Anti Bullying Policy December 2008
ANTI-BULLYING POLICY
Bullying is a form of anti-social behaviour that has no place in our school. No person has the right to make another feel uncomfortable or unhappy. The school sees the issue of bullying as a serious matter and any incidents will be dealt with as laid down in our guidelines.
We take bullying to mean:
Long standing violence, physical, psychological, social or verbal by those in a position of power on those individuals or groups who are powerless to resist, with the intention of causing distress for their own gain or gratification. The outcome for the victims is always painful and distressing.
Bullying can be:
Physical: pushing, kicking, hitting, punching and other forms of violence and threats.
Verbal: name calling, sarcasm, spreading rumours, persistent teasing.
Emotional: excluding (sending to
Racist: racial taunts, graffiti, gestures.
Sexual: unwanted physical contact, abusive comments.
We accept that from time to time there will be incidents of bullying both in and out of school. The success of this policy will be judged by the way we deal with these incidents when they occur.
The aims of this policy are to:
1. Provide a secure environment in which children feel confident that incidents can be reported and will be dealt with.
2. Show all pupils that bullying is taken seriously.
3. Make sure pupils who have been bullied are made to feel safe.
4. Ensure staff respond calmly and consistently to incidents of bullying.
5. Encourage the child or children who have bullied, including those who may have colluded to behave in a more acceptable manner.
6. Support all children involved in the incident, both the bullied child and those who have bullied.
7. Where appropriate bullying incident reports will be completed by a member of staff and stored within their behaviour folders – on occasion the Headteacher will deal with incidents in a similar way. Behaviour contracts when necessary will be issued and regularly reviewed.
8. Monitor and follow up incidents appropriately at individual, group or whole school level.
Children who are bullying must learn that their behaviour is totally unacceptable and that all incidents of bullying will be dealt with seriously. We recognise that these children are often not happy and use bullying as a way of trying to achieve popularity and friends. We need to work hard with these children to ensure they receive help to prevent further bullying. Evidence has shown that purely punitive measures do not prevent further bullying.
Procedures for dealing with incidents of bullying:
1. At regular intervals children will be reminded of the importance of letting adults know when bullying is happening. This will be done in assemblies, in circle time and as part of the P.S.E. curriculum. (See the “Getting It Right” project). The school has also successfully followed the SEAL units of work and has a major commitment to this as well as the national anti – bullying week in November each year. We will emphasise that all children have the right to be treated with respect, that it is not the fault of the bullied child and that it is the responsibility of the adults to do something about it.
2. As part of the P.S.E. curriculum children will be taught skills to help them deal with distressing situations.
3. When a bullying incident is reported it will always be investigated by talking to all those involved (as long as this can be done in a sensitive manner). If, after investigation, it is found to be a case of bullying then it will be recorded on an incident form. Where possible this will include a written account taken from the victim.
4. A teacher or the Headteacher, where appropriate, will find out from the victim what has happened. This will often focus on the way the victim is feeling USING THE ‘Circle of Friends’ model.
5. The teacher will then meet with all those involved, including some bystanders, who may not have initiated any bullying. At this meeting it will be explained to the whole group how the victim is feeling. The situation is then presented as a problem that they can all help to solve. Every attempt will be made to involve all the pupils. Part of this process will include suggestions from the bully as to what they can do.
6. Suggestions as to what can be done will be written down by the teacher. All staff will be told what has been decided.
7. The teacher will monitor progress, on a daily basis at first, by talking to all involved. When appropriate, support mechanisms will be set up to help both bullies and victims so that the likelihood of recurrence is reduced.
8. Parents of both bullies and victims will be informed at the start of this process and given regular progress reports.
9. In extreme cases of bullying or when other methods of dealing with bullying have failed it may be necessary to exclude children.
10. Parents will be informed of our bullying policy through the school booklet, and at meetings for new parents.
Policy updated Oct 2008 (to be reviewed annually)
Agreed by Governors December 2008