Mr. Paraic Joyce:

I might add something there. If we were looking for an ideal school or one that has the best example of a positive school culture, we would be looking for somewhere where the wider school community is engaged on a regular basis in terms of their communication and respect. We would be looking for a school that places an equal emphasis on the parents' and the students' voice. We would be looking for somewhere with buy-in, in a very collegiate way, across all staff, not just the teaching staff in the school. There would be a shared responsibility around the best ways to watch out for and tackle bullying. One will usually find that a school which is open to various kinds of ideas has an awareness of the things the school must try, as well as the need to bring students with them. Those tend to be the types of schools that are most successful in tackling bullying because they are open to that. Usually the key person is the principal. If there is effective leadership of the school one will find most other things tend to be successful. Maybe some of my colleagues would have examples of that around the country.