Behaviour Support Service

The Behaviour Support Service ______

Anti-Bullying Policy

2015/16

Date policy adopted July 2015

Impact assessed under Equality Act 2010 This policy avoids discrimination on grounds of ability to pay. It has no differing impact on those with protected characteristics under the Act. Refer to other policies Curriculum Policy. Behaviour Policy

Date policy due for review July 2016

Head teacher Signature

Chair of Committee signature ANTI BULLYING POLICY

The Behaviour Support Service aims to take a positive approach towards bullying. The policy sets how we will prevent bullying and how we will react if bullying occurs.

We believe that our pupils are entitled to receive their education in a safe, caring environment, free from fear and intimidation.

All staff, pupils, parents and governors will be encouraged to share these values and put them into action.

This policy has been produced in line with the authority’s Anti-Bullying Strategy for children in educational settings: -

Gateshead Council seeks to provide a safe, secure and positive environment in which children and young people can develop and grow making full use of the range of facilities available to them.

Children, young people and adults are entitled to be treated with respect and understanding and to participate in any activity free from bullying, harassment and discrimination.

In Every Child Matters: Change for Children (2005) the government identifies as an aim in its Outcomes Framework that ‘children and young people should be safe from bullying and discrimination’.

Definition

Bullying is a behaviour, which can be defined as a repeated attack, physical, psychological, social or verbal in nature, by those in a position of power, which is formally or situationally defined, with the intention of causing distress for their own gain or gratification. (Besag, 1989).

There are many definitions of bullying but most have three things in common. Bullying is:  deliberately hurtful behaviour;  often repeated over a period of time;  difficult for those being bullied to defend themselves.

Bullying can take many forms but three main types are:  Physical – hitting, kicking, taking belongings, destroying belongings.  Verbal – name-calling, insulting, racist remarks.  Indirect – spreading nasty stories about someone, excluding someone from social groups. Aims:  to raise the profile of bullying and its effects on children and young people’s emotional health and well-being, life chances and achievement.  to establish a culture in which bullying is not acceptable through the promotion of policies and practices which prevent or reduce opportunities for bullying to arise and deal swiftly, fairly and sensitively with any which do.  to involve parents, carers and the children and young people themselves in developing and implementing anti-bullying strategies.  to embody equality of opportunity; celebrate diversity and be responsive to individual needs and differences.  to promote the highest standards of emotional intelligence and care for others.  to respond openly and honestly, embodying solution-focused, no blame approaches.  to value multi-professional contributions to solving complex problems.

PROCEDURE:

The service will react firmly and promptly where bullying is identified. There is a range of sanctions available to the staff depending on the seriousness of the situation.

Some of these include: -  Referral to senior staff  Letter to parent to discuss incident with school staff  Suspension from school  Loss of privileges

TYPES OF BULLYING:  Bullying related to race, religion or culture  Bullying related to special education needs (SEN) or disabilities  Bullying related to appearance or health condition  Bullying related to sexual orientation  Bullying of young carers, or looked after children or otherwise related to home circumstances  Sexist or sexual bullying

BEHAVIOUR REGARDED AS BULLYING:

Verbal Harassment Sexual Harassment Physical Harassment Racial Harassment Gang Pressure Religious Harassment Outcast Issues The use of ICT, i.e. computers /telephones etc to include all forms of Communication such as visual, written or audible TYPES OF BULLIES  Aggressive Bully – (Verbally or Physically Bullying) These children may recruit others into being bullies. An aggressive bully often tries to gain status within a peer group by intimidating, threatening or hurting younger more vulnerable peers. They are often unaware they have actually hurt a victim.  Anxious Bully - An anxious bully may not agree with bullying but may collude with others in order to achieve status.

Type of Victim  Passive Victim Passive victim may have physical characteristics or a general demeanour, which sets them apart from their peers. They may be unable to look after themselves and find mixing with peers very difficult.

Proactive Victim  The Proactive victim may delight in antagonising peers/adult. These victims cannot interact successfully with peers and can often go to great lengths to achieve attention from their peers.

Colluding Victim  The colluding victim colludes with the bullying. They will always find a reason to tell adults what others have done to them. Often, they do not want a solution for their problems as they enjoy the attention the problems bring. It is important that all adults working within the service are able to recognise the symptoms/signs of bullying. The following is offered as a guide. The list is by no means exhaustive and staff must not be afraid to voice their concerns if a pupil’s behaviour changes significantly in any way of if they are concerned about a pupil.

RECOGNISING THE SYMPTOMS OF BULLYING:

Children May:  Be frightened of travelling to and/or from school, either in taxis or public transport  Be unwilling to go to school  Have clothes or books damaged  Become withdrawn  Become distressed  Loss of appetite  Attempt suicide  Cry them selves to sleep  Have nightmares  Have unexplained bruises, scratches and cuts  Have their possessions go missing  Refuse to say what is wrong  Give improbable excuses for any of the above All adults should be sensitive to the possibility of bullying and be prepared to talk to any pupil who wants to speak in confidence. Pupils should be made aware that they can speak in confidence. However, in some circumstances the adult may have to pass on information if they believe it may be an issue, which necessitates the involvement of a third party. Staff should record and report any incidences of bullying in the information book and / or pupils confidential record. It is essential the teacher in charge is kept informed.

Staff should visit issues of self-protection through the PSHE curriculum/form tutor time. This includes bullying, assertiveness, sexual/racial harassment and other equal opportunity issues.

THE SERVICE WILL:

 Support children who are being bullied  Help bullies to change their behaviour  Take bullying seriously and find out the facts of any incident by: -  Seeing those concerned individually to write down incident separately  Involving parents at an early stage  Record incidents of bullying in a consistent manner that allows for the monitoring of behaviour  Discuss with help from support services and educational psychologist where necessary  Discuss with and involve children in agreed class and school rules / behaviour

It is everyone’s responsibility to prevent bullying. With this in mind, there are some suggestions, which could be followed: -

Parents It is always a good idea to take an active interest in your child’s social life and talk with them about their friends and activities out of school. As well as keeping up-to-date with your child’s friendships, you may well learn of disagreements and difficulties. Watch out for signs of distress in your child. There could be an unwillingness to attend school, headaches, stomach upsets, requests for extra pocket money, arriving home later than the expected time etc. There are many reasons why your child may be unsettled at school – bullying is always a possibility. If you think that your child is being bullied, inform the school immediately and ask for an interview with a member of staff who should deal with the incident. If you are dissatisfied with the outcome, request an interview with the teacher in charge. Remember that it is everyone’s responsibility to stop incidents of bullying. Please allow the school time to investigate the problems thoroughly. All reports will be dealt with as a matter of urgency. Children

If you are being bullied: -

 Try not to show that you are upset  Try to ignore the bullying  Walk quickly and confidently – even if you don’t feel that way inside  If you are different in any way, feel proud of – its good to be an individual  Avoid being alone in places where bullying occurs  If you are in danger, get away as quickly as possible  Tell an adult you can trust

You can help stop bullying:

 Don’t stand and watch – fetch help  Show that you and your friends disapprove  Give sympathy and support to children who may be bullied  Be careful about teasing or personal remarks – imagine how you might feel  If you know of serious bullying, tell a trusted adult. Its not telling tales, the victim may be too scared or lonely to tell