Policies
Anti-Bullying Policy
Statement
As a school we take bullying and its impact seriously. Students and parents should be assured that known incidents of bullying will be responded to. Bullying will not be tolerated. The school will seek ways to counter the effects of bullying that may occur within school or in the local community. The ethos of our school fosters high expectations of outstanding behaviour and we will consistently challenge any behaviour that falls below this.
Aims
All teaching staff, students and parents should have an understanding of what bullying is.
All teaching staff, students and parents should know what the school policy is on bullying, and what they should do if bullying arises.
For teaching staff, students and parents to work together to create an environment within the school where bullying is not tolerated and, when case of bullying are reported, they are taken seriously and dealt with swiftly and sensitively.
What Is Bullying?
Bullying is behaviour by an individual or group, repeated over time, that intentionally hurts another individual or group either physically or emotionally. Bullying can be short term or take place over long periods of time. It can take place at anytime and anywhere from the classroom to cyberspace.
Bullying can be:
Emotional - being unfriendly, excluding, tormenting, threatening gestures Physical - pushing, kicking, biting, hitting, punching or any use of violence
Racial - racial taunts, graffiti, gestures
Sexual - unwanted physical contact or sexually abusive comments
Homophobic - because of, or focussing on the issue of sexuality
Verbal - name-calling, sarcasm, spreading rumours, teasing
Cyber bullying - all areas of internet ,such as email, internet chat, Twitter, Facebook, threats by text messaging and calls, misuse of technology such as cameras, tablets etc.
Bullying may be related to:
Race
Gender
Religion
Culture
SEN or disability
Appearance or health condition
Home circumstances
Sexual orientation, sexism, or sexual bullying, homophobia
Why is it Important to Respond to Bullying?
Bullying hurts. No one deserves to be a victim of bullying. Bullying has the potential to damage the mental health of a victim. Everybody has the right to be treated with respect. Pupils who are bullying need to learn different ways of behaving.
Signs and Symptoms for Parents and Staff
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:
is frightened of walking to or from school
begs to be driven to school
changes their usual routine
is unwilling to go to school (school phobic)
begins to truant
becomes withdrawn anxious, or lacking in confidence
starts stammering
attempts or threatens suicide or runs away
cries themselves to sleep at night or has nightmares
feels ill in the morning
begins to do make less effort with school work than previously
comes home with clothes torn or books damaged
has possessions which are damaged or "go missing"
asks for money or starts stealing money
has dinner or other monies continually "lost"
has unexplained cuts or bruises
comes home hungry (money / lunch has been stolen)
becomes aggressive, disruptive or unreasonable
is bullying other children or siblings
stops eating
is frightened to say what's wrong
gives improbable excuses for any of the above
is afraid to use the internet or mobile phone
is nervous and jumpy when a cyber message is received
lack of eye contact
becoming short tempered
change in attitude to people at home.
These signs and behaviours could indicate other social, emotional and/or mental health problems, but bullying should be considered a possibility and should be investigated.
Outcomes
All known/reported incidences of bullying will be investigated by the class teacher or by a senior member of staff. Parents of the perpetrator may also be questioned about the incident or about any concerns that they may be having.
The student displaying unacceptable behaviour, may be asked to genuinely apologise (as appropriate to the child’s age and level of understanding) Other consequences may take place such as a parent being informed about their child’s behaviour and a request that the parents support the school with any sanctions that it takes (in line with the Sunny View School Behaviour Policy). Wherever possible, the pupils will be reconciled.
In serious cases (this is defined as children displaying an on-going lack of response to sanctions, that is, no change in behaviour of the perpetrator and an unwillingness to alter their behaviour choices), support from external agencies, counselling, reduced timetables, or even fixed or permanent exclusion will be considered.
During and after the incident(s) have been investigated and dealt with, each case will be recorded and monitored to ensure repeated bullying does not take place.
Prevention
At Sunny View School we use a variety of methods to support children in preventing and understanding the consequences of bullying through class assemblies, PSHE and Citizenship lessons and our annual Anti-Bullying Week activities each November.
The ethos and working philosophy of Sunny View School means that all staff actively encourage children to have respect for each other and for other people’s property. Good and kind/polite behaviour is regularly acknowledged and rewarded. Staff will regularly discuss bullying, this will inform children that we are serious about dealing with bullying and leads to open conversations and increased confidence in children to want to discuss bullying and report any incidents and concerns about other children’s behaviour.
Staff will reinforce expectations of behaviour as a regular theme. Staff must be careful not to highlight differences of children or an individual child, even if this is done in jest. This gives other children advocacy to use this difference to begin calling names or teasing. Staff must be vigilant regarding groups of friends together. Friendship groups may bring about the imbalance of power and must be led towards welcoming others to join them and not excluding others from their group. Staff must reinforce a general message that children do not have to be friends with everyone else, but they must be respectful of everyone else’s feelings and be kind to each other.
Recording of Bullying Incidents
When an incident of bullying has taken place, staff must be prepared to record and report each incident to their Head or Deputy Head of Department. In the case of racist or homophobic bullying, this must be reported to the Headteacher. All incidents of bullying will be discussed with all relevant staff and parents of the children involved, in order that everyone can be vigilant and that further incidents by the same student(s) may be prevented from happening in the future.
Advice to Parents
As the parent of a child whom you suspect is being bullied:
Report bullying incidents to the class teacher.
In cases of serious bullying, the incidents will be recorded by staff and the Headteacher notified.
In serious cases parents should be informed and will be asked to come in to a meeting to discuss the problem.
If necessary and appropriate, police will be consulted
The bullying behaviour or threats of bullying must be investigated and the bullying stopped quickly
An attempt will be made to help the child using unacceptable behaviour towards others, to change their behaviour.
Do not:
Attempt to sort the problem out yourself by speaking to the child whom you think may be behaving inappropriately towards your child or by speaking to their parents.
Encourage your child to be ‘a bully’ back. Both of these will only make the problem much harder to solve
