Anti Bullying Policy April 2006
NEWTOWN C.E. (VOLUNTARY CONTROLLED) PRIMARY SCHOOL
ANTI-BULLYING POLICY
At Newtown, we believe that everyone (including children, parents and all staff) should feel happy, safe and secure, within our school environment. We believe that no person has the right to make another feel uncomfortable or unhappy. We believe that everyone should feel free to express their ideas and opinions, openly and confidently; providing that these opinions do not hurt or personally attack others.
We, therefore, strongly believe that bullying in any form has no place in our school. We agree that we all should take an active approach, ensuring that any incident of bullying is treated as a serious matter. All incidents will be dealt with quickly and effectively; using our guidelines, to ensure a consistent and thorough approach, hopefully ensuring a trust that such problems will be resolved.
What is Bullying?
Bullying is any form of anti-social behaviour which results in the physical or mental abuse of another person.
Bully can 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'.
But how does this translate in terms of our children and their times spent in our care? What do children feel constitutes being bullied and how do they feel about it? What we can be sure of is that the outcome for the victims of bullying is always painful and distressing!
Bullying Can Be:
Physical: pushing, kicking, hitting, punching and other forms of violence or physical threats.
Verbal: name calling, sarcasm, spreading rumours, persistent teasing.
Emotional: exclusion from group (sending to Coventry), tormenting (hiding books, threatening gestures etc.), ridicule, humiliation.
Racist: racial taunts, graffiti, gestures.
Sexual: unwanted physical contact, abusive comments.
Newtown Children's Feelings About Bullying:
'I think bullying is when someone hurts you on purpose or continually calls you names. Some people are strong and can ignore it but for others it stomps all over their lives like a pair of boots.'
'I think bullying is when someone's feelings get hurt on purpose because someone wants to hurt them. I was bullied at my old school. It made me feel sad.'
'I think bullying means when a gang of people pick on one person and no one sticks up for them because they are scared. I got bullied by some older children.'
I think bullying is when people pick on someone constantly over a long period of time. Bullying hurts mentally and/or physically.'
'Bullying can make you feel trapped. It happened to me and I couldn't stop it. It really upset me and I was frightened. Bullying can change your life.'
'I think bullying sometimes happens to people who are different. My friend got bullied and she didn't want to come to school anymore.'
'Bullies think they have the power to push you or call you names. They think they rule everyone. They make you feel small.'
A strong theme here is how bullying can and does affect lives and just how hurtful and damaging it can be both physically and mentally. Many of our children thought that bullying was constant, repetitive mental or physical abuse, rather than one off attacks.
We all accept that from time to time there will 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 and the children's trust in our ability to help them.
This Policy Therefore Aims To:
1. Provide a secure and happy environment in which all children feel confident that any incidents of bullying can be reported and will be dealt with successfully.
2. Show all Newtown pupils that bullying will be taken seriously.
3. Make sure children that have been bullied are made to feel safe.
4. Ensure that staff respond calmly and with a consistent approach to all incidents of
bullying.
5. Encourage 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.
7. When appropriate a 'bullying incident report' will be completed and kept as a record of the incident within their behaviour folder (on some occasions the Headteacher will deal with incidents and record in a similar way). Behaviour contracts will be issued when necessary and reviewed regularly.
8. We will monitor and follow up incidents appropriately at individual, group or school level.
We all strongly believe that 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 unhappy and that they use bullying as a way of trying to achieve popularity and friends. We recognise the need to work hard with these children to ensure they receive the help they need and to prevent further bullying. Evidence has shown that purely punitive measures do not prevent further bullying.
How We Intend To Achieve These Aims:
1. Children will be taught through assemblies, circle time and PSHE activities how to deal with any incidents of bullying. They will be regularly be reminded of the importance of reporting incidents of bullying to an adult (using the RUN, YELL, TELL motto).
Every year, for one week and alongside the national anti-bullying campaign (normally in November), one of our P.S.H.E. themes will be 'Say No To Bullying'.
During this week, all children and staff at Newtown will attend two (or more) assemblies where Anti-Bullying strategies are discussed and issues raised. Back in class, focused P.S.H.E. lessons and circle time activities will give children time to discuss bullying and agree on anti-bullying strategies.
However, this does not mean that the topic of bullying will not be focused on and discussed at many other times throughout the year
During these sessions, we will:
- emphasise that all children have the right to be treated with respect
- that all children have the right to feel safe and happy
- that incidents are not the fault of the bullied child
- that it is the responsibility of the adult (not the child) to do something about it
- discuss what constitutes being bullied
- teach children the skills to help them deal with distressing situations
- constantly remind them of the need to tell an adult if they feel they are being bullied.
2. When a bullying incident is reported it will always be investigated by talking to all those involved. If it is found o be a case of bullying then it will be recorded on an incident form.
Wherever possible this is to include a written account from the victim.
3. A teacher will find out from the victim what has happened. The focus should be on the way the victim is feeling and how the incident has affected them.
4. The teacher will meet with all of those involved in the incident, including any bystanders. At this meeting the group will be made aware of how the bullying incident has affected the victim. The situation can be presented as a problem that the group can discuss between them and help to solve. Every attempt should be made to involve all the children. Part of this process will include suggestions from the bully (or bullies) as to what they can do.
5. The group's solutions to the problems should be written down by the teacher. All staff should be told what has been decided.
6. The teacher will monitor progress, on a daily basis at first, by talking to the group involved. When appropriate, support mechanisms will be set up to help both the victims and the bullies so that the likelihood of a recurrence is reduced.
7. Parents of both bullies and victims will be informed of the incident at the start of this process and will be given regular progress reports.
8. In extreme cases of bullying or when all other methods of dealing with the problem have failed it may be necessary to exclude children.
9. Parents will be informed of our anti-bullying policy through the school booklet, and at meetings for new parents.
April 2006 (To be reviewed annually) Back to top
