Child in 'pre-arranged' fight after school broke anti-bullying policy

A child in Fife ended up in a “pre-arranged” fight after their school did not follow its own anti-bullying policy.

The pupil reported an assault just a week before the fight near school grounds.

They also previously reported “continued bullying behaviour”.

An investigation by the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) stated that measures, such as allowing the student to leave class early, were put in place.

However, just over a week after reporting the assault, the child was involved in a pre-arranged fight with another pupil near school grounds during school hours.

The watchdog found that the school did not follow its anti-bullying policy following the reporting of the assault.

It added that it also “unreasonably failed to manage the report of the assault”.

“We found that the school did not follow their anti-bullying policy following the assault on [the student],” the SPSO report said.

“They did not advise [the parent] of their decision that the school could take no further action regarding the reports of bullying as there was no concrete evidence of this, and they were imprecise in how they described contact with other parents/carers. Therefore, we upheld [the parent’s] complaints.”

The Ombudsman ordered Fife Council to apologise, and urged schools to inform parents and carers of any decisions reached or actions taken following reports of bullying in the future.

Donnie Macleod, Fife’s executive director of education said the council has already apologised, and he emphasised that the safety and wellbeing of all pupils is “an absolute priority”.

“Bullying in any form is unacceptable and we have systems in place to support children and help them to feel safe in our schools,” he said.

“Every Fife school implements a robust anti-bullying policy to protect pupils and all incidents are reported, recorded and responded to appropriately.

“We understand that in this instance we could have done better in responding to concerns. We have apologised and will continue work with all schools to make sure policies are being followed and responding to the needs of all children at school.”