KIDSCAPE - Brownmead Academy



Brownmead ACADEMY

Anti-bullying POLICY

March 2016

|Member of Staff Responsible |Wendy Carter |

|for Policy | |

|Review Committee |Curriculum Committee |

|Approving Body |Full Governing Body |

|Review Cycle |Bi-annually or sooner should the need arise |

|Date Ratified by FGB | |Next Review |March 2017 |

|Review date Summary |Policy Revised or Major Re-write |

|March 2016 |Policy re-write |

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ANTI-BULLYING POLICY AT BROWNMEAD ACADEMY

Statement of Intent

We are committed to providing a caring, friendly and safe environment for all of our pupils so they can learn in a relaxed and secure atmosphere. Bullying of any kind is unacceptable at our school. If bullying does occur, all pupils should be able to tell and know that incidents will be dealt with promptly and effectively. We are a TELLING school. This means that anyone who knows that bullying is happening is expected to tell the staff.

What Is Bullying?

Bullying is the use of aggression with the intention of hurting another person. Bullying results in pain and distress to the victim. Bullying is any pre-meditated behaviour that is deliberately intended to hurt, threaten, frighten or demoralise another person or group of people. Bullies actively seek to hurt another child or children.

Bullying can be:

• Emotional being unfriendly, excluding, tormenting (e.g. hiding books, threatening gestures)

• Physical pushing, kicking, hitting, punching or any use of violence

• Racist racial taunts, graffiti, gestures

• Sexual unwanted physical contact or sexually abusive comments

• Homophobic because of, or focussing on the issue of sexuality

• Gender Identity focusing upon a person's private sense, and subjective experience, of their own gender resulting in verbal bullying.

• Verbal name-calling, sarcasm, spreading rumours, teasing

• Cyber All areas of internet ,such as email & internet chat room misuse

Mobile threats by text messaging & calls

Misuse of associated technology , i.e. camera &video facilities

Bullying may take the form of one person persistently abusing a person or people several times on purpose, or one person as part of a group of people abusing another person or people.

At Brownmead, we consider bullying to take place when three incidents happen within a short space of time.

In the event of a child being accused of bullying (by a child or children, parents/carers or another adult) the school will follow the Behaviour Policy until there is evidence of two incidents in a short space of time.

Other forms of Aggression

• writing notes

• any form of cyber bullying ( see E-safety Policy)

• threatening hand or body gestures

• ignoring someone and encouraging others to do so

Why is it Important to Respond to Bullying?

Bullying hurts. No one deserves to be a victim of bullying. Everybody has the right to be treated with respect. Pupils who are bullying need to learn different ways of behaving.

Schools have a responsibility to respond promptly and effectively to issues of bullying.

Objectives of this Policy

• All governors, teaching and non-teaching staff, pupils, parents and carers should have an understanding of what bullying is.

• All governors and teaching and non-teaching staff should know what the school policy is on bullying, and follow it when bullying is reported.

• All pupils, parents and carers should know what the school policy is on bullying, and what they should do if bullying arises.

• As a school we take bullying seriously. Pupils, parents and carers should be assured that they will be supported when bullying is reported.

• Bullying will not be tolerated.

Signs and Symptoms

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

• doesn't want to go on the school / public bus

• 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 poorly in school work

• comes home with clothes torn or books damaged

• has possessions which are damaged or " go missing"

• asks for money or starts stealing money (to pay bully)

• has dinner or other monies continually "lost"

• has unexplained cuts or bruises

• comes home starving (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 & 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

Staff Responsibilities

Members of the Senior Leadership Team will:

• monitor incidents using a formal log (Appendix 1)

• after two incidents in a short space of time, request a formal meeting with the parents, followed by a formal letter. It will be made clear that another incident following this meeting may result in a fixed-term exclusion. However, there may be extreme cases of bullying in which school reserves the right to issue a fixed term or permanent exclusion immediately (see Behaviour Policy).

All members of staff will:

• never ignore suspected bullying

• not make assumptions

• listen carefully to all accounts

• adopt a problem solving approach

• when requested, keep a record of all behaviour incidents (including bullying incidents) and track individual pupils, informing a member of SLT straight away if there is an incident

• record all racist and homophobic incidents in line with LEA guidelines

• involve parents of all parties to raise their awareness

• ensure that the bully is aware of the effect of their behaviour

• discuss and explain any consequences deemed necessary, with the bully and the bullied pupil

• arrange a support/friendship network for the bullied pupil;

• follow up shortly after intervention and monitor periodically to check that the bullying has not resumed

• engage with outside agencies to advise school or deliver programmes of work in line with our policy, when appropriate

Preventative Measures

Bullying behaviour can be prevented through a combination of approaches.

As a staff, we raise awareness with children about what bullying is and how it affects people through:

• collective worship

• class based assemblies

• drama/role play

• P.A.T.H.S (Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies).

• values curriculum

• circle time

• cross-curricular links

We emphasise the important role that bystanders play in tackling bullying and teach pupils how to safely challenge bullying behaviour. We encourage pupils to be proactive by:

• not smiling or laughing when someone is being bullied

• showing the bullying pupil that they disapprove of his or her actions

• telling the bullying pupil to stop what they are doing

• encouraging the bullied pupil to join in with their activities or groups

• telling a member of staff what is happening

We teach pupils how to manage their own feelings and relationships constructively and assertively. This is done through promoting our School Values, delivering our curriculum and P.A.T.H.S (Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies) lesson.

We work to raise self-esteem through encouraging positive attitudes and behaviour.

If a pupil feels they are being bullied we encourage them to:

• walk away from a situation

• share the problem with a peer group (playground leaders are trained to report any suspected bullying)

• tell an adult

We will use KIDSCAPE methods for helping children to prevent bullying. As and when appropriate, these may include:

• writing a set of school rules

• signing a behaviour contract

• writing stories or poems or drawing pictures about bullying

• reading stories about bullying or having them read to a class or assembly

• making up role-plays (or using KIDSCAPE role-plays)

• having discussions about bullying and why it matters

• have worry boxes in school

Pastoral co-ordinator – the Deputy Head/PSHE leaders are nominated to be the pastoral co-ordinator working alongside the learning mentor and members of the SLT.

Kidscape

HELP ORGANISATIONS:

Advisory Centre for Education (ACE) 0808 800 5793

Children's Legal Centre 0845 345 4345

KIDSCAPE Parents Helpline (Mon-Fri, 10-4) 0845 1 205 204

Parentline Plus 0808 800 2222

Youth Access 020 8772 9900

Bullying Online bullying.co.uk

PACE on the Helpdesk: 020 7700 1323

PACE provides a FREE counselling, either online, telephone or face to face for young lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans young people under the age of 18.



Visit the Kidscape website .uk for further support, links and advice.

Adopted by the Governing Body on ___________________________

Signed by Chair of Governors ________________________________

Review date ______________________________________________

Appendix 1 – Bullying Log

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