To ask the Minister of Education to detail how safeguarding considerations are reflected in guidance to schools on responding to bullying, particularly where bullying behaviour may be linked to wider emotional distress, or vulnerability.

Safeguarding considerations are embedded throughout the guidance provided to schools on responding to bullying through the Education Authority’s Addressing Bullying in Schools Implementation Team (ABSIT).

ABSIT’s leadership training and resources place strong emphasis on the integration of safeguarding policy and practice, highlighting the direct link between addressing bullying type behaviour and safeguarding legislation. The training handbook makes clear that safeguarding begins with preventative education, early intervention and support to families, and that the addressingbullying policy is a key part of the wider safeguarding framework required in schools.

Schools are guided to use a wide range of safeguardingrelated evidence, including survey results, incident logs, wellbeing data, safeguarding records, attendance patterns, pupil voice activities and parent and staff feedback when reviewing or developing policies. These records are identified as essential for understanding the nature and extent of bullying type behaviour and ensuring appropriate safeguarding responses.

ABSIT’s targeted advice reinforces the use of Bullying Concern Assessment Forms so that interventions are codeveloped with pupils and parents, prioritising safeguarding needs and enabling multiagency engagement where required. At Levels 3 and 4, where bullying behaviour may be more sustained or complex, staff are expected to consider the risk to all involved, with cases escalated to senior pastoral, safeguarding and SEN staff for coordinated support.

Safeguarding is also built into ABSIT’s policy template and checklist, which emphasise the school’s duty to create a safe, inclusive, and relational environment consistent with statutory measures. Governors are required to maintain a standing safeguarding agenda item for reporting on bullying type behaviour, ensuring governance oversight of both policy and practice.