To access the school's Anti-Bullying Policy please click here or alternatively a paper copy can be requested at the school office.

We define bullying as:

'Behaviour by an individual or group usually repeated over time that intentionally hurts another individual or group either physically or emotionally and involved an imbalance of power'. (DfE Preventing and Tackling Bullying, July 2017).

Traditional bullying can be:

• Physical - hitting, kicking, shoving, prodding, gesturing, taking another's property
• Emotional - intimidation, socail exclusion, degrading, demeaning, controlling or humiliating
• Verbal - teasing, name calling, insulting, threatening or taunting
• Social - using friendships as a way to hurt someone else, gossiping, spreading rumours, leaving others out, refusing to speak to a friend or cyberbullying (see below)

Cyberbullying is similar to traditional bullying in that it is repeated, intentional and based on a power imbalance but it has the following differences:

• Anonymity - victims are often unaware who is bullying them
• Accessibility - bullying behaviours can take place all day every day
• Punitive fears - victims don't report what is happening because they fear having their devices taken away

Warning Signs

The following are some indications that a child may be being bullied:

• Avoiding or fear of going to school
• Sudden poor academic progress
• Frequent health complaints - headaches, stomach aches etc
• Withdrawing or losing interest in activities with friends
• Feeling sad, moody, anxious, depressed, withdrawn, helpless
• Unexplained or implausible injuries
• Damaged or missing clothing or personal belongings
• Trouble sleeping or frequent nightmares
• Changes in eating patterns
• Avoiding or spending excessive time on the computer
• Significant mood changes after using the computer

What Can Parents Do?

• Talk to your child and cultivate and maintain an open and candid communication.
• Observe and listen to your child, pay attention to changes in their routine. 
• Empathise with your child, help them to understand that bullying is wrong and it is not their fault. 
• Print out or save copies of any inappropriate emails, Facebook posts and other online communication. 
• Be a role model to your child.
• Get help for your child at school, talk to your child's class teacher
• Encourage your child to pursue interests and activities to build positive relationships and self-esteem
• Help your child develop strategies and skills for handling bullying.​​​​​​​

What To Do If You Are Being Bullied

• Don't respond or show a reaction, bullies like to see that they can upset you
• Calmly and assertively tell the bully yo stop...or say nothing and walk away
• Use humour, if this is easy for you to do
• Avoid areas where there are not many others around
• Don't bring expensive items into school
• Sit with a trusted group of friends at break and lunch times
• Join in activities which you like
• ALWAYS report and bullying that does not stop or makes you feel uncomfortable or unsafe to your parents, teacher or another adult you can trust

What School Will Do

All children are entitled to courteous and respectful treatment by other pupils and staff whist at school. As a school we have the responsibility to ensure your child has a safe learning environment.  With this aim, we will;

• Listen to what you/your child say
• We will support your child within the framework of our anti-bullying policy
• We will investigate what you have told us and then report to you what we have found out as a part of our investigation and what we have done to help your child.
• Engage pupils in prevention through the use of restorative practices, PSHE lessons, poster contests, surveys, have older pupils talk with younger pupils, assemblies, anti-bullying week and internet safety week

For cyberbullying we will:

• Teach empathy
• Revisit and review the rules of online behaviour and using the internet safely
• Engage the pupils in prevention

Rules for Online Behaviour

Think before you send

Treat all people with respect - face to face and online

Don't use language you wouldn't want your parents of teachers to read

Don't send messages when you are angry or upset

Remember things are not private on the internet - you cannot erase or take back anything once it is online

There are consequences of poor online behaviour

Internet Safety Tips for Parents

• Keep the family computer in a communal room - not in a child's bedroom
• Establish rules for internet use such as identifying what sites your child can visit, who are their 'friends', who can they talk too, how long they can be on online and when they can use their computer
• Know your child's password, 'friends' or follow your child on social media/networking sites
• Google your child - search of images, photographs, videos, newsgroups.  Use quotation marks around the name and set google alerts for your child's name.
• Introduce parental controls for smart phones such as restricted camera use, voice calls, and restrict the times at which the phone will work, block content
• Social networking - cyberbullying violates the terms of service agreement and should be reported to the site and the Internet Service Provider who can close the account.  Face book will remove entries from children who are under the age of 13.