procedures for schools to follow in relation to incidents and can also aid schools with follow-up action and contribute to preventative measures and working towards creating a positive ethos and environment. They have detailed background on developing an inclusive curriculum with references for resources.

Schools should ensure that all incidents are recorded in line with the definition of a racist, disablist and homophobic incident: “any incident which is perceived to be racist, disablist and homophobic by the victim or any other person” . This definition is also to take account of the fact that there is under-recording and under-reporting of incidents relating to these issues by some schools and this provides a starting point for schools to address this aspect of their equalities work.

Completing the Incident forms

When you click on a link to either the Word or pdf version of any of the Incident Report Forms for racist, homophobic or disablist incidents, it may load automatically in your browser. If it does, choose Save As... from the browser's File Menu and save the document onto your PC. If not, a dialog box will appear - choose Save this file to disk and save the document onto your PC.

Once saved, the document can then be loaded into the appropriate application for completion. When you have completed the form you can submit a hard copy by fax or post, or email it (see details below).

If you need any further advice and support in this area please contact the Equalities and Inclusion Team, alternatively fax, post or email the completed form.

Contact:

Race Equality Officer
Children & Young People's Services
Woodward Community Resource Centre
Alexandra Park
Fishponds
Bristol
BS16 2BG
Tel: 0117 3533308
Fax: 0117 3533301
Email: ellequalities.team@bristol.gov.uk

Racist Incident Reporting

a) Best Value Report

Each year a survey of pupils who have been victims of racial harassment and their satisfaction with the way racial incidents have been dealt with by schools is compiled and can be useful to schools. See link for most recent report.

The LA is required to monitor the number of racist incidents in schools and the number of follow-up actions, these are also Best Value Indicators for Bristol City Council (BV174 and BV175). As well as reporting numerically on these indicators we are also required to comment on evidence of measurable improvements in respect of:

increasing confidence in reporting racial incidents
increasing satisfaction in the way racial incidents resulting in further action are handled.

b) Annual Report 2005 – 2006

This report details information on incidents reported by schools 2005 – 2006. It includes data on the number of incidents being reported by Early Years, Primary / Infants / Junior, Secondary and Special Needs Schools. The report also gives details of the number of schools submitting ‘nil returns' and also those schools still not returning any information to the LA. It also explains and gives details on how we use the information collected from the completed forms and how we work with other agencies.

c) What can I do if my child is racially harassed at school? A guide for parents/carers

This leaflet is available to support parents/carers and should be made available by schools. This can also be downloaded in a variety of languages.

Homophobic Incident Reporting

In 2003, the Government repealed the notorious Section 28 which prevented LAs from "promoting homosexuality."

Although no prosecutions were ever made, the law served to undermine the confidence of teachers to tackle issues of homophobia and to discuss sexuality.

Bristol LA commissioned EACH (Educational Action Challenging Homophobia) to write good practice guidance for Bristol schools following the repeal, entitled "Out of the Shadow" (see link on the left).

The DfES has also produced a very useful guidance with an audit for schools on homophobia called 'Stand Up For Us', which can be downloaded from the link on the left and has extensive information and resources and provides schools with a starting point for auditing their practice on tackling homophobia.

Bristol CYPS has developed guidance for schools on meeting their new duties under the new Equality Act 2007. All homophobic incidents must now be reported in the same way as racist incidents and a form returned to the LA. The guidance and reporting form are on the left.

EACH provides a helpline for advice on sexuality issues and dealing with homophobia. They are also funded by Neighbourhood Renewal to provide training and consultancy for Bristol schools on challenging homophobia.

EACH and Stonewall have developed an on-line resource for tackling homophobia which will be found on the Teachernet website (http://www.teachernet.gov.uk), but it is not available until the autumn.

TEACH, a consultation body, has been set up to address issues of sexuality in education facilitated by EACH and CYPS. TEACH meets termly and minutes and information can be obtained from the contact below.

Contact:

Anne James, Interim Equalities and Inclusion Manager
Children & Young People's Services
Bristol City Council
Alexandra Park
Fishponds
Bristol
BS16 2BG
Tel: 0117 35 33309
Email: a.james@bristol.gov.uk

Disablist Incident Reporting

Bristol CYPS has developed guidance for schools on meeting their new duty under the DDA 2005 to eliminate the harassment of disabled children and adults. All disablist incidents should be recorded and reported in the same way as (see guidance and forms in the links on the left.)

The West of England Centre for Inclusive Living (WECIL) can advise schools on good practice. Contact their DICE (Disablist Incidents and Crime Education) Project on 0117 377 2732 or samantha.barron@wecil.co.uk.

For more information contact:

Equalities and Inclusion Team
Woodward Community Resource Centre
Alexandra Park
Fishponds
Bristol BS16 2BG
Tel: 0117 353 3304
Fax: 0117 353 3301
Email: ellequalities.team@bristol.gov.uk

Contact:

Su Coombes, Race Equality Officer
Children & Young People's Services
Woodward Community Resource Centre
Alexandra Park
Fishponds
Bristol
BS16 2BG
Tel: 0117 3533308
Fax: 0117 3533301
Email: susan.coombes@bristol.gov.uk