Date Approved:  Autumn 2022

Next Review:  Autumn 2023

Statement of Intent

We are committed to providing a caring, friendly and safe environment for all of our pupils so they can learn in a relaxed and secure atmosphere.  Bullying of any kind is unacceptable at our school.  If bullying does occur, all pupils should be able to tell and know that incidents will be dealt with promptly and effectively.  We are a TELLING school.  This means that anyone who knows that bullying is happening is expected to tell the staff.

What Is Bullying?

Bullying is the use of repeated and sustained aggression with the intention of hurting another person.  Whether physical or mental, bullying results in pain and distress to the victim.

Bullying can be:

  • Emotional being unfriendly, excluding, tormenting (e.g. hiding books, threatening gestures)
  • Physical pushing, kicking, hitting, punching or any use of violence
  • Racist racial taunts
  • graffiti, gestures
  • Homophobic, biphobic, because of, or focussing on the issue of sexuality
  • Transphobic bullying or any bullying based on gender
  • Verbal name-calling, sarcasm, spreading rumours, teasing
  • Cyber: All areas of internet ,such as: email & internet chat room misuse; mobile threats by text messaging & calls; misuse of associated technology, i.e. camera &video facilities

The equality act 2010 makes it unlawful to discriminate against someone on the grounds of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion and belief, sex (gender), and sexual orientation. See appendix 2

Appendix 3 includes a guide to understanding and responding to Homophobic, Biphobic and Transphobic (HBT) bullying.

Why is it Important to Respond to Bullying?

  • Bullying hurts. No one deserves to be a victim of bullying.
  • Everybody has the right to be treated with respect.
  • Pupils who are bullying need to learn different ways of behaving.
  • Schools have a responsibility to respond promptly and effectively to issues of bullying.

Objectives of this Policy

  • All governors, teaching and non-teaching staff, pupils and parents should have an understanding of what bullying is.
  • All governors and teaching and non-teaching staff should know what the school policy is on bullying, and follow it when bullying is reported.
  • All pupils and parents should know what the school policy is on bullying, and what they should do if bullying arises.
  • As a school we take bullying seriously. Pupils and parents should be assured that they will be supported when bullying is reported.
  • Bullying will not be tolerated.

Signs and Symptoms

A child may indicate by signs or behaviour that he or she is being bullied. Adults should be aware of these possible signs and that they should investigate if a child:

  • becomes withdrawn anxious, or lacking in confidence
  • attempts or threatens suicide or runs away
  • Shows signs of suffering – stops eating or sleeping or shows signs of mental health issues
  • cries themselves to sleep at night or has nightmares
  • feels ill in the morning
  • Teachers note a decline in quality of work
  • has possessions which are damaged or " go missing"
  • asks for money or starts stealing money  
  • has unexplained cuts or bruises
  • becomes aggressive, disruptive or unreasonable
  • is bullying other children or siblings
  • stops eating
  • is frightened to say what's wrong
  • if child is part of a social network group *school discourages the use of social media for this reason

These signs and behaviours could indicate other problems, and all possibilities should be explored or considered / investigated. 

Procedures and responses

  1. Report bullying incidents to staff – see appendix 3
  2. In all cases of bullying, the incidents will be recorded by staff on the school’s monitoring system (CPOMS) which will alert all concerned staff and a member of the senior leadership team, including the HT.
  3. Parents will be informed, where appropriate, and will be asked to come in to a meeting to discuss the problem
  4. If necessary and appropriate, school will consult with the police.
  5. A restorative approach will often be used allow both sides to be listened to and reconciliation occur – see appendix 4 for a full explanation  
  6. A plan put in place to address the issue, including a date on which the situation will be reviewed.

Prevention

  • PSHCE activities including
  • writing stories or poems or drawing pictures about bullying
  • reading stories about bullying or having them read to a class or assembly
  • making up role-plays
  • having discussions about bullying and why it matters
  • Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning (SEAL) activities
  • Making children aware that they are responsible for being inclusive
  • Behaviour, Care, Guidance and Support

The support, guidance and care provided to promote personal development and well- being is provided through all staff including: teachers, support staff and MSAs. 

  • School Council

The school council members take on the responsibility of organising Anti-Bullying initiatives such as ‘Anti-bullying week’ and questionnaires.

  • Crucial Crew

Year 6 pupils attend activities organised by the uniformed services that emphasise their responsibilities as young adults, including guidance against anti-social behaviour. 

  • NSPPC

Bi annual visits from the NSPCC to lead workshops in school

HELP ORGANISATIONS:

Childline                                                                           0800 11 11

KIDSCAPE Parents Helpline (Mon-Fri, 10-4)                     0845 1 205 204

Parentline Plus                                                                 0808 800 2222

Youth Access                                                                     020 8772 9900

Bullying Online                                                                 www.bullying.co.uk

      www.kidscape.org.uk

Appendix 1

Types of discrimination

  • Racism: valuing or treating a group differently through prejudice, stereotyping or antagonism directed at people of a different ethnicity or nationality. This can often be based on the belief that the perpetrator’s ethnicity or nationality is superior to that of others.
  • Sexism: valuing or treating a group differently through prejudice, stereotyping or antagonism directed at people because of their gender. This includes behaviour, conditions, or attitudes that foster stereotypes of social roles based on gender.
  • Homophobia: valuing or treating a group differently through prejudice, stereotyping or antagonism directed at gay men and women. This also includes ‘heterosexism’: the belief that heterosexual relationships are ‘the norm’ and the presumption that people identify as heterosexual despite not having disclosed their sexual orientation. It also includes connotations and stereotypes about gay men and women.
  • Biphobia: valuing or treating a group differently through prejudice, stereotyping or antagonism directed at bisexual people. As with homophobia, this includes ‘heterosexism’ and stereotypes/connotations about bisexual people.
  • Transphobia: valuing or treating a group differently through prejudice, stereotyping or antagonism directed at people who identify as transgender. This includes refusal to recognise a person’s gender, not recognising chosen names, excluding access to toilets and changing facilities of someone’s identified gender, and the assumption that people’s gender matches their biological sex.
  • HBT (Homophobia, Biphobia & Transphobia): valuing or treating a group differently through prejudice, stereotyping or antagonism directed at or at their perceived sexual or gender identity. This can include assuming that heterosexual relationships are ‘the norm’ or refusing to allow a person to use the toilets or changing area of their chosen gender.
  • Religious discrimination: valuing or treating a person or group differently through prejudice, stereotyping or antagonism directed at people because of what they do or do not believe. This includes refusal to accommodate the right to prayer and worship, or prohibition of religion.
  • Disabilist discrimination: valuing or treating a group differently through prejudice, stereotyping or antagonism directed at or their perceived disability. This can include stereotyping a specific disablement against someone else who may also have a similar diagnosis.
  • Classist Discrimination: valuing or treating a group differently through prejudice, stereotyping or antagonism directed at or their perceived socio-economic status. This can include stereotyping a specific person based on their appearance or looks. This can not only impact on the individual but on their families and others perceived to be from the same group.

Appendix 2

Guide to Understanding & responding to Homophobic, Biphobic & Transphobic (HBT) Bullying.

What is HBT Bullying?

A targeted incident of aggressive, verbal or emotional abuse towards a person because of their, or their perceived, Sexual or Gender Identity

What can happen?

· Verbal, physical or emotional harassment including insulting or degrading comments, name calling, gestures taunts & insults or ‘jokes’.

· Offensive Graffiti

· Humiliating, excluding, tormenting, ridiculing or making threats towards others based on their, or their perceived Sexual or Gender Identity.

· The use of the word ‘gay’ in a derogatory way or replacing a negative word with gay e.g ‘those trainers are so gay’.

Top Tips for staff:

· To read and understand the Anti- Bullying policy and respond accordingly.

· Challenge all incidents, behaviour and language that occur, addressing these with the students.

· Actively encourage fellow staff and students to not be bystanders.

· Be calm and take your time when responding to incidents.

· Don’t be afraid to ask questions to those involved.

· Ensure adequate time is given for reflection to all involved.

· Challenge the statements, not the young person.

· Highlight to the young people how they would feel should this language be used against them.

· To look at ways forward following on from the incident eg: a class discussion about language.

· Record the incidents correctly for monitoring purposes.

Appendix 3

Incident Reporting Incident reporting needs to pay attention to language used, which needs to be reported accurately. Staff need to be aware of what discriminatory language is and record incidents as such.

Who was involved

Include the name of the victim and the instigator to identify and monitor patterns previously and in the future

Where did the incident take place?

Actual location of the incident on the school site so patterns can be identified and areas that staff may need to monitor more closely

When did the incident take place?

Date / Time of the incident so patterns can be identified

What was said?

Record the specific language used, even if this is offensive

What action will you take/has been taken?

To record the action not just the consequences e.g. – explaining to the instigator why it was wrong to use the language they did and support for the victim.

Review systems

Having a named person to review incidents, looking for patterns e.g. Students needing support or their behaviour addressing

Appendix 4:

No-Blame Approach

An explanation of the No-Blame Approach, taken from the Anti-Bullying Network

A technique which can be used to tackle bullying in school is the No Blame Approach. As the name suggests, one of the most important things about this approach is that it deliberately avoids accusations, blame and punishment. The first step is to interview the victim, with the aim of finding out how he/she feels. The child will be asked to draw a picture or write something to communicate his/her distress. With the child's full knowledge and approval, the next step involves getting together the children involved in the bullying (including bystanders) and perhaps some non-involved children. This group (which does not include the victim) will then be made aware of the victim's distress and will be encouraged to take responsibility for their actions and to come up with ideas for making the bullied person feel happier. It should be mentioned that the No Blame Approach (which may mistakenly be viewed as a technique which condones bullying) can also be described as the Support Group Approach.

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