Developing a culture of safety, acceptance and respect is paramount to CHEK ABC. The values that drive the treatment of all members of our school community are grace, truth, fairness, honour, open communication and treating each other how we ourselves would want to be treated. Our behaviours towards one another are expected to parallel these values. At CHEK ABC we define bullying as:
1. An action that is targeted towards an individual
2. An action that intended to harm an individual
3. An action that is repeated
We recognize that bullying can take the following forms:
1. Verbal (name calling)
2. Physical (pushing/punching)
3. Social (excluding someone)
4. Extortion (stealing or taking something away from someone)
5. Cyber Bullying (using technology – phone, text, email, social media)
6. Yelling or screaming at someone
7. Sending threatening or harassing emails or texts
8. Using Social Media to harass, belittle, or accuse someone
9. Making unreasonable demands towards someone
10. Threatening violence
We strive to build a culture that protects students, staff and contractors from discrimination, abuse, neglect (children), bullying, harm, or threat of harm regardless of their gender, race, culture, religion, sexual orientation, or gender identity and expression. This is done through:
1) Anti-bullying and safety policies for students and staff. These policies are communicated verbally and are available through the Student/Parent and Staff CHEK ABC handbooks. All handbooks can be accessed through the CHEK ABC website at any time.
2) Established mechanisms for reporting concerns. CHEK ABC has a formal process for dealing with complaints or concerns – for both staff and students.
3) Educating all staff on what is and how to recognize abuse, bullying, discrimination, neglect and harm. Training is part of our start-of-year staff training and is followed up at various staff meetings throughout the year.
4) Online safety policy for students taking online courses. Online communications between staff and students are archived.
5) Promoting a culture of safety and respect through an ‘all staff on supervision’ approach.
6) Ensuring adequate student supervision at all CHEK ABC sponsored activities, Learning Centres and field trips. This is kept to a minimum of a 1 (adult) to 7 (students) ratio. All parent volunteers are debriefed on their role and how to report bully concerns prior to the activity.
7) Staff participation in Professional Development workshops and courses in the areas of abuse, neglect, discrimination, anti-bullying and awareness of cultural and other student needs.
8) Mandatory participation in the ERASE Bullying program.
9) Engaging parents in giving input into the educational program and sharing their culture and expectations.
10) Promoting open communication between administrators, teachers, staff, students, and families.
11) Communicating norms, expectations, and values that support a healthy and positive school community.
12) Engaging students in their education process and acknowledging their successes.
13) Acknowledging all students by their preferred name.
14) Connecting students who are experiencing academic or social concerns with appropriate supports.
15) During group activities, provide expectations for student conduct, given the environment and activity.
16) Providing a student Code of Conduct.
Every member of our school community deserves to be safe and secure at school and free from bullying and harassment. As a community we do not tolerate bullying or harassment in any form. At CHEK ABC, we believe in the safety of our students. staff, contractors, support staff and administration. As such, bullying or threatening behavior will not be accepted from anyone in our community. Administration is committed to take all reasonable steps to prevent retaliation by a person against a student or staff who has made a complaint of a breach of this policy.
In the case of harassing, threatening, or bullying behaviour in an online context, the case (with evidence) will be sent to administration. Administration will follow up on the situation and decide on plan of action. Local authorities may be contacted in the investigation and/or a Violence and Threat Risk Assessment (VTRA) may be initiated.
If an adult or parent participates in harassing, threatening or bullying behavior towards a staff member, he/she will be asked to remove him/herself from the situation. Adults who bully staff will be given the opportunity to restore their relationship with the staff member. If they choose not to do so, they will be asked to withdraw their child from the program at the discretion of the school administration.