Evaluating and disseminating KiVa in Wales and the UK

1. Evaluating and disseminating KiVa in Wales and the UK Prof. Judy Hutchings Centre of Evidence Based Early Interventions Bangor University KiVa Wales Conference 2nd February 2016 Bangor 3rd February 2016 Cardiff

2. Challenges for schools, implementers and researchers • UK dissemination strategy

3. Challenges for/with schools 3

4. Hard to achieve Implementation Fidelity • KiVa is a multi component intervention • Without all of the components, universal and targeted, it may not work as well. Effective delivery takes leadership, commitment and resources – particularly school KiVa lead time • We already see this in Wales where we have seen that head teacher commitment is vital

5. School leadership for KiVa • Some KiVa leads are not allocated time to ensure that the programme is properly implemented, to introduce it effectively to all school staff • We are delivering KiVa in primary schools. Staff turnover is high, some school KiVa leads and/or other trained teachers have moved on. • This presents problems for schools in maintaining KiVa, how to train a new KiVa lead and/or other incoming new staff and ensures that the KiVa ethos is maintained, lessons are delivered, etc. 5

6. IT challenges • Primary teachers not all IT literate • They need to be trained to deliver the survey correctly • Most primary schools do not have the resources to sit a whole class in front of computers • Teachers lose site passwords or children’s passwords for the online games and/or make errors logging in on the KiVa Finland site 6

7. Some school solutions • Ensure that KiVa is on the agenda for school staff meetings • Ensure that KiVa team lead has time allocated for this role • The KiVa lead checks on lesson delivery and establish the reporting structure – to head, school governors, parents, etc. • Schedule KiVa lessons at same time for whole school • Create a link to the KiVa website on the school website for parents and for pupils to access games 7

8. Things schools have found useful • Termly support meetings in North and South Wales run from our Centre • Email and telephone support from our office • The records kept on confirmed bullying incidents and the way they have been dealt with have been helpful in dealing with both school inspectors and parents • An opportunity to train new KiVa leads for free by attending training courses for newly enrolling schools 8

9. Challenges for implementers • Schools have so much spam, KiVa emails and letters get lost and it can be hard to get phone contact • Local authorities have reduced funds, more goes directly to schools so schools have to pay • Evidence and its interpretation is not something teachers learn about or are familiar with • School inspectors have praised KiVa and used it as a case study but not named the programme • Not all schools recognise that bullying exists • We cannot always follow up enquiries with a quick offer of training 9

10. Solutions for implementers • We help existing schools to disseminate information on their success • We arrange for people to visit KiVa schools • We have annual conferences and KiVa schools make presentations • We place information on key websites, Institute for Effective Education, York University, and Society Central • We publish articles in scientific journals and have had newspaper and television coverage • We offer email and telephone support • We are now training trainers to provide support in local areas 10

11. Challenges for researchers • We want additional data that put demands on school staff • School staff generally have little understanding of RCTs • There are challenges to obtaining parental consent and ethical approval • It is too resource intensive to independently evaluate the quality of all lesson delivery and collect evidence on implementation 11

12. Solutions for researchers • Bullying is being recognised nationally and we have had two years of European funding for Masters students to follow our pilot schools and Lottery funding for the RCT • We provide the training and resources to research participant schools as compensation for additional data demands • Our trials are building knowledge to support dissemination which encourages further research participation by schools • We are developing an evidence base in Wales that supports applications for additional research funding 12

13. Present situation • We have funded an administrative assistant to support the development of KiVa • We have started to develop a network of trainers co-ordinated through our Centre in Wales • We have three trainers in Wales, one in Cheshire and one for Staffordshire • Over 70 schools are now trained and currently delivering • We will have the RCT trial results later this year • We obtained an ESRC impact grant to bring Christina to Wales for these KiVa conferences 13

14. UK training strategy in 2016 • To maintain fidelity KiVa need local leads and we are licensed to train local trainers across the UK • Trainers must have a structure that enables them to both train and support local schools • They can be funded by a school collective (group of schools) or a local authority, an NGO or by grants

15. The plan • Local trainers enrol schools and collect school registration fees in the summer term. • These are paid to and managed by KiVa UK in Bangor who enroll the schools with Finland and transfer fees • KiVa UK has started to train and provide support to trainers • We refer any issues that we cannot deal with by us to Finland

16. Training • Training for schools is a two day training and must be attended by the school KiVa lead and a member of the KiVa team that addresses confirmed bullying cases • Three day trainer training involves • attending a two-day school training. • attending an individual one-to-one day to cover all logistics and supply the trainer with all of the necessary training resources.

17. Timetable • Trainers and schools are trained in the spring term Jan – March • The school lead needs to plan from April for the KiVa launch, introduce it to school staff, ensure resources are obtained and distributed, etc. • Pupils complete the pupil survey in June before starting the programme • The programme start in September with a whole school pupil launch and a parent launch

18. Training for 2016 Training for schools and trainers Dates: 1st – 2nd March 2016 in Bangor Trainers receive the individual day of one to one training Cost and further details are available from: d.williams@bangor.ac.uk

19. Conclusion • Bullying is widespread in the UK • Schools are an environment in which it can occur • Children need evidence-based education • KiVa has good evidence and covers more than 50% of the PSE curriculum • Teachers in UK primary schools like it and report positive responses from children • We are working with schools to support the development of KiVa in the UK 19

20. KiVa The need for effective bullying prevention in schools has been recognised in the UK and KiVa has been well received in Wales and Cheshire KiVa is an example of how commitment from politicians, researchers, and educators can make a difference in the lives of children and young people 20

21. References • Axford, N., & Hutchings, J. (2014). KiVa: Helping schools and parents beat bullying. Better: Evidence-based Education, 6(2), 14-15. . • Hutchings, J. (2014). New ways to tackle bullying. Society Central. http://societycentral.ac.uk/2014/04/08/new-ways-to-tackle-bullying/ • Clarkson, S. (2015) Together against bullying. The Psychologist 28 (2), 550-551 • Hutchings, J. & Clarkson, S. (2015) Introducing and piloting the KiVa bullying prevention programme in the UK. Educational and Child Psychology 32 (1), 49-61 • Axford, N., Farrington, D.P., Clarkson, S., Bjornstad, G., Wrigley, Z and Hutchings, J. (2015) Involving parents in school-based programmes to prevent and reduce bullying: does it work? Journal of Children’s Services, 10 (3). • Hutchings, J. and Clarkson, S. (2015) Rolling out evidence-based programmes in schools. Better: Evidence-based Education 7 (2) 20-21.  • Clarkson et al., (in press) Effectiveness and micro-costing of the KiVa-bullying-prevention programme in Wales: Study protocol for a pilot randomised controlled trial. BMC Health.

22. Thank you Judy Hutchings Centre for Evidence Based Early Intervention, School of Psychology, Bangor University,
Wales http://www.centreforearlyinterventionwales.co.uk j.hutchings@bangor.ac.uk s.clarkson@bangor.ac.uk d.williams@bangor.ac.uk 22