Anti-Bullying Policy
Epsom Primary School
Anti Bullying Policy
Employer’s duties
- Employers are responsible under the Health and Safety at Work, etc Act 1974 for the health and safety of non-employees, such as pupils, who are at the workplace. They are required to do all that is reasonably practicable to protect their health and safety.
- Employers also have a common law duty of care to pupils in school. They are required to take reasonable care.
- The statutory and common law duties are discharged if reasonable precautions are taken to prevent bullying in schools and there are procedures in place to record any incidents that do take place and procedures to take appropriate action to stop further incidents.
- Employers should give employees who are responsible for implementing a school’s anti-bullying procedures whatever information and training is necessary.
Employee’s duties
- Employees must take care for the reasonable care for the health and safety of others at work.
- Employees must co-operate with the employer in health and safety matters.
What is bullying?
Bullying is deliberately hurtful behaviour repeated over a period of time. Ofsted defines bullying as aggressive or insulting behaviour by an individual or group, often repeated over a period of time that intentionally hurts or harms. It is difficult for victims to defend themselves against it.
Bullying can include
- Name calling
- Malicious gossip
- Teasing
- Intimidation
- Ostracising
- Theft
- Damaging someone’s property
- Violence and assault
- Jostling, pinching and kicking
- Extortion
Symptoms of bullying
Early signs that a child is being bullied could be:
- The child becoming withdrawn
- A deterioration in the child’s work
- Erratic attendance or spurious illness
- Persistently arriving late at school
- General unhappiness or anxiety
- The child wanting to remain with adults
Physical symptoms could include headaches, stomach aches, fainting, fits, vomiting or hyperventilation. Victims can become depressed and this can continue into their adult lives. They can want to take their own lives.
Behaviour Policy
This is called the Red Book. It outlines:
- What is acceptable behaviour
- The range of disciplinary sanctions
- A system of rewards for good behaviour
Curricular approaches to bullying
In dealing with bullying we aim to:
- Raise awareness about bullying and the school’s anti-bullying policy
- Increase understanding for victims
- Teach pupils about their relationships with others through the curriculum
Strategies to combat bullying
We aim to include the following in our teaching:
- Befriending
- Circle of friends
- Support groups
- Mediation by adults
- Mediation by peers
- Assertiveness training groups
Befriending
Befriending involves assigning selected pupil volunteers to be with and befriend pupils who are being bullied or having difficulties because they are new to the school or upset by an event outside school, e.g. a family bereavement.
The objective is to give the befriended pupil someone to talk to and to help them feel more positive about themselves.
Circle of Friends
A small number of pupils volunteer to form a circle of friends for a vulnerable pupil to help improve the pupil’s level of inclusion and acceptance and to increase insight into his or her feelings and behaviour.
Support Groups
The support group for a bullied pupil includes those involved in the bullying. The aim is to get the bully to identify with the victim and then to help resolve the problem.
Mediation by adults
Members of staff can help establish ground rules between pupils who are being bullied and the pupils who are doing the bullying to help them co-exist in school.
Assertiveness training groups
From time to time we will involve the Behaviour Support Team with Assertiveness Training for Groups. This can cover:
- Making assertive statements
- Resisting manipulation and threats
- Dealing with name calling
- Staying calm in difficult situations
- Escaping safely from physical restraint
- Getting help from onlookers
- Boosting self esteem
Formal Action
If pupils do not respond to preventative strategies to combat bullying, we will take formal action to stop bullying behaviour. These sanctions are in line with the school’s discipline policy.
Outlined in the Red Book sanctions will include:
- Removal from the group
- Withdrawal of break or lunchtime privileges
- Community service
- Detention
- Banning the pupil from a school trip or sports event if these are not an essential part of the curriculum
- Parental Involvement
- Fixed period exclusion
In the case of persistent and violent bullying we will normally permanently exclude a pupil.
Dealing with bullying incidents
In dealing with bullying incidents, we will observe five key points.
- We will not ignore bullying.
- Staff should not make premature assumptions.
- All accounts of the incidents should be listened to fairly.
- We will make every effort to adopt a problem-solving approach which encourages pupils to find solutions rather than simply justify themselves.
- We will follow up to check bullying has not resumed.
Records
The school will keep records of all incidents and the school’s response. This will initially be when a child is put on ‘report card’ and the Head Teacher must be informed to log in his file.
Advice to bullied pupils
We will tell our children not to suffer in silence. This will be reinforced through general day-to-day teaching and specifically PSHE ethos.
During a bullying incident, pupils will be advised to:
- Try to stay calm and look as confident as they can
- Be firm and clear and look the bully in the eye and tell them to stop
- Get away from the situation as quickly as they can
- Tell an adult what has happened straight away
After they have been bullied, pupils should:
- Tell a teacher or other adult at school
- Tell their family
- Take a friend with them if they are scared to tell an adult by themselves
- Not blame themselves for what has happened
When they talk to an adult about the bullying, pupils should be clear about:
- What has happened to them
- How often it has happened
- Who was involved
- Where it happened
- Who saw what happened
- What they have done about it already
The role of parents
Bullying is everyone’s problem. All staff, pupils and parents should be aware that bullying exists and share a commitment to combat it and to make the school a happier place for everyone.
When, after discussion, we confirm a child has been bullying we will contact the parents to discuss the issues. We will ask parents to
- Talk to the child and explain that bullying is wrong and makes others unhappy
- Show the child how to join in with others without bullying
- Make an appointment to see the child’s teacher or form tutor as soon as possible, and explain the problem and discuss how the school and the parents together can stop the bullying
- Talk to the child regularly about how things are going at school
- Give the child lots of praise and encouragement when they are being kind and considerate to others.
We will also contact the parents of the child being bullied, with explanations of the situation and what we are doing to resolve it.
From this sanctions and outline plans will be agreed.
We will follow up the bullying child’s behaviour and further bullying will result in exclusion.
We will ask parents to contact the school if they suspect their child is being bullied.
Parents of a bullied child should:
- Talk to the child calmly about it and reassure the child that telling them about it was the right thing to do
- Make a note of what the child says
- Explain that the child should report any further incidents to a teacher or other member of staff straight away
- Make an appointment to see the child’s teacher or form tutor as soon as possible