To ask the Minister of Education to detail any guidance available to schools on early intervention, in cases of bullying.

The Education Authority’s (EA’s) Addressing Bullying in Schools Implementation Team (ABSIT) provides clear guidance and support to schools on early intervention in cases of bullying.

ABSIT places a strong emphasis on early identification and early intervention. Its introductory training (Tier 1) for all staff includes recognising signs and symptoms of bullying type behaviour and the importance of having structures in place for early reporting. Leadership training (Tier 2) also reinforces early intervention across modules on ‘Effective Prevention and Response’. Schools are further supported through ABSIT’s intervention framework, which ranges from early responses at Level 1 through to Level 4 for more complex or sustained situations, complemented by resources including ‘Effective Responses to Bullying Behaviour’.

A wide range of practical resources is provided to schools to support early intervention, including policy templates and checklists, targeted referral advice, Level 1–4 intervention tables, training materials, rightsbased information leaflets, parental support via the Safer Schools App, template tools such as the Bullying Concern Assessment Form (BCAF), Social, Behavioural, Emotional and Wellbeing (SBEW) plans and reallife case studies. These are designed to strengthen early action, consistency and best practice.

ABSIT supports schools through complex referrals, offering advisory input that may involve multiagency engagement. ABSIT also provides rightsbased guidance for parents, carers and pupils, and works with external partner agencies to ensure that families are signposted to appropriate support in line with statutory and multiagency frameworks. In all of this work, ABSIT reinforces the importance of early intervention when dealing with cases of bullying-type behaviour.