Anti-Bullying Policy

‘Together, we nurture, inspire, challenge and achieve’

Rationale

At South Wonston Primary School we are committed to providing a caring, friendly and safe environment for all our pupils so they can learn in a happy and secure atmosphere. The maintenance of good behaviour and discipline is the responsibility of all staff, who will support each other in encouraging good behaviour in all pupils, not just those for whom they have specific class responsibility.

We expect everyone to listen and be polite to one another, to think of others and to respect one another and each other’s property. Bullying of any kind is unacceptable at our school. If bullying does occur, all pupils should be able to tell an adult in school and know that incidents will be dealt with promptly and effectively. This means that anyone who knows that bullying is happening is expected to tell the staff.

Objectives:

• All staff, governors, pupils & parents should have a shared understanding of

  bullying

• Bullying is unacceptable and will not be tolerated

• Clear procedures for reporting bullying should be understood and followed to

  ensure incidents can be dealt with swiftly

• All staff will follow the anti-bullying procedures to provide a consistent response to

  any bullying incidents which occur

Definition of bullying

Bullying is the use of repeated aggression with the intention of hurting another person which results in pain and/or distress to the victim.

Bullying is:

• Deliberately hurtful behaviour repeated often over a period of time
• Behaviour which it is difficult for the victim to defend themselves against because

they do not have the necessary skills, confidence or resources

Bullying can take various forms and can be carried out by adults or children. It can include:

• Physical – pushing, hitting, kicking, taking other’s belongings, damaging other’s

belongings

• Verbal – name calling, teasing, insulting, making offensive remarks which can be of

a discriminatory nature e.g. racial, sexual etc.

• Psychological: excluding an individual, refusing to talk to or even acknowledge an individual;
• Indirect -  spreading unkind stories about a child
• Cyber – misuse of email/internet chat rooms, mobile phones threats by texting & calls

Prevention

The central aim of our Behaviour Policy is that only good behaviour will be encouraged. School staff, children and parents will work together cooperatively to create a climate where bullying does not occur.

Strategies for the prevention of bullying will include:

• using the Growth Mindset approach so that self-esteem is actively promoted
• curriculum focused work on bullying and online safety through PSHE lessons and circle time activities to promote positive relationships & friendships
• assemblies focusing on values and beliefs
• the development of an open culture and problem solving ethos where children are encouraged to talk through issues and to find solutions together
• provision of activities and supervision at lunch and playtimes to minimise inappropriate behaviour
• timetabled support provided by trained ELSAs for children with concerns
• mixing of age groups to build friendships between younger and older children where appropriate in the form of buddy morning activities; older children reading to younger children and running activities
• Yr 5 & 6 Play leaders
• buddy system between year groups
• Cyber ambassadors
• discussions in School Council

Protection

Creating clearly understood and agreed systems:

• Taking complaints of bullying seriously and never ‘turning a blind eye’, always listening, responding by following the agreed procedure.
• Regularly reviewing and agreeing the management and supervision of playground and

other school systems to promote good behaviour.

• Removing the possibility of secrecy through fair and open discussion.
• Ensuring children know who they can talk to if they are being bullied.
• Giving children, parents/carers opportunities to report bullying i.e. email, open door

approach.

• Raise awareness of anti-bullying policy strategies on school website, parent mails,

Newsletters.

The Role of parents

Parents can play an important role in detecting bullying. A child may indicate that he/she is being bullied through various behaviours such as:

• Frightened of walking to or from school
• Unwilling to go to school
• Performance in school begins to deteriorate
• Becomes withdrawn or unhappy
• Regularly has possessions which “go missing”
• Becomes distressed, cries easily or stops eating
• Has nightmares or begins bed wetting
• Becomes uncharacteristically disruptive or aggressive
• Is frightened to say what’s wrong

These signs could always indicate other problems, but bullying should be considered as one possibility and parents are encouraged to inform the school as soon as possible in these circumstances. Parents have a responsibility to support the school’s anti bullying policy and to actively encourage their children to report issues as they happen directly

What the school will do if bullying is reported

At South Wonston Primary School, we take all forms of bullying as seriously and will deal with each situation individually.

We will use the following procedure when a child, or a child’s friend or an adult (including a parent) reports any bullying to a member of staff:

• All bullying should be reported to an appropriate adult
• In all cases of bullying, the incident will be recorded by and reported to SLT.
• An appropriate adult will investigate the incident and put measures into place to prevent further occurrences. 

This may include

• Talking about what happened with the bullied, the alleged bully and any witnesses separately
• encouraging pupils to identify solutions
• use of circle time /  PSHE to resolve issues
• loss of privileges or sanctions for the bully. Sanctions may ultimately lead to exclusion.
• involving the parents
• if physical assault is involved, the behaviour policy will followed and the police may be notified
• behaviour management strategies and/or support will be put in place for a period of time

• a follow up meeting with both the bullied and the bully, either separately or together will take place to help ensure that the matter has been resolved.

Exclusions

At South Wonston Primary School, we follow the Hampshire County Council guidelines relating to exclusions.