Anti Bullying
The aims of the school are to:
"Equip children to be compassionate people, responsible members of society, be aware of moral values, and to respect people of different cultures and beliefs." They should, while here, "Feel secure and valued individually, and all enjoy equal opportunities."
Much goes on, within the daily life of the school, to further these aims. It will help us to achieve those aims if parents and children know what we mean by bullying, what to do about it and what the school will do if bullying is reported.
Bullying is
Behaviour, which normally happens on more than one occasion and which is a conscious or deliberate wish to hurt, threaten, frighten or humiliate. It stops the victims feeling good about themselves. It can be:
- Physical: pushing, hitting, pinching and kicking.
- Verbal: name calling, teasing, taunting or threatening, either face to face or by phone, texting, e-mailing or via social media.
- Silent or almost: isolating the victims by keeping them out of activities.
- Rude gestures or deliberate irritation.
- Deliberate damage to victims' property.
- Taking property without permission i.e. sweets, pencils, money.
How parents may help
If you suspect your child is being bullied then check the above list and ask for help. If it is taking place in school or with South Charnwood children, contact the form tutor or year head straight away. Other suggestions of things to do:
- Don't keep bullying a secret - it may continue or get worse
- Give your child a chance to talk
- Do encourage your child to talk to a teacher
What the school will do
The teacher who receives the information will establish the seriousness of the incident and pass the information to the tutor and the year head.
The year head will be responsible for arranging that the victim, bully and any witnesses are interviewed, to establish the truth of what has occurred.
The bully will be spoken to and informed that such behaviour must stop, and that they have this one chance to take responsibility themselves.
Should the bully fail to react to the warning then we will inform their parents.
The personalities and reasons for bullying will vary from case to case and it would not be appropriate to lay down hard and fast punishments for every occasion. Our aim will be for the bully to recognise and stop his or her behaviour.
We believe the pupils should be given the opportunity to be responsible and modify their own behaviour in the first instance. This is part of the learning process. If this does not happen then we will involve parents. Parents need to know what is going on and to counsel their child.
The school reserves the right to exclude a pupil for persistent bullying.
Possible signs of bullying for parents
Bullying can bring about changes in children’s behaviour. Signs such as these may indicate that a child is being bullied. Children may:
- Be frightened of the journey to school
- Be unwilling to go to school
- Begin doing poorly in school work
- Become withdrawn or distressed
- Have nightmares or cry themselves to sleep
- Have their possessions 'go missing'
- Refuse to say what is wrong
- Give excuses to explain any of these things
Please see our anti-bullying policy for more comprehensive list.
