Workbook

=**Page 1 Olweus Bullying Prevention Program** **Workbook for Bullying Prevention Coordinating Committees**=

**For Bull Run Middle School**
**__Telephone:__** 703-753-9969
 * __Address:__ 6308 Catharpin Rd, Gainesville, VA 20155 **

**Jennifer Walker, Certified Olweus Trainer/School’s Consultant**

**Coordinating Committee Training dates:** **This Workbook was last updated on: March 2008**

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Contents

Using This Workbook..................................................................................... 3 Establishing Committee Roles and Logistics...................................................... 4 Training Your Staff.......................................................................................... 6 Introducing School Rules and Consequences.................................................... 9 Reviewing and Refining your Supervisory System............................................. 15 Establishing Classroom Meetings...................................................................... 18 Holding Staff Discussion Groups...................................................................... 21 Dealing with Individual Interventions................................................................. 25 Partnering with Parents.................................................................................... 27 Introducing the Program to Students................................................................. 30 Developing Community Partnerships................................................................ 31 Continuing your Efforts.................................................................................... 33 Additional Tasks.............................................................................................. 35

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 * Using This Workbook**

This workbook is designed to cover all the key tasks that your Bullying Prevention Coordinating Committee will need to thoroughly discuss and plan for before your school’s implementation of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program begins. Use this workbook as your main discussion tool for your committee meetings, after your first committee meeting is held. (Note: There is an agenda for the first committee meeting on the Schoolwide Guide CD-ROM.) You may want to assign one or more subcommittees to address some of these tasks more thoroughly. It is recommended that your committee members keep an electronic copy of this workbook and that you revisit the workbook periodically throughout the school year to assess the degree to which plans are being carried out, examine whether strategies are being effective, and make modifications to these strategies as needed. These tasks are not meant to be exhaustive. Your committee is encouraged to examine additional tasks that may be important for your school’s effective use of the //Olweus Bullying Prevention Program.//
 * Note: ** Your certified Olweus trainer may recommend that your school’s committee keep this workbook up-to-date and that you periodically submit an electronic copy to him or her for purposes of ongoing consultation.

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Determine the roles within your school’s Bullying Prevention Coordinating Committee (BPCC) and the logistics of future committee meetings. Fill in the following information about your committee.
 * Establishing Committee Roles and Logistics**
 * Task 1: Establish committee roles and other logistics.**

A. Your school’s OBPP coordinator: **Jennifer Walker**

B. Your school’s BPCC chair or co-chairs (if different from your coordinator): **Mallory Dove**

C. Your school’s BPCC secretary: ** Tina Fraga ** D. On what days/at what time should your BPCC meet?
 * We meet the second Tuesday of every month at 7:30AM in room 1422 at Bull Run Middle School.**

E. Other logistical issues:**none**

How will the committee ensure that the activities of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program are coordinated with other prevention programs at your school? The other prevention program at BRMS is the SOAR Program. We have a representative from our SOAR Committee who attends all Olweus meetings and serves as a liaison for both committees.
 * Task 2: Coordinate OBPP with other prevention efforts.**

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A. What are your other related prevention programs? SOAR Program: **SOAR stands for __S__uccess through __O__rganization __A__ttitude and __R__espect and strives to promote both a positive learning and social environment to enhance student success in school.**

B. What are some strategies you will use to coordinate OBPP with these programs? We will combined OBPP and SOAR through: ** Classroom Advisory Meetings Parent Back-to-School Nig hts Possible option: presenting information at athletic events where crowds of both students and parents are large. **
 * School Assemblies

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Make plans to provide an OBPP training for your entire school staff. A. On what date and at what time will you provide your full-day OBPP training for all school staff?
 * Training Your Staff**
 * Task 1: Plan an OBPP training for all staff.**
 * After our committee training, we presented some ideas to our staff in May of 2007about the main ideas with Olweus and passed out on the spot intervention cards and presented the bully circle. More in-depth training was August 27th for a half day training.**

B. What will be the agenda for this training? (Note: Review the full-day training agenda with your certified Olweus trainer. He or she should guide the development of this training. A sample agenda is provided on the Schoolwide Guide CD-ROM.) **We included a powerpoint on the main ideas behind Olweus and presented the bully circle. We reviewed the On-the-spot interventions and conducted a Olweus class meeting with each grade level.**

C. Which BPCC members will assume responsibility for each portion of this full-day training? **Each teacher was responsible for presenting the information to their grade level. There is two committee member in each grade level.**

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Develop a plan for training all non-teaching staff (including bus drivers, school nurses, administrators, office staff, school psychologists, cafeteria workers, and custodial staff who may not be able to attend the regularly scheduled training) about the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program. Make plans to periodically update them on activities and continue to solicit their input into your school’s anti-bullying efforts. A. What are the date, time, and strategy for training non-teaching staff (who cannot attend the staff training) about the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program?
 * Task 2: Make a plan to train staff who can’t attend the all-staff training.**
 * We meet with the bus drivers during their school meeting and passed out bully rules to post on the buses. We also showed them on-the-spot interventions and introduced the ideas of Olweus through a brief powerpoint.**

B. How will you periodically update these people on program activities and solicit input from them?
 * Through our SOAR data, we pin pointed certain buses with high refferals and numerous bully complaints and had Administration talk to the bus and the driver. We also have a committee member ride problematic buses and set examples of how to use on-the-spot intervention with the bus driver.**

Develop a plan for keeping records of who attends these trainings and who still needs to be trained. (Note: A sample Training Log is provided on the Schoolwide Guide CD-ROM.) A. Who will be responsible to maintain this record keeping of trainings? **Mallory Dove**
 * Task 3: Plan for record keeping of trainings.**

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Remember that OBPP is an ongoing program and that each year you will have new personnel who will need to be trained. Develop a plan for ongoing training of new staff. A. How will new members of your school’s Bullying Prevention Coordinating Committee be trained? **During teacher work days in the beginning of the second year, we will give the option at our school to be trained and join our committee. ** B. How will other new personnel (administrators, teachers, and non-teaching staff) be trained?
 * Task 4: Develop a plan for ongoing training.**
 * In the beginning of the school year, we will have a review session for new staff members and old staff who would like a refresher course.**

Page 9 Introduce the four anti-bullying rules and make them visible and available to all students and staff at the beginning of the school term. Examine how these rules fit within your school’s existing behavior policies. **These rules fit perfectly with our SOAR procedures and expectations already in place.** These are the four anti-bullying rules suggested by the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program:
 * Introducing School Rules and Consequences**
 * Task 1: Introduce the four anti-bullying rules.**


 * Rule 1:** We will not bully others.
 * Rule 2:** We will try to help students who are bullied.
 * Rule 3:** We will try to include students who are left out.
 * Rule 4:** If we know that somebody is being bullied, we will tell an adult at school and an adult at home.

A. Do you want to add any additional rules against bullying?
 * No**

Page 10 B. Do these rules need to be translated into languages other than English? How will this be done? (Note: The anti-bullying rules poster and other program materials are available in English and Spanish on the Schoolwide Guide CD-ROM.)
 * Yes. We need to get them printed in Spanish.**

C. How will the rules be made visible and available to students and staff at the beginning of the term?
 * Posters were made and distributed to each teacher to hang prominently in the classrooms/hallways.**
 * Teachers taught these rules to the students the first week of school.**

D. How do these rules fit with your school’s existing behavior policies? **SOAR has procedures and expectations established and they include RESPECT for all. Students are taught that respect encompasses no bullying of others.**

Discuss possible negative consequences to use when the anti-bullying rules are broken. Discuss the general principles and procedures to use in applying these consequences. A. What are some possible negative consequences for physical bullying?
 * Task 2: Determine negative consequences and procedures for addressing bullying behavior.**
 * Students receive an office referral for physical bullying. Administrators will provide the consequences ranging from SOAR School attendance, to suspension from school between 1-3 days.**

Page 11 B. What are some possible negative consequences for verbal bullying?
 * Parents are notified and a Behavior Intervention Plan is started. We are looking into creating our own specific plan for bullying behavior.**

C. What are some possible negative consequences for cyber-bullying?
 * Parents are notified and a Behavior Intervention Plan is started. We are looking into creating our own specific plan for bullying behavior.**

D. What are some possible negative consequences for engaging in social exclusion or other subtle forms of bullying?
 * Guidance referrals and we would like to include this on the behavior form that is specific to bullying.**

E. What are some possible negative consequences for encouraging/reinforcing bullying (addressing bystander behavior)?
 * Parents are notified and a Behavior Intervention Plan is started. We are looking into creating our own specific plan for bullying behavior.**

Page 12 F. What (if any) general principles and procedures should be used when giving negative consequences for bullying behavior?
 * The Behavior Intervention Plan should always be used. We have also created an option for students called SOAR school. This is an alternative to suspension. They are able to look at the choices they have made and try to learn how to improve their behavior.**

G. Do you want all staff to use the same negative consequences and the same procedures for applying them, or can staff have some leeway in these decisions? **YES**

A. How will your school provide positive consequences/reinforcements for students who follow the rules and who are responsible bystanders in bullying situations? **Bull Run Middle School utilizes the SOAR (Success through Organization, Attitude, and Respect) program to provide positive reinforcements for students who follow the rules and who are responsible bystanders in bullying situations. The responsible bystanders are verbally applauded for assisting a victim and/or providing information regarding the bully.** A. What procedures already exist for tracking violations of your school rules?  **Tracking violations of the** **rules** **through the REDI program.**
 * Task 3: Determine positive consequences and procedures for reinforcing positive behavior.**
 * Task 4: Establish procedures for tracking violations of your school’s anti-bullying rules.**

Page 13 B. Will these same procedures be effective for tracking bullying violations? For example, how will teacher 1 know that teacher 2 already has disciplined a student twice for bullying another student? (Note: There is a sample Bullying Incidence Log on the Schoolwide Guide CD-ROM.)
 * Teachers will discuss bully incidents in their team meetings bi-weekly. Bullying incidents will also be reported to Guidance and Administration so they will be able to see patterns in behavior.**

Develop a policy that defines bullying and clearly states that bullying is unacceptable behavior at your school. (If your school or school district already has such a policy, review it to ensure that it includes the full range of bullying behaviors, including cyber-bullying.) (Note: It is recommended that you use the OBPP definition of bullying, as outlined in the introduction to the Schoolwide Guide.) A. Does your state or district have a model or sample policy on bullying?
 * Task 5: Develop an anti-bullying policy for your school.**
 * Olweus is currently being implemented district-wide.**

B. Which committee and staff members will serve on a subcommittee to develop/review your school’s policy regarding bullying?
 * Jennifer Walker, Donna Mauney-Tyler, Bill Bixby**

Page 14 C. Does your school’s policy on bullying need to be reviewed/approved by any groups/governing bodies before being released?
 * The principal.**

D. How will the policy be communicated to school personnel, students, and parents?
 * It will be presented on the website and in the code of behavior. We will also present it to the staff and the students in the beginning of the year.**

Page 15 Review and refine your supervisory system in light of the findings from your administration of the Olweus Bullying Questionnaire (for example, how will supervision be increased in the hallways/stairwells, playground, and in the classroom)? A. How will supervision be increased at your school’s “hot spots” for bullying?
 * Reviewing and Refining Your Supervisory System**
 * Task 1: Review and refine your supervisory system to address identified bullying issues.**

Hot spot 1: **The buses**

Strategy to increase supervision:
 * We have trained the bus driver and had a committee member ride the bus. We also have the 6th grade teachers outside monitoring the dismissal of the students from school.**

Hot spot 2: **Hallways, specifically the "mixing bowl" and "eagle hall"**

Strategy to increase supervision:
 * We have assigned teachers to specific locations and have 2 security officers constantly monitoring the halls. All staff have been trained in on-the-spot interventions.**

Page 16 Hot spot 3: **Cafeteria**

Strategy to increase supervision: **We have administration present at all 6 lunch shifts and have assigned teachers and Officer Sebben to lunches.**

B. How will the importance of supervision in each location be communicated to staff?
 * Our principal strongly enforces the supervision. We also have seen improvements in our REDI data.**

Page 17 C. How will you monitor whether these new supervisory efforts are being done and are being effective at preventing or eliminating bullying?
 * The administration monitors the teachers to make sure they are in compliance with the supervision policies.**

Page 18 A. How often should classroom meetings be held? (Note: It is recommended that classroom meetings be held at least once a week at the beginning of your program. For younger elementary students you may want to meet more often.)
 * Establishing Classroom Meetings**
 * Task 1: Establish guidelines for holding regular classroom meetings to discuss bullying and related issues.**
 * Weekly**

B. Should your school establish a consistent day and time for classroom meetings? If so, what is that day and time?
 * Every Tuesday, during Advisory time.**

C. How long should these meetings be? (Note: It is recommended that classroom meetings be 15–30 minutes for younger elementary students, and 30–40 minutes for upper elementary and middle school students.)
 * Approx. 20-40 minutes, depending on the topic and the participation of students.**

Page 19 D. Decide if your school might benefit from having a subcommittee review the information on classroom meetings in chapter 6 of the Teacher Guide and develop a recommended schedule for classroom meetings (that is, the topics to be covered in the first ten classroom meetings)? Who on your committee and staff will serve on this subcommittee? **Mallory Dove, Jennifer Walker**

Decide as a committee whether teachers or non-teaching staff may need additional training in facilitating classroom meetings (beyond information provided in your initial full-day staff training.) (Note: Classroom meetings are often one of the most difficult tasks in OBPP for teachers to do, particularly if they have not led classroom meetings before.) A. What additional training is needed? What topics should be covered?
 * Task 2: Determine if additional training on classroom meetings is needed.**
 * We have collected data from advisory teachers for feedback on class meetings and future topics. We would like to include training resources for the teachers use and will introduce these resources through grade level meetings. We also would like to prepare binders for the teachers for next year with a plethora of ideas for class meetings.**

B. Who will provide the training(s)?
 * The committee will split up by grade level.**

Page20 C. What should be the dates and times of these training(s)? **
 * They are determined by the availability of the grade levels and are presented with new material every few months.

Page 21 Determine the logistics of holding regular staff discussion groups to talk about bullying-related issues. A. How will staff discussion groups be formed? How will staff be assigned to groups? (Note: It is recommended that each staff discussion group have at least four and no more than fifteen members.) **We have used Survey Monkey to hold staff discussions. Teachers have the oppurtunity to give their input and committee members do follow up meetings with our results with the staff.**
 * Holding Staff Discussion Groups**
 * Task 1: Establish procedures for holding staff discussion groups.**

B. Who will lead each staff discussion group? (Note: It is recommended that committee members lead these groups, with committee members who are teachers leading groups of teachers from the same or similar grade levels.)
 * Jennifer Walker with the staff as a whole and each committee member at their specific grade level.**

C. How often will your staff discussion groups meet? (Note: It is recommended that the staff discussion groups meet regularly for about 60 minutes at a fixed time, ideally every two weeks but at least monthly during the beginning of the program.) **At this point, we have only had meetings quarterly but we hope to increase the meetings to monthly for next year.**

Page 22 D. How will your committee document the frequency of these meetings, staff attendance, and topics of discussion? (A Staff Discussion Group Log is provided on the Schoolwide Guide CD-ROM.)
 * Jennifer Walker with help from the committee creates the agenda and the attendance is written on the agenda to keep for hours of training.**

E. What should the date and time be for your first staff discussion groups? What should be the first topic of discussion? (Note: It is recommended that you first work through one or two chapters in the Teacher Guide per meeting.)
 * The first discussion was in October 2007. We discussed the Mix It Up at lunch program which we incorporated into our class meeting during that time.**

F. What are the dates, times, and topics for additional staff discussion groups? Fill in the following table. If each group meets at a different date/time, have the leader of each group fill out this form.

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Survey review Review Mix it up || New topics || Page 24 G. What are the dates and times for any subsequent staff discussion groups?
 * ** Staff Discussion Group Meeting Number ** || ** Meeting Date ** || ** Meeting Time ** || ** Topic(s) to Be Covered ** ||
 * 2 || 11/07 || Grade Level Planing || __Bullying at School__ book ||
 * 3 || 12/07 || Survey Monkey || Class Meetings
 * 4 || 2/08 || Grade Level Planning || Discuss SOAR assembly procedures ||
 * 5 || 3/08 || Survey Monkey || Class Meetings
 * 6 || 4/08 || Grade level Planning || Poster contest ||
 * 7 || 5/08 || Grade Level Planning || End of the year assembly ||
 * 8 ||  ||   ||   ||
 * 9 ||  ||   ||   ||
 * 10 ||  ||   ||   ||
 * 11 ||  ||   ||   ||
 * 12 ||  ||   ||   ||


 * See above**

Page 25 A. Discuss how your school will respond to ensure the safety of a student who is being bullied by others. (Note: Guidelines on how to help students who are being bullied are presented in chapter 10 of the Schoolwide Guide.)
 * Dealing with Individual Interventions**
 * Task 1: Develop a plan for supporting students who are being bullied.**
 * We will continue with on-the spot interventions and a counselor will follow up with all students involved.**

A. What procedures will be used to intervene with students who are bullying others? (Note: Procedures for how to deal with students who are bullying others are provided in chapter 10 of the Schoolwide Guide.
 * Task 2: Develop a plan for dealing with students who are bullying others.**
 * A counselor or administrator follows up with the student. The student's parents are notified and consequences are given (detention, soar school, etc).**

Discuss the principles of how and when to notify and involve parents of students who are being bullied and those who are bullying others. (Chapter 9 in the Teacher Guide provides some guidelines.) **Parents are always called**
 * Task 3: Develop a plan for notifying and involving parents in bullying situations.**

Page 26 A. How and when should parents be notified of their child being bullied?
 * Typically the grade level counselor or administrator will make the call. In some cases the teacher may call. Parents are notified immediately.**

B. How and when should parents be notified of their child’s bullying and of the steps your school has taken to intervene in the situation? **Typically the grade level counselor or administrator will make the call. In some cases the teacher may call. Parents are notified immediately.**

A. What additional training is needed? What topics should be covered?
 * Task 4: Determine if additional training is needed on how to do individual interventions.**
 * Follow up interventions could be addressed with staff members more thoroughly.**

B. Who will provide the training(s)?
 * Committee Members will divide up the responsibilities by grade level**

C. What should be the dates and times of these training(s)?
 * August 2008**

Page 27 Develop mechanisms for informing all parents about the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program and involving them in the program’s planning and activities. A. How will parents be informed about the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program? (Note: See chapter 13 of the Schoolwide Guide for recommended methods.) **New Student Orientation, Back to School Night, school's monthly newsletter, advisory counsel, and local newspaper.**
 * Partnering with Parents**
 * Task 1: Develop a plan for informing and involving parents.**

B. What information should be included in the above (for example, the parent pamphlet and summary findings from the Olweus Bullying Questionnaire)? (Note: The parent pamphlet is provided on the Schoolwide Guide CD-ROM.) **The four Bullying rules, definition of bullying, What student's can do if they are being bullied, if they witness bullying (bystander), and if they bully.**

C. How can parents be involved in meaningful ways in the program?


 * We have a parent on our committee who helps out with various tasks and gives a different view of the program. We continue to look for ways to involve parents.**

Task 2: Determine when and how class-level (or team-level) parent meetings will be held.** A. When will class-level (or team-level) parent meetings be held? (Note: It is recommended that teachers hold two to three class-level or team-level meetings per year.) **We have discussed having Bully Prevention book clubs as a way to encourage discussion about this important topic.**
 * Page 28

A. Who should parents contact with concerns about bullying? For example, should they contact their child’s teacher first or should they be encouraged to talk with a school counselor or administrator?
 * Task 3: Determine how parents should be encouraged to bring bullying concerns to the attention of school staff.**
 * Parents are encouraged to contact the school counselor. If the parent contacts another staff member, that staff member will direct the parent to the grade level counselor.**

B. How should parents be encouraged to contact school personnel about bullying (for example, by phone, email, or in-person visit)?
 * By any means necessary. Counselors will contact the parent if more information is needed.**

Page 29 C. How will you inform parents of the procedures for bringing bullying concerns to the attention of school staff? (Chapter 13 of the Schoolwide Guide provides some suggested methods.)
 * Back to School Night, Newsletter, Website**

Page 30 A. How will you inform all students about OBPP at the beginning of the program (for example, a school kick-off event or assembly, grade-wide meetings, school television/PA system announcements, or individual classroom meetings)? (Note: Chapter 11 in the Schoolwide Guide provides guidance on this topic.) **We started the year with classroom meetings focused on the four rules for no bullying. We had a multi-media presentation about developing character as our kick-off in the middle of September.**
 * Introducing the Program to Students**
 * Task 1: Plan how you will introduce the program to students.**

A. How might students be involved in meaningful ways to help plan the implementation of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program and its specific activities?
 * Task 2: Involve students in the program in meaningful ways.**
 * Several 8th graders are in the MAC (make a change) committee. They help lead class meetings in the 6th and 7th grade and they have worked on our Olweus videos we have created. Students also submit ideas for future class meetings to their advisory teacher.**

Page 31 (Note: See chapter 14 in the Schoolwide Guide for more information.) A. What financial support might be available from the community?
 * Developing Community Partnerships**
 * Task 1: Develop a plan of how community members/organizations might help support OBPP within your school.**
 * We would like to post our rules among the community.**

B. What human support (such as volunteers and mentors) might be available?
 * We have a partnership with Lockheed Martin. Some of the workers volunteer as tutors.**

C. What material support might be available? **We might be able to find sponsors for our t-shirts or bracelets.**

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 * Task 2: Develop a plan for sharing the messages and principles of OBPP in your community.**
 * Go around the area to local stores and post the bully rules.**

**The press came to the kick-off and the middle of year SOAR rally. Next year as the beginning of the school year, we can ask the press to discuss bullying in more detail and show the area the ways in which Prince William is trying to prevent bullying. Maybe the other schools in the Haymarket and Gainesville area will also participate and it can be a PWCS article more than a BRMS article.**
 * Task 3: Develop a plan for involving the press in raising awareness about the importance of bullying prevention and/or OBPP in your school.**

Page 33 A. How will your BPCC inform teachers and other staff of additional program initiatives (beyond the initial staff training)?
 * Continuing Your Efforts**
 * Task 1: Establish a means of ongoing communication between staff and your committee.**
 * We will introduce new initiatives to the school at staff meetings and through grade level meetings.**

B. How will your BPCC know what is working well/not working well with OBPP? (Note: Chapter 16 in the Schoolwide Guide discusses evaluation methods.)
 * We have already conducted two online surveys for the teachers and we have had many teachers conduct informal surveys with the students to get ideas about the class meetings.**

C. How will new members be brought on to your Bullying Prevention Coordinating Committee each year?
 * At the beginning of the school year, all interested staff will be trained by Jennifer Walker before joining the committee.**

Page 34 D. How will your school ensure that there is funding to continue the program from one year to the next?
 * The principal has put funding into the budget.**

E. What strategies will be used to evaluate the outcomes of OBPP?
 * Formal and informal surverys will be taken through out the year and at the end of the year.**

F. What strategies will be used to monitor the ongoing process of implementation (for example, keeping a portfolio of events, photos, or using the Implementation Checklists)?
 * We will keep a binder of our class meeting ideas and other programs we have held.**

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 * Additional Tasks**
 * Task 1: Discuss the additional challenges that must be addressed at your school to fully implement the program.**


 * Task 2:**


 * Task 3:**


 * Task 4:**

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 * Task 5:**


 * Task 6:**