Bullying: Internet

(asked on 4th June 2015) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what training is offered to teachers and educational providers providing support to young people in dealing with (a) cyber-bullying, (b) trolling, (c) sharing information online and (d) other social media issues.


Answered by
Nick Gibb Portrait
Nick Gibb
This question was answered on 12th June 2015

All teachers are expected to meet the Teacher Standards, which require them to be able to ‘manage behaviour effectively to ensure a good and safe learning environment’ and establish ‘a safe and stimulating environment for students, rooted in mutual respect’. Providers of initial teacher training, headteachers and teachers are best placed to determine the types of training and development that will help teachers to meet these standards.

The Government is clear that there is no place for any form of bullying in our schools. To help schools tackle bullying the department has issued advice and case studies on preventing and tackling all forms of bullying, including online bullying. We have also issued advice on supporting bullied children’s social, emotional and mental health, and separate advice for parents on how to spot signs that their child is being cyberbullied and what to do if it happens. This advice is published online at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/preventing-and-tackling-bullying.

The department is providing £3.3 million this year to various anti-bullying charities to tackle all forms of bullying in school, on top of the £4 million provided in 2013-15. One of these charities, the National Children’s Bureau, has produced cyberbullying advice for teachers on supporting pupils with a special educational need and/or disability and we link to this in our advice. Furthermore, the department has spent over £3.5 million on programmes to support teachers to deliver the new computing curriculum. Some of these programmes include e-safety content alongside developing teachers’ knowledge and skills in computer science.

Reticulating Splines