Annex C
Context: National Legislation and Policy
Legislation, regulation and policy provide a very challenging and supportive context for anti-bullying work in Scotland.
Standards in Scotland's Schools etc Act 2000
The Standards in Scotland's Schools etc Act 2000 encompasses in law the spirit of articles
28 and 29 of the UN Convention on Children's rights. Consequently, children and young people in Scotland have the right to education which should be directed towards the development of the personality, talents and mental and physical abilities of the child or young person to the fullest potential. All local authority children's and education services aim to make sure that all our children and young people are enabled to become successful learners, effective contributors, confident individuals and responsible citizens.
Curriculum for Excellence
This overarching aim is supported by a number of key national policies. This includes Curriculum for Excellence which provides the framework for personalised learning and flexible curricula to suit individuals learning needs. More Choices, More Chances promotes the need to ensure that learning and skills development are open to all, with a view to reducing the numbers of young people who are not in education, employment or training. The development of the early years strategy also supports this aim focussing on birth to 8 years of age. As schools move towards integrating Health and Wellbeing within the curriculum they will be well placed to address the needs of The Schools (Health Promotion and Nutrition) (Scotland) Act 2007. Under the Act there is a duty on local authorities to ensure that all schools are health promoting, including the emotional and mental wellbeing and health of pupils.
GIRFEC - Getting it right for every child
Getting it right for every child provides a framework which aims to ensure that children and young people receive the services they need at the time that they need them, across all children's services by removing barriers to effective single or joint service delivery.
Additional Support for Learning Act
The Additional Support for Learning Act (Scotland) 2004 supports all children and young people to overcome barriers to their learning, whatever that barrier may be, including having being bullied or bullying someone else, whether in the short or long term.
Health Promoting Schools
Work on anti-bullying is also developed within the context of all schools being health promoting schools. Under the Schools (Health Promotion and Nutrition) (Scotland) Act 2007 there is a duty on local authorities to ensure that all schools are health promoting, including the emotional and mental wellbeing and health of pupils. Curriculum for Excellence also provides an entitlement to support for all children and young people and makes health and wellbeing a responsibility for all.
Promoting Positive Relationships and Behaviour in Scotland's Schools
The Scottish Government supports the promotion of positive relationships and peaceful learning environments. They have developed, in partnership with local authorities, a range of approaches which promote positive relationships and improved behaviour, including those which build social and emotional skills, provide staged interventions and solution focused approaches, restorative approaches, and address different learning styles and motivation. The Scottish Government's Positive Behaviour Team, educationalists seconded to work regionally across Scotland, works with authorities, schools and school staff to provide advice, information and training in a range of approaches.
Journey to Excellence
Journey to Excellence provides the 10 dimensions that relate to key processes within the schools on their journey from 'good' to 'excellent'. Each dimension contributes to the highest quality outcomes for all learners. For example Dimension 9 focuses on Promoting Well-being and Respect.
In addition, How good is our school? provides a framework for self-evaluation of quality of education in schools. It is based around a set of quality indicators that recognise key strengths; identify areas where progress needs to be maintained or where improvement is needed; identify priorities for improvement planning and support reporting on standards and quality in schools. For example, schools may reflect on their approach to anti-bullying in relation to Quality Indicator 5.8 which focuses on Care, Welfare and Development.
Similarly, How good is our community learning and development? provides the framework for self-evaluation of community learning and development, including adult literacy and numeracy in Scotland. As with other HMIE quality indicator frameworks, this framework is based on six high-level questions across 10 key areas. The questions are: What key outcomes have we achieved? How well do we meet the needs of our stakeholders? How good is our delivery of key processes? How good is our management? How good is our leadership? What is our capacity for improvement?
National Care Standards
Scotland's National Care Standards have been created from the service user's point of view and are designed to explain what can be expected from care services. The Care Commission regulates and inspects all care services in Scotland using the Standards to ensure that service users receive the same standard of care wherever they live in Scotland. The standards are based on these six principles: Dignity, Privacy, Choice, Safety, Realising potential, and Equality and diversity. The standards state that young people should live in an environment where any form of bullying or discrimination is actively challenged.
Equality and Human Rights
It is unlawful for a public authority exercising a function of a public nature to perform any act which constitutes discrimination. This applies to all the legal grounds for discrimination. Organisations in the public sector are expected to lead the way in carrying out their functions with demonstrable respect for equality and human rights. In the delivery of services, and in the devising of policies and procedures, public authorities have a crucial role to play in promoting the values and practices of a fair and democratic society. All public authorities have legal duties relating to race, gender and disability. Their obligations within each area focus on:
- promoting equality of opportunity;
- promoting good relations;
- promoting positive attitudes;
- eliminating harassment;
- eliminating unlawful discrimination.