BULLYING
A WHOLE SCHOOL POLICY STATEMENT
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General
It is our intention to do all we can to prevent bullying at St. David’s School and to deal with it effectively should it occur. We welcome and value children as individuals; no child should feel the odd one out and thus a potential victim. We emphasise positive relationships and the need for all the community to treat others with respect, courtesy, kindness and consideration. We aim to give all children a sense of security and self worth.
What is Bullying?
We define bullying as ‘words or actions intended to threaten, frighten, abuse or hurt.’ Bullying involves the abuse of power, it is persistent and it is personal to the individual child. A one-off act of random violence against a child who happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time is different, although clearly unacceptable. Bullies choose victims for a reason; because they are vulnerable; because of some characteristic of that child. This means that bullying can take many forms according to the dynamics of the interaction.
· Physical attach
· Verbal abuse
· Extortion of money/property of threats
· Psychological abuse (e.g. spreading rumours, isolation)
· Racially motivated bullying
· Targetting of perceived weakness (e.g. disability)
· Individual/group/bullying
· Sexual harassment/sexist bullying
· ‘Imported’ bullying (e.g. where families are in dispute)
· Cyberbullying – the use of modern technology to cause another individual humiliation or distress (e.g. nasty text messages or emails)
Policy Matters
An appropriate policy for dealing with bullying is an essential complement to effective responses and initiatives. Having a policy is not a replacement for actually doing something. Pieces of paper on their own do not deter children from bullying or sort things out when they do. However, policies do help to provide a framework within which action can be taken and evaluated. Moreover, they are part of the seential task of providing all parties concerned with evidence of awareness.
This Policy is set out under three main headings:
Communication: between Members of Staff and Children
There must be an easy path of communication between Staff and children. It is essential that children should feel comfortable in reporting and discussing incidents of bullying or unkind behaviour with any member of staff. In our small environment this probably presents no problem at all, but attention is drawn to the following points:
a) Form teachers should provide opportunities when general principles of behaviour can be discussed in a group situation. Form teacher should lead discussion and make it very clear that anti-social behaviour is never acceptable.
b) The Form teachers should provide opportunities for his/her children to discuss their worries in private with him/her, should the need arise.
c) Children must always be given the confidence to know that genuine reportings of bullying behaviour will always be treated sympathetically and never dismissed as “tale telling”.
d) Morning assembly provides a good opportunity for the Head to ensure that children are aware of Staff attitude towards bullying.
e) Perhaps greater use could be made of service stars as rewards for thoughtful and considerate behaviour between children.
Communication: amongst Staff
a) Head must be kept fully informed of all bullying or potentially bullying behaviour.
b) The Form teacher must immediately be informed if one of his/her class is involved in an incident, whether as a victim or a bully.
c) Serious incidents must be communicated to all Staff by the Head.
d) All serious, or potentially serious, situations should be discussed at Staff Meetings.
Vigilance
This is constantly needed to spot possible victims as well as bullies.
a) There needs to be a general Staff awareness of potentially likely places and opportunities, e.g. playground, cloakroom, unsupervised classrooms before assembly, lunch etc. Spot checks on these areas should be made from time to time by Head and all members of Staff.
b) A close eye should be kept on possible misuse of ‘power’ by older pupils especially before and during lunch, when they may have charge of the younger children.
c) Special attention should be paid to playground games which have the potential for becoming rough and intimidating.
d) In addition to vigilance concerning bullying behaviour, watch must be kept for subtle forms of bullying such as a child being continuously ignored or excluded by his/her peer group. A close eye must always be kept on “loners” at playtimes. It is often possible to encourage other children to accept them into their groups.
Measures to be Taken
a) Bully and victim to be talked to separately by whichever member of staff is most closely concerned.
b) Head to be kept informed at every stage.
c) All facts to be recorded.
d) If incident is observed by a member of staff unfamiliar with particular child, e.g. K.G. staff spotting incident in cloakroom or on playground involving older pupils, suspicions must be passed on immediately even if they turn out subsequently to be unfounded.
e) If appropriate other children, who may be aware of situation, can be questioned.
f) Head and Staff should discuss suitable procedures, e.g. removal from playground etc. of bully.
g) Names of both bully and victim to be circulated to all Staff, including dinner helper.
h) Victims to be closely monitored in case of possible reprisal action.
i) It is important to remember that the victim may also be the perpetrator.
Involvement of Parents
All communication with parents must be through Head or with Head’s full knowledge.
If the incident is sufficiently serious, both the victim and bully will be told that their parents will be contacted. This should deter further bullying and may also have the side effect of discouraging exaggeration by the victim.
If in the rare event of the situation reaching the stage of both sets of parents becoming involved, the concerned member of Staff and possibly the child, will be present at any discussions that take place.
Each case will be dealt with as “individual” and no precedent set as to punishment or outcome.
What Parents Must Do
a) Do all you can to give your children confidence and belief in themselves.
b) Talk to your children about the subject. Let them know you will be supportive and encourage them to confide in you.
c) Be alert for any signs of bullying.
d) Immediately inform the school of your concern.
What Pupils Must Do
a) Treat those around you with respect, courtesy, kindness and consideration.
b) If you are bullied try firstly to ignore it. Don’t react and don’t let the bully see you are upset. Try to avoid situations where bullying can happen.
c) Trust the school to deal with the matter without anyone knowing you have reported it. We will not disclose who has told us about bullying, so don’t be afraid something will happen to you if you tell us.
d) Never be embarrassed to tell someone if you feel you are being ‘got at’ in any way. Unless you are being a complete pest, IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT. Always remember that it is the bully who is inadequate and he or she needs help as much as you do.
e) Tell someone if you know anybody who is being made miserable by bullying.
f) Remember: BULLIES CONTINUE IF THEY GET AWAY WITH IT. If you do nothing when you know about bullying, you are condoning it and allowing it to carry on.
Pupils will have access to the school Code of Behaviour, Golden Rules and Bullying policy at the beginning of the autumn term through their form teacher or Headteacher and the School Rules will be printed in their homework diaries.
FOOTNOTE
All reports of bullying must always be investigated and never dismissed as “tale telling”. If however, after initial investigation it becomes clear that it is a case of “a mountain out of a molehill” the member of staff must use his/her own discretion in dealing with it there and then.
N.B. Any indications of racism must be noted and acted upon without delay.
St. David's School: Woodcote Valley Road • Purley • Surrey CR8 3AL