Anti-Bullying Policy

At The Grange, we are committed to providing a supportive, caring and safe environment for all of our pupils so that they can learn without fear of being bullied. Bullying of any kind is unacceptable in our school and will not be tolerated. If bullying does occur, all pupils should be able to tell someone and know that incidents will be dealt with promptly and effectively, and they need to feel supported.

WHAT IS BULLYING?

Any repeated words or actions, which are aimed at causing someone to feel frightened, miserable and helpless in school. There are many definitions of bullying, but it is considered to be:

deliberately hurtful
repeated over a period of time
difficult for victims to defend themselves against.

Bullying can take many forms, including:

Physical: hitting, kicking, theft.
Verbal: name calling, insulting, making offensive remarks, making racist remarks.
Indirect: spreading nasty stories about someone, exclusion from social groups, being made the subject of malicious rumours, sending malicious e-mails, making malicious comments on web pages or sending malicious text messages on mobile phones.

(Taken from Bullying: Don’t Suffer in Silence DfES September 2002)

At The Grange, we believe:

Everybody has a right to come to school and be safe from unkindness, threats and violence.
People who bully need to be stopped and made to understand that this behaviour is unacceptable.
People who are bullied need to learn how to avoid it happening to them.
We can only help if people are willing to talk to us about bullying.

As a school, we are committed to not only dealing with bullying, but to do all that we can to prevent it happening in the first place. We seek to build self-esteem in pupils and to develop tolerance of others. We use curriculum time during SPACE lessons, form tutorial time, assemblies and subject areas, as appropriate, to explore issues around bullying and consider other people’s points of view and help our pupils learn how to manage their relationships with others.

We encourage pupils to speak to an adult or a buddy in school if they are being bullied and we take the disclosure seriously and will act upon it.

If they are approached by a pupil, all staff and buddies have the responsibility to listen and pass on the details to the relevant Year Team Leader. The Year Team Leader will then investigate and follow up. They will keep all the appropriate people informed during the period of investigation and follow-up. Once the investigation has been completed, the action that is required will be determined and communicated to all appropriate people.

The following sanctions may be applied: a warning to cease offending, detention, exclusion from certain areas of school premises. Some of our most serious sanctions including exclusion may be used in cases of severe and persistent bullying.

PUPILS

If you are being bullied in school:

Talk to an adult that you trust, and take a friend with you if it helps. Alternatively, talk to a buddy. Buddies are in the playgrounds and the Support for Learning area at break time and lunch time.
Do not listen to the bully when they say that you will be in trouble if you talk to someone. You are not doing anything wrong — they are.
What you say will be passed to your Year Team Leader. You will be taken seriously.
If you need somewhere to be safe, there will be a place for you to go while the problem is being sorted out. Your Year Team Leader will organise this for you.

If you see someone being bullied in school:

The best thing you can do to help is to talk to someone.

Pupils who have bullied will be helped by:

Discussing what happened.
Establishing the wrong-doing and the need to change.
Informing the parents/carers to help change the behaviour and attitude of the pupil.

STAFF

If a pupil comes to you and says they are being bullied:

Listen to what they have to say.
Take it seriously.
Record what they have said and pass the information to the appropriate Year Team Leader.
Encourage the pupil to speak to a buddy at break time or lunch time.
Make it clear that they have made the right decision to tell.
Offer the support of a safe room/area if it is necessary.

PARENTS

If your child is being bullied or is bullying in school:

Contact the school and ask to speak to your child’s form tutor or Year Team Leader.
Talk the problem over with the teacher.
Encourage your child to speak to a buddy at break time or lunch time.

PROCEDURE

When bullying incidents are reported to staff or buddies, they will be recorded and reported to the appropriate Year Team Leader.
The Year Team Leader will carry out a full investigation.
Form tutors will be kept informed.
Parents will be kept informed.
If necessary and appropriate, the police will be informed.
The bullying behaviour or threats of bullying must be investigated and the bullying stopped quickly.
An attempt will be made to help the bully/bullies change their behaviour.

OUTCOMES

The bully/bullies may be asked to genuinely apologise.
If possible, the pupils will be reconciled via the restorative justice programme
Sanctions may be applied. In serious cases, exclusion will be considered
After the incident has been investigated and dealt with, each case will be monitored to ensure repeated bullying does not take place.