Policy Book
Saturday, 02 October 2010 18:07
Anti-bullying Policy
Introduction
1. Noor Ul Islam Primary School seeks to enable each student to achieve their academic potential by providing a safe and secure environment for learning.
2. Our aim is to treat all pupils and staff fairly and promote respect for diversity of values, beliefs, traditions, languages and ways of life in society.
3. Bullying consists of repeated inappropriate behaviour whether by word, by physical location or otherwise, directly or indirectly applied, by one or more persons against another person or persons which undermines the individual person's right to personal dignity.
Types of behaviour deemed to be inappropriate include:
• Humiliation; including name-calling, reference to academic ability etc.
• Intimidation; including aggressive use of body language.
• Verbal abuse, anonymous or otherwise.
• Physical abuse or threatened abuse.
• Aggressive or obscene language.
• Offensive joke; whether spoken or by email, text messaging etc.
• Victimisation; including very personal remarks.
• Exclusion and isolation.
• Intrusion through interfering with personal possessions .
• Repeated unreasonable assignment to duties that are obviously unfavourable.
• Repeated unreasonable deadlines or tasks.
• Threats, including demands for money.
• An attack by rumor, gossip, innuendo or ridicule on any
individual's reputation.
• Abuse contained with text, emails, social networking sites e.g club penguin, moshi monsters etc.
Statement on Bullying:
• Every person in the School is entitled to respect and to be free of any type of bullying.
• The School will work proactively, as far as it can, to ensure that bullying does not take place.
• Reporting incidents of bullying is responsible behavior.
• A record will be kept of all reported incidents of bullying.
• The matter will be dealt with seriously.
• The School has a programme of support for both the bully and the bullied.
• Appropriate action will be taken to ensure that it does not continue.
4. This policy demonstrates our whole school centred approach to prevent bullying which has been developed in conjunction with students, staff, Governors and parents. It takes into account current legislation, guidance and local strategies as set out in appendix 1.
Aims and Objectives
5. Bullying is unacceptable and can have long term effect on children's self esteem and confidence. We have an active school policy on bullying which encourages respect, trust consideration and support for others. We have strong disciplinary measures in place and moreover preventative strategies to ensure we tackle the root cause of bullying where possible. We have developed a school ethos which focuses on the respect of the individual and does not tolerate bullying in any form towards our staff or children.
6. We aim as a school to:
• Produce a safe and secure environment where children can learn and staff can teach without anxiety;
• Create a school ethos which encourages children to disclose and discuss incidents of bullying behaviour;
• Raise awareness of bullying as a form of unacceptable behaviour with the Governors, staff, children and parents/guardians;
• Develop actions to prevent and deal with bullying (see para 7-8);
• Develop procedures for noting and reporting incidents of bullying behaviour and ensure they are communicated clearly to the whole school and parents/guardians (see para 9-12);
• Develop independent procedures for investigating and dealing with incidents of bullying behaviour (see para 23-25);
• To monitor and review the effectiveness of school policy on anti-bullying behaviour; and to make all those connected to the school aware of our opposition to bullying behaviour.
Actions to Prevent Bullying Behaviour
7. At a School level:
• Raise awareness through assemblies, themed days bullying and its effects on individuals;
• Involve school council to develop children centred strategies to deal with bullying;
• Children allocated as buddies in school to talk and discuss issues with new or existing children in school;
• Annual pupil perception survey;
• Adequate supervision at play and lunch times;
• Teacher training on anti- bullying behaviour;
• Regular opportunities for parents to meet staff;
• Conflict resolution strategies in place;
• Headteacher to report bullying incidents to Governors as part of the head teachers report.
8. At a Class Level:
• Class rules, praise and sanctions;
• Regular class meetings;
• Using curriculum including PSHE lessons and Islamic studies to discuss bullying and wider discrimination;
• Children to hold assembly on anti-bullying;
• Circle time.
Procedures for Noting and Reporting Incidents of Bullying Behaviour
9. If anyone witnesses an act of bullying they must report it immediately or at the earliest opportunity to the class teacher in the first instance, or any member of staff present at the time, who will ensure the class teacher is informed at the earliest convenience. The head teacher should be informed so they are aware that the matter is being dealt with.
10. All incidents taking place during class time should be recorded by the class teacher and dealt with immediately. The class teacher should then inform the head teacher at the earliest convenience.
11. An anti-bullying logbook/incident folder will be kept in the school office. All incidents of bullying that occur in and outside lesson time, on the school premises, on the way home or to school should be recorded. If any adult witnesses an act of bullying, they should report it to the class teacher who will ensure the matter is recorded in the bullying incident folder and the head teacher informed. The Head and Governors can request access to this folder at any time.
12. If staff feel they are being bullied by another member of staff they should deal with it as a grievance and refer to the grievance procedure set out in the staff handbook. If staff are being bullied by a parent or someone outside the school they should notify the head teacher immediately. The matter will be investigated and dealt with appropriately. Depending on the seriousness, governors and/or external agencies may be called in.
The Role of the Head Teacher
13. It is the responsibility of the head teacher to implement the school anti-bullying strategy and to ensure that all staff (both teaching and non-teaching) are aware of the school policy and know how to deal with incidents of bullying. The head teacher will be kept informed by the class teacher and the school office of any new incidents that have been recorded in the logbook/incident folder and they will intervene immediately on cases that require immediate attention. The head teacher reports to the governing body about the effectiveness of the anti-bullying policy if need be after any incidents occur.
14. The head teacher ensures that all children know that bullying is wrong, and that it is unacceptable behaviour in this school. The head teacher draws this to the attention of children at suitable moments, for example, if an incident occurs, the head teacher may decide to use assembly as a forum in which to discuss with other children why this behaviour was wrong, and why a pupil is being punished.
15. The head teacher sets the school climate of mutual support and praise for success, so making bullying less likely. When children feel they are important and belong to a friendly and welcoming school, bullying is far less likely to be part of their behaviour.
The Role of the Class Teacher
16. All forms of bullying will be taken seriously and the respective class teacher(s) will need to be informed immediately so they can keep their own records and record it in the bullying incident folder kept in the school office and support the child immediately. The bully will be sanctioned according to the guidelines in the behaviour policy.
17. The class teacher will intervene and prevent any further incidents occurring by supporting the child and speaking to the bully/bullies. If a child is being bullied then after consultation with the head teacher, the teacher informs the child's parents.
18. Teachers attempt to support all children in their class and to establish a climate of trust and respect for all. By praising, rewarding and celebrating the success of all children, we aim to prevent incidents of bullying.
19. Teachers are encouraged to use opportunities within the curriculum to inform pupils about ways of preventing bullying. The School will ensure it is up to date with any new guidance or information issued by the Department for Education and promote anti-bullying messages through the curriculum.
20. If teachers become aware of any bullying taking place between members of a class, they are to deal with the issue immediately. This may involve counselling and support for the victim of the bullying, and punishment for the child who has carried out the bullying. The teacher will spend time talking to the child who has bullied: explain why the action of the child was wrong, and endeavour to help the child change their behaviour in future. If a child is repeatedly involved in bullying other children, they inform the head teacher as well as the special needs co-ordinator. We then invite the child's parents into the school to discuss the situation. In more extreme cases, for example where these initial discussions have proven ineffective, the head teacher may contact external support agencies such as the social services.
The role of parents
21. Parents who are concerned that their child might be being bullied, or who suspect that their child may be the perpetrator of bullying, should contact their child's class teacher immediately. This matter will be recorded in the bullying incident folder.
22. Parents have a responsibility to support the school's anti-bullying policy and to actively encourage their child to be a positive member of the school.
Procedures for Investigating and Dealing with Bullying
23. The governing body supports the head teacher in all attempts to eliminate bullying from our school. This policy statement makes it very clear that the governing body does not allow bullying to take place in our school, and that any incidents of bullying that do occur are taken very seriously and dealt with appropriately.
24. The governing body monitors the incidents of bullying that occur, and reviews the effectiveness of the school policy regularly. The governors require the head teacher to keep accurate records of all incidents of bullying and to report to the governors at the quarterly Governors meeting about the effectiveness of school anti-bullying strategies.
25. If a parent requests that the governing body investigates an incident of bullying the governing body will respond within 15 school working days in all cases, the governing body notifies the head teacher and asks him/her to conduct an investigation into the case and to report back to a representative of the governing body.
Monitoring and Review
26. This policy is monitored on a day-to-day basis by the head teacher, who reports to governors about the effectiveness of the policy each quarter.
27. This anti-bullying policy is the governors' responsibility and they review its effectiveness annually. They do this by examining the school's bullying incident book, and by discussion with the head teacher. Governors analyse information with regard to gender, age and ethnic background of all children involved in bullying incidents.
Date: 02/05/2013