West Monmouth School

Anti-Bullying Policy

What is bullying? It is the wilful, conscious desire to hurt or threaten or frighten someone else. All bullying is aggression, either physical, verbal or psychological (although not all aggression is necessarily bullying). Bullying can involve physical or verbal attacks, name calling, malicious gossip, damaging or stealing the property of the victim or coercing the victim into acts which they do not wish to do. It can range from petty but persistent irritation of picking on one unfortunate individual by a more dominant child to a fairly ugly conflict between groups of children.

The traditional stereotype of the bully is one who is academically or personally inadequate, who may be bigger than his/her peers and who bullies to gain respect or power. However, pupils who bully others are not always easily recognised but male and female bullies do have something in common:

Bullies tend to have assertive, aggressive attitudes over which they exercise little control.
Bullies tend to lack empathy, they cannot imagine what the victim feels.
Bullies tend to lack guilt, they rationalise that the victim somehow ‘deserves’ the bullying treatment.

Some bullies actively persuade all their gang to join them in bullying to confirm the solidarity of the group.

Victims - may or may not be obviously different from the accepted norm, but the stereotype exists of a weal, shy, small child – anxious, uncertain and ‘different’. Bullies pick on vulnerable children, but it is sometimes difficult to judge in advance who might be seen as vulnerable. Victims may be pupils who:

Are new to the class or school.
Are different in appearance, speech or background from other pupils.
Suffer from low esteem (but it’s not clear whether this is a cause or effect of bullying).
Demonstrate ‘entertaining’ reactions when bullied, e.g. anger, loss of control.
Are nervous or anxious (but witnesses who are not bullied are found to be just as anxious).

All of these possibilities are simply possibilities, not predictions of victimisation. The victim may be the child who is in the wrong place at the wrong time and who reacts wrongly.

A quiet self-contained pupil may be suffering in silence, invisible to those who could help unless encouraged by a school policy to speak out. Those in authority have to be alert to the behaviour of ‘ordinary’ pupils as well as supporting those pupils evidently different from their peers.

Policy statement

West Monmouth School acknowledges that bullying does go on in school. Its pupils and staff agree to work together with the support of parents, governors and other outside agencies to make the school as safe, happy and welcoming as possible.

Aims of Policy

To have a school ethos (a general atmosphere and purpose) which is a positive discouragement to bullying.
To encourage pupils to take responsibility for themselves and others.
To involve all pupils in considering solutions to the problem of bullying, thus developing a collective responsibility which helps to empower andmobilise the most effective tool against bullying – peer pressure.
To create an environment in which it is difficult for bullies to operate. To stop all bullying in the school and when/if it happens to act immediately.
To support both victims and bullies.

Strategies to combat bullying.

Raise the awareness of pupils, staff and parents to the policy, by way of

(i) Assemblies

(ii) PSE Work

(iii) Newsletter

(iv) Posters

2. Implement the policy by way of clear procedures and ensure that these are made explicit to all pupils, staff and parents.

Teachers

(i) Watch for early signs of distress in pupils, it may be symptomatic of other problems, but it may be the early signs of bullying.

(ii) Take action:

a) -Listen and record incidents of bullying -

-the bullied pupil should record the events in writing

-the bully should also record the events in writing.

-the teacher should record the discussions held with both parties.

b) If the teacher is not a Year Head, then the incident should be

reported to the appropriate Year Head as soon as possible.

(iii) Always take a report of bullying seriously.

Pupils

(i) When someone is being bullied or in distress, take action – watching and doing nothing can suggest support for the bullying.

(ii) Inform an adult immediately if you do not wish to become involved

yourself.

(iii) Do not tolerate bullies in the same social group.

Parents

(i) Watch for signs of distress in your child – an unwillingness to

attend school for example.

(ii) Keep lines of communication open.

(iii) If you think that your child is being bullied, inform the school and ask for an interview with the Head of Year. Seek to devise strategies that will help your child and provide him/her with support inside and outside the school.

3. Create a climate

(i) Where pupils feel able to tell someone if they are being bullied or to

tell if they are aware that another pupil is being bullied.

(ii) of support and training for both victims and bullies, i.e. assertive skills for victims, raising awareness or control of aggression for bullies.

4. Develop courses of action for victims, e.g.

(i) Tell the teacher

(ii) Appeal to friends

(iii) Stand up to the bully

(iv) 'Walk away’ from ‘verbals’ or don’t ‘lose your cool’

(v) Avoid unsupervised places

(vi) Tell parents/guardians

(vii) Wwrite a note to a friend/teacher/tutor/prefect/Year Head you trust

(viii) Write an anonymous note to inform the Year Head or Deputy Head that

bullying is going on

(ix) Don’t put up with it. Have a ‘plan of action’ to follow

5. Examine the school’s physical environment and general organisation.

Make sure that any recreational areas, corridors, toilets and other hidden corners are regularly visited by staff and/or prefects.

6. Ensure adequate supervision in breaks, between lessons at the beginning of the day, during lunchtime and after school finishes.

7. Review the curriculum and ensure that it contains specific sections on bullying, especially for younger pupils for whom the fear of bullying is very real. PSE work in Years 7, 8 and 9 will contain sessions on bullying – some lead by police/schools liaison officers with follow up by the class tutor.

8. Develop both a punitive and non-punitive sanctions policy. Each case must be dealt with individually.

9. Have a staff development policy to include support for staff (to include non-teaching personnel, such as lunchtime supervisory assistants) in order for them to develop their abilities to handle pupils in emotionally tense situations.

10. Make use of the Year and Schools Councils to represent the needs of the students.

11. Encourage pupils to make use of the senior pupils who give freely of their time at lunch times to provide ‘friends’ to discuss situations.

TOGETHER, WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE TO BULLYING IN SCHOOL.