Anti-bullying activity in schools and on-line reporting solutions grant

Please note that this is a grant opportunity.

(a) anti-bullying activity in schools

We are interested in developing further innovative and sustainable approaches to preventing and tackling bullying in school and/or cyberbullying. In particular we are looking to support projects that develop and embed practice to address bullying of specific groups vulnerable to bullying, for instance children and young people with SEND or those with mental health issues.

We are inviting proposals that will enable us to fund, for up to four years, services and projects where providers can demonstrate existing reach with the groups vulnerable to bullying, and where they have plans for extending and sustaining that reach in effective and accessible ways. The Department will look for evidence that programmes are likely to be effective in achieving specific outcomes and bids should include plans for independent evaluation of impact. They should also indicate how they will seek to ensure that the activity will be sustainable beyond the duration of the grant funding, by attracting further funding or embedding practice in another way. Grant funding will be for a 2 year period initially, with an option to extend for a further 2 years subject to initial progress and outcomes.

(b) on-line reporting of cyber-bullying

We are seeking projects that specifically address the development and testing of up-to-date on-line methods of reporting worries, concerns and incidents related to cyberbullying in order to prompt action by schools and others. Bids should indicate how they will deal with reporting of issues other than cyberbullying and in particular the process for dealing with safeguarding issues.

The aim is for the successful project or approach to generate evidence of what is effective both in ensuring that children and young people feel able to report issues, and that reports lead to action where appropriate. The aim will be to inform practice in online settings where cyberbullying might take place, and the outcomes may help to shape future projects. Individual bids should, therefore, include an independent evaluation of the effectiveness of the methods tested. We will consider projects with a broader scope where there is evidence they will deliver on the core aim of developing an up-to-date mechanism for reporting cyberbullying. Given the nature of the project in this area we intend to fund it for two years, through an agreement of one year initially with the option to extend subject to initial progress and outcomes.

Additional information: Grants would start approximately end of July 2016 and finish approximately at the end of June 2018