INTRODUCTION

img_1979Bullying affects everyone at some time in his or her life, as a bully, as a victim or both. It also affects those other children who are observers of an incident, and less aggressive pupils can be drawn in by group pressure. Although bullying occurs in all schools in one form or another, it is not an inevitable part of school life or a necessary part of growing up, and it rarely sorts itself out.

It is clear that certain jokes, insults, intimidating or threatening behaviour, written abuse and violence are to be found in our society. No one person or group, whether staff or pupil, should have to accept this type of behaviour. Only when all issues of bullying are addressed, will a child be in a position to derive the maximum benefits from the opportunities available at school.

WHY IS AN ANTI-BULLYING POLICY NECESSARY?

At Ysgol Rhys Prichard, we believe that our pupils have the right to learn in a supportive, caring and safe environment, without the fear of being bullied. We consider all the elements of any incident including age, gender, background and current intervention systems.

All schools, both large and small, contain some numbers of pupils who inherently have the potential for displaying bullying behaviour. However, if a school is well disciplined and organised, it can minimise the occurrence of bullying.

It is important, therefore, that we have a clear written policy to promote this belief. All parties; staff, pupils and parents, must be fully aware that any bullying complaints will be dealt with firmly, fairly, consistently and promptly.

WHAT IS BULLYING?

Bullying is a form of anti-social behaviour. It can manifest itself in a number of ways and can take the form of:

  • PHYSICA

A child can be physically punched, kicked, hit, spat at, etc.

  • VERBAL

Verbal abuse can take the form of name-calling. It may be directed towards children who are different as a result of gender, ethnic origin, physical/social disability, or personality, etc.

  • EXCLUSION

A child can be bullied simply by being excluded from discussions or activities, with those they believe to be their friends.

  • DAMAGE TO PROPERTY OR THEFT

Pupils may have their property damaged or stolen. Physical threats may be employed by the bully as a means of coercing another child to act against their will, in order that the pupil hands over property.

WHAT CAN BE DONE TO REDUCE THE OF OCCURRENCE OF BULLYING?

  • Ensure adequate supervision at all times.
  • Use any opportunity to discuss aspects of bullying, and the appropriate way to behave towards each other, e.g. the PSE programme and other intervention strategies.
  • Deal quickly, firmly and fairly with any complaints, involving parents where necessary.
  • Review the School Policy on an annual basis, evaluating its degree of success and amending accordingly.
  • The School Staff will continue to have a firm but fair discipline structure. The rules should be few, simple and easy to understand.
  • Ensure that all teaching materials and equipment are compliant with the school’s equal opportunities and racial discrimination policies and do not contain any elements that would incite discriminatory behaviour.
  • Encourage pupils to discuss how they get on with other people and to form positive attitudes towards other people. This would include a review of what friendship really is.
  • Encourage pupils to treat everyone with respect.
  • Ensure that pupils are made continually aware that the school views bullying as a very serious offence and will take all necessary steps to eradicate it from school life.

ACTION TO BE TAKEN WHEN BULLYING IS SUSPECTED

If bullying is suspected, the victim should be interviewed, as should the perpetrator and any witnesses. If bullying is identified, the following action should be taken:

Help, support and counselling will be given as is appropriate to both the victims and the bullies.

We can support the victims by doing one or more of the following things:

  • offering them an immediate opportunity to talk about the experience with their class teacher, or another teacher if they choose;
  • informing the victim’s parents or guardians;
  • offering continuing support if it is perceived that this is needed; and
  • taking one or more of the six disciplinary steps outlined below to prevent more bullying.

We also discipline, yet endeavour to help the bullies by doing one or more of the following things:

  • talking about what happened, to discover why they became involved;
  • informing the bully’s parents or guardians;
  • if a PCSO is visiting the school and an incident occurs, with parental permission we will ask the PCSO to discuss the matter with the child / children
  • continuing to work with the bully in order to eradicate or alter any prejudiced attitude as far as possible; and
  • by taking one or more of the six disciplinary steps described below to prevent more bullying.

DISCIPLINARY STEPS

All sanctions imposed upon a child should be in keeping with the positive discipline policy adopted by the school. However, the reality is that there will potentially be incidents where the behaviour of a child is deemed to be sufficiently inappropriate as to warrant a response outside the normal withdrawal of privileges. Below is a guide of the steps to be followed when dealing with behaviour of a serious nature that caused distress or harm to another pupil.

  • The child must be brought to the attention of the Headteacher, or in his absence, a senior member of staff, and will be given a verbal warning that behaviour of this kind is inappropriate, will not be tolerated and must stop immediately.
  • If there is a repetition of the offence, the parents or guardian will be invited into school to discuss the matter. A strategy will be discussed where the school and home will work collaboratively to reinforce the gravity of the situation and encourage a change in behaviour. A copy of the Discipline Policy will be made available to the parents where necessary. The action to be undertaken by the school, if there is no improvement in behaviour, will be outlined.
  • If the behaviour persists and is most prevalent during break-times, the pupil will be excluded from activities at break and/or lunch times.
  • If the bullying does not stop, consideration regarding exclusion will be given.
  • If there is no cessation in the inappropriate behaviour following the action taken to date, then the pupil will be excluded for fixed period. period. (Following procedures outlined by WAG ‘ Exclusion from Schools and Pupil referral units’ WAG April 2015 )
  • If at this point there is no improvement in the pupil’s behaviour, the child will be recommended for permanent exclusion

This policy is monitored by the governing body and will be reviewed as necessary.

This policy was reviewed by the staff in November 2018.This policy was adopted by the Governing Body of Rhys Prichard School on November 18