Anti-Bullying Policy
Introduction
At Awsworth Primary & Nursery School our core values are that every child should feel safe, valued, supported and happy in school. We further aim to achieve this by providing opportunities to develop each child’s self-confidence and pride.
As a consequence of our values we aim to provide a safe, caring and friendly environment for learning for all our pupils to allow them to improve their life chances and help them maximise their potential.
We would expect pupils to act safely and feel safe in school, including that they understand the issues relating to all forms of bullying and that they feel confident to seek support from school should they feel they or others are unsafe.
We would also want parents/carers to feel confident that their children are safe and cared for in school and that incidents when they do arise, are dealt with promptly and well.
As a school committed to Rights Respecting values, we work to promote a rights ethos where children are safe, can express their opinions and realise their potential.
The school is aware of its legal obligations including the Equalities Act 2010. We are aware of our role within the local community supporting parents/carers and working with other agencies outside the school where appropriate.
Policy Development
This policy was formulated in consultation with the whole school community with input from staff (via regular agenda items at staff meetings), governors (discussions at governors meetings), parents/carers (parents are encouraged to contribute by taking part in a parent focus group, producing a shorter parents’ guide), children and young people (through the school council, class discussions etc). The school council have also developed a pupil friendly version displayed around the school and which is to be published in the children’s Personal Organisers. Other partners eg Breakfast and After School Club Providers are also provided with a copy of the policy and asked to make comments.
This policy is available:
Roles and responsibilities
The Head teacher – Has over all responsibility for the policy and its implementation and liaising with the governing body, parents/carers, LA and outside agencies and appointing an Anti-bullying coordinator who will have general responsibility for handling the implementation of this policy.
The Anti–bullying Coordinator in our school is: Mrs Claire Watson
The responsibilities are:
The nominated Governor with the responsibility for Anti- bullying (Behaviour) is: Mrs Marilyn Reed
Definition of Bullying
The repetitive, intentional hurting of one person or group by another person or group, where the relationship involves an imbalance of power. Bullying can be physical, verbal or psychological. It can happen face-to-face or through cyberspace.
http://www.anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk/about-us.aspx
How does bullying differ from teasing/falling out between friends or other types of aggressive behaviour?
Occasionally an incident may be deemed to be bullying even if the behaviour has not been repeated or persistent – if it fulfils all other descriptions of bullying. This possibility should be considered, particularly in cases of hate crime related bullying and cyberbullying. If the victim might be in danger then intervention is urgently required.
What does bullying look like?
Bullying behaviour can be physical, verbal or emotional and includes:
Although bullying can occur between individuals it can often take place in the presence (virtually or physically) of others who become the ‘bystanders’ or ‘accessories’.
Why are children and young people bullied?
Specific types of bullying include:
Prejudice Related Bullying
Under the Equalities Act 2010 it is against the law to discriminate against anyone because of:
These are called ‘protected characteristics’.
As part of the requirement on schools to promote fundamental British values, schools must proactively challenge derogatory and discriminatory language and behaviour including that which is racist, homophobic, biphobic, transphobic and disabilist in nature. We will record these types of bullying, even that which represents a one-off incident, and report them to the local authority for monitoring purposes.
Other vulnerable groups include
• bullying related to appearance or health
• bullying of young carers or looked after children or otherwise related to home circumstances
Although the above do not currently receive protection under the Equality Act 2010, bullying for these reasons is just as serious. There is no hierarchy of bullying – all forms should be taken equally seriously and dealt with appropriately.
Prejudice Related Language
Racist, homophobic,biphobic, transphobic and disabilist language includes terms of abuse used towards people because of their race/ethnicity/nationality; because they are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transsexual, or are perceived to be, or have a parent/carer or sibling who is; because they have a learning or physical disability. Such language is generally used to refer to something or someone as inferior. This may also be used to taunt young people who are different in some way or their friends, family members or their parents/carers.
In the case of homophobic, biphobic and transphobic language particularly, dismissing it as banter is not helpful as even if these terms are not referring to a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity they are using the terms to mean inferior, bad, broken or wrong. We will challenge the use of prejudice related language in our school even if it appears to be being used without any intent. Persistent use of prejudice related language and/or bullying will be dealt with as with any other form of bullying.
Where does bullying take place?
Bullying is not confined to the school premises. It also persists outside school, on the journey to and from school and in the local community and may continue into Further Education.
The school acknowledges its responsibilities to support families if bullying occurs off the premises.
Cyberbullying
The increasing use of digital technology and the internet has also provided new and particularly intrusive ways for bullies to reach their victims.
Cyberbullying can take many forms and bullying online can often start in school and then be progressed online or start online and influence behaviour in school.
Whilst most incidents of Cyberbullying occur outside school we will offer support and guidance to parents/carers and their children who experience online bullying and will treat Cyberbullying with the same severity as any other forms of bullying.
Cyberbullying can include:-
We will ensure that our children are taught safe ways to use the internet (see our e-safety policy) and encourage good online behaviour.
Bullying can take place between:
Reporting and responding to bullying
Our school has clear and well publicised systems to report bullying for the whole school community (including staff, parents/carers, children and young people) this includes those who are the victims of bullying or have witnessed bullying behaviour (bystanders).
Parents, children and visitors to the school are encouraged to be alert to issues of bullying and report them to school staff immediately. When incidents are brought to the attention of staff they are asked to complete a concern form which is passed on to the anti-bullying co-ordinator. Parents are contacted accordingly.
Procedures
All reported incidents will be taken seriously and investigated, involving all parties. The staff is aware of and follows the same procedures.
The following steps will be taken:
Recording bullying and evaluating the policy
Bullying incidents will be recorded by the member of staff who deals with the incident and this will be stored by the Anti-bullying coordinator.
Prejudice related bullying/incidents are reported to the local authority using the guidelines set out in Nottinghamshire guidelines for schools: Bullying and Prejudiced–related incidents. These are sent in electronic format, encrypted, with a password sent in a separate email, to ecas@nottscc.gov.uk
Schools are required to submit an email to ecas@nottscc.gov.uk on an annual basis stating at the end of the academic year the number of incidents that have been reported to the school.
Information stored in school will be used to ensure individual incidents are followed up. It will also be used to identify trends and inform preventative work in school and development of the policy. This information will be discussed by staff in regular staff meetings on a half-termly basis.
The information will be presented to the governors as part of the termly report.
The policy will be reviewed and updated every two years.
Strategies for preventing bullying
As part of our on going commitment to the safety and welfare of our pupils at Awsworth Primary & Nursery School we have developed the following strategies to promote positive behaviour and discourage bullying behaviour:
Strategies used as part of the curriculum and across the whole school, eg.
Reactive programmes for vulnerable groups or groups involved in bullying, eg:
Specific initiatives for identified groups such as young people whose first language is not English, SEND/disabled students, children who have been bullied or are displaying bullying behaviour
Support for parents/carers:
Support for all school staff
Rights Respecting School
We are a Rights Respecting school and our approach to anti-bullying supports the following articles from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child:
Article 12 - Every child has the right to say what they think in all matters affecting them, and to have their views taken seriously.
Article 19 - Governments must do all they can to ensure that children are protected from all forms of violence, abuse, neglect and mistreatment by their parents or anyone else who looks after them.
Article 28 - Every child has the right to an education. Primary education must be free. Secondary education must be available to every child. Discipline in schools must respect children’s human dignity. Wealthy countries must help poorer countries achieve this.
Article 29 - Education must develop every child’s personality, talents and abilities to the full. It must encourage the child’s respect for human rights, as well as respect for their parents, their own and other cultures, and the environment.
Article 30 - Every child has the right to learn and use the language, customs and religion of their family whether or not these are shared by the majority of the people in the country where they live.
Article 31 - Every child has the right to relax, play and join in a wide range of cultural and artistic activities.
Links with other policies and why
|
Policy |
Why |
|
Behaviour Policy |
Rewards and sanctions, Codes of conduct |
|
Safeguarding Policy |
Child protection |
|
E-safety and Acceptable Use Policy |
Cyber bullying and e-safety |
|
Equalities policy |
Prejudice related crime(homophobia, race, religion and culture and SEN/disability |
|
Confidentiality Policy |
Reporting and recording |
|
PSHE/Citizenship |
Strategies to prevent bullying |
|
Complaints Policy |
Guidelines to make a complaint if families are not happy with the school’s response |
Useful organisations
Anti-bullying Alliance (ABA) - www.anti-bullying.org
Brings together more than 65 organisations with the aim of reducing bullying and creating safer environments in which children and young people can live, grow, play and learn.
Mencap is a learning disability charity that provides information and support to children and adults with a learning disability, and to their families and carers.
Stonewall – www.stonewall.org.uk
The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender charity - Educational Action Challenging Homophobia (EACH) – www.eachaction.org.uk
Educational Action Challenging Homophobia (EACH) is a charity and training agency helping people and organisations affected by homophobia. The website gives guidance, contact details and a freephone helpline.
School's Out – www.schools-out.org.uk
Childnet International – www.childnet-int.org
Childnet International - The UK's safer internet centre
NSPCC/ChildLine- www.nspcc.org.uk, www.childline.org.uk
ChildLine is a private and confidential service for children and young people up to the age of 19. NSPCC run several campaigns to support young people around bullying and internet safety
Show Racism the Red Card – www.theredcard.org.uk
Anti-Bullying Leader: Claire Watson
Link Governor: Marilyn Reed