Bullying
SCHOOL POLICIES - BULLYING
Anti-Bullying Statement
The Nature of Bullying
1. There are many definitions of bullying, but most consider it to be:
- deliberately hurtful (including aggression)
- repeated often over a period of time
- difficult for victims to defend themselves against
2. Bullying can take many forms, but three main types are:
- physical – hitting, kicking, taking belongings
- verbal – name calling, insulting, making offensive remarks
- indirect – spreading nasty stories about someone, exclusion from social groups, being made the subject of malicious e-mails or text messages on mobile phones
3. Name calling is the most common direct form. This may be because of individual characteristics, but pupils can be called nasty names because of their ethnic origin, nationality or colour; sexual orientation; or some form of disability
All references to our policy on bullying are to be found in
The School Code of Conduct (No 2 – The Rights of Others)
The Equal Opportunities Policy
Attitude and Behaviour Matter (item 2)
The School Planner
The school regularly evaluates the extent and range of bullying that takes place in two ways.
1. Student questionnaires in tutor time and PSHE time.
2. Analysis of orange bullying incident forms.
We are satisfied that bullying in Chelmer Valley School is not tolerated and there is a culture where most students will report incidents of bullying that happen to themselves or others to teachers. All teachers are required to fill out an orange bullying incident form in the presence of the student. This is passed to the Deputy Headteacher (Students) who will add the details to the bullying incident log. It is then passed to the appropriate Head of Year and tutor for action OR if the incident is deemed very serious it will be dealt with straight away by the Deputy Headteacher. This process ensures our stand against bullying is given a high priority and the students can see their complaints are taken seriously. Students are aware of the process and can refer to the page in their planner or the posters on the tutor group notice board.
Sanctions against students found guilty of bullying are to be found in the Behaviour Management Policy. All inappropriate behaviour from students is classified into one of four levels (one - least serious, four - most serious) and to ensure consistency from teachers each level has it’s suggested range of appropriate teacher response and sanctions. Blatant bullying is deemed to be at level 3 on our scale of inappropriate behaviour and warrants the sanctions for this level. However, alternative strategies are also used to help the “bully” and the “victim” these include individual and group counselling, peer group monitoring, centres of refuge, circle time and home school agreements. Positive approaches to improve behaviour are also used.
While we are not complacent we feel that bullying incidents at Chelmer Valley School are much less than the national figures quoted for schools. We also feel it is significant that many of the incidents reported have “roots” outside of school which make a resolution more time consuming. Family and local feuds can spill over into school and when this does happen parents will be asked to collect their child from the school at short notice to enable us to resolve matters.
Parents must help us to ensure we have a culture of tolerance and respect at school by promoting this at home. We urge parents to contact their child’s tutor or Head of Year as soon as possible should they have a concern about bullying.
