Anti-Bullying Policy (To be read in conjunction with the Behaviour Policy)
Rationale
At Peel Clothworkers' we value people for who they are, leading to respect, compassion & empathy, treating all as individuals, motivated, having high expectations, honesty and mutual trust.
Bullying prevents an equality of opportunity and challenges our determination to provide an inclusive education. It is the responsibility of all members of the school community to prevent bullying and to support the ethos at Peel Clothworkers’. Consequently the overall aim of this policy is to support everyone within the school community in tackling bullying.
Where bullying exists the victims must feel confident to approach an adult so that the anti-bullying systems within the school can be implemented. It is our aim to challenge attitudes about bullying behaviour, increase understanding for bullied students and to promote an anti-bullying ethos at Peel Clothworkers'.
Guidance
· Working Together to Safeguard Children (England 2006, Isle of Man version to be published in the autumn 2009.)
· Isle Of Man Children’s Plan.
Links to other guidance documents
· Safeguarding guidance
· Behaviour policy
· Health and safety guidance
- Inclusion Policy
Definitions of Bullying
We believe it is important that we educate students to know the difference between simply ‘falling out’ and bullying. The following definitions are designed to clarify this distinction.
Bullying is deliberately hurtful behaviour that is repeated over a period of time, making it difficult for the person concerned to defend themselves.
Bullying includes:
· Physical. Pushing, kicking, hitting, pinching and other forms of violence or threats.
· Verbal. Name-calling, sarcasm, spreading rumours, persistent teasing. This also includes messages by mobile phone, e-mail and social networking sites.
· Emotional. Excluding, tormenting, ridicule, humiliation.
· Racist. Racial taunts, graffiti, gestures
· Sexual. Unwanted physical contact or abusive comments.
· Homophobic. Any hostile or offensive action based upon an individual’s sexuality or perceived sexuality.
· Cyber. Mobile threats by text messaging and calls; all areas of internet such as email and chat room misuse; misuse of associated technology e.g. camera and video facilities.
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”. In cyber bullying, bystanders can easily become perpetrators – by passing on or showing to others images designed to humiliate or taking part in online polls or discussion groups. Students may not recognise themselves as participating in bullying, but their involvement compounds the misery for the person targeted. They will be made aware that their actions can have severe and distressing consequences and that participating in such activity will not be tolerated.
Signs and Symptoms
A student may indicate by signs or behaviour that they are being bullied. Staff and carers should be aware of these possible signs and they should investigate if a student:
· is frightened of walking or getting the bus to or from school, asks to be driven to school, changes their usual routine, is unwilling to go to school, begins to truant, becomes withdrawn anxious, or lacking in confidence, attempts or threatens self harm, feels ill in the morning, school work declines, arrives home with clothes torn or books damaged, has possessions which are damaged or " go missing”, has unexplained cuts or bruises, becomes aggressive, disruptive or unreasonable, 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.
These signs and behaviours could indicate other problems, but bullying should be considered a possibility and should be investigated.
Awareness Raising and Implementation of the policy
At Peel Clothworkers' we believe that prevention is better than cure. The principle of prevention will be addressed by raising awareness throughout our school.
· All students, staff (teaching and non-teaching), governors, parents and members of the wider school community are made aware of the SRG anti-bullying policy by a variety of methods, for example:
o PSHE and other curriculum opportunities
o Assemblies
o Newsletters
o School Council meetings
o Governor’s meetings/reports
At whole school level –
through assemblies when students will be informed of the school's zero-tolerance policy and the actions that will be taken to prevent bullying taking place. Assembly time will also be used to challenge the notion that there can be innocent, neutral bystanders with regards to the issue of bullying.
Students will be reminded of our policy regularly through curriculum focus, assemblies and through the work of the School Council.
At classroom level –
through PHSE the focus will be on developing strong anti-bullying messages to ensure that all students recognise that all forms of bullying are unacceptable and understand the effects of bullying upon the victims.Stereotypical views will be challenged and students encouraged to appreciate and view positively the differences in others whether arising from race, culture, gender, sexuality, ability or disability.
We as a school, recognise that there are particular times when students may be more vulnerable to bullying – lunch and break times and the beginning and end of the school day. Duty arrangements are made to ensure that at such times there is adequate supervision available to reduce the risk of bullying incidents.
Incident Management and Monitoring
Teaching and support staff at Peel Clothworkers' are expected to be alert to the signs of bullying and act promptly and firmly against it in accordance with school policy.
Students are told that they must report any incidents of bullying to an adult in school.
Upon the report of an incident of bullying we will take appropriate action in order to support the victim and to both support and sanction the bully. We will employ a variety of strategies to suit the individual circumstances. The bully will be made clearly aware of the consequences of repeated bullying and the sanctions, which may include suspension from school, will be explained to them.
All incidents of bullying will be taken seriously, investigated and logged. Incidents and outcomes will be noted in record books held in the Headteacher’s Office and trends such as numbers and context of incidents and perceptions of bullying will be monitored. In order to ensure effective monitoring of such occurrences and to enable co-ordinated action, all proven instances of bullying will be reported to the Headteacher who will report information to the Department of Education, if necessary.
At all times all students involved will be given the opportunity to talk and discuss the incident. The focus will remain on finding a solution and stopping any repeat of the behaviour.
Parental Involvement
Peel Clothworkers' is firmly committed to working in partnership with parents and believes that the best outcomes emerge when professionals and parents/carers are able to work together when bullying occurs. We recognise the important influence which parents/carers have on their children and would wish to enlist their support when their child is involved in bullying – either as victim or a perpetrator.
The parents of bullies and their victims will be informed of an incident and the action that has been taken. Parents will be expected to support strategies proposed to deal with the problem.x
Evaluation and Review
The effectiveness of this policy will be reviewed every year by the whole school including all staff, parents and students and with reference to data collected during the cycle.
Safeguarding – Providing a Safe Environment
All parents and carers of pupils attending Peel Clothworkers' Primary School.must feel secure in the knowledge that they are entrusting their children to adults who will strive to keep them safe at school. We will do this by:
Promoting a caring, safe and positive environment within the school
Ensuring that our staff are appropriately trained in safeguarding and child protection according to their role and responsibilities and keep a record of all training undertaken
Encouraging the self-esteem and self-assertiveness of all pupils through the curriculum so that the children themselves become aware of danger and risk and what acceptable behaviour is and what is not.
Working in partnership with all other services and agencies involved in the safeguarding of children
Displaying appropriate posters that detail contact numbers for child protection help-lines
Welcoming visitors in a safe and secure manner
Undertaking risk assessments when planning out of school activities or trips
Ensuring that any community groups which use our premises for the provision of services to children have child protection knowledge and understanding evidenced by a policy or are prepared to adopt our own policy.
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