Anti-Bullying Policy 2023-24

Reviewed by Governors May 2022 Ratified by Student Council April 2022 Agreed May 23

Review Date June 2024

Anti- Bullying Policy

This policy reflects the overall school ethos and has been developed in line with a wide range of guidance which includes the following:

Behaviour for Learning Policy Attendance Policy

Equal Opportunities Policy Race & Equality Policy Wirral Anti-bullying Guidance School Development Plan Safeguarding Policy

Our School’s Values and Beliefs

The Co-op Academy Bebington is a place where every person has the right to be themselves and to be included in a safe and happy environment. Everyone at our school is equal and should be treated with respect.

All students and staff have the right to feel happy, safe and included.

Students and staff have the right to work in an environment without harassment, intimidation or fear.

All bullying, of any sort, is therefore unacceptable. Students who experience bullying will be supported.

We recognise the effects that bullying can have on students’ feelings of worth and on their school work, and the school community will actively promote an anti-bullying environment.

Aims and purpose

Bullying of any kind is unacceptable and will not be tolerated at our school. At our school the safety, welfare and well-being of all students and staff is a key priority. We take all incidences of bullying seriously and it is our duty as a whole school community to take measures to prevent and tackle any bullying, harassment or discrimination. We actively promote values of respect and equality and work to ensure that difference and diversity is celebrated across the whole school community. We want to enable our students to become responsible citizens and to prepare them for life in 21st Century Britain. These values reflect those that will be expected of our students by society when they leave school and enter the world of work or further study. We are committed to improving our school’s approach to tackling bullying by regularly monitoring, reviewing and assessing the impact of our preventative measures.

Our intentions in producing this policy are:

• To express our belief that all students should be included fully in the life of the school
• To provide a learning environment free from any threat or fear, which is conducive to the achievement of individual aspirations
• To reduce and to eradicate wherever possible, instances in which students are made to feel frightened, excluded or unhappy
• To reduce and to eradicate wherever possible, instances in which students are subject to any form of bullying
• To respond effectively to all instances of bullying that are reported to us
• to establish a means of dealing with bullying and of providing support to students who have been bullied
• To provide support for students who are accused of bullying, who may be experiencing problems of their own
• To ensure that all staff and students are aware of the policy and that they fulfil their obligations to it
• To meet any legal obligations that rest with the school

Extract from our Equality Policy

For 2020 - 2021, our Equality Objectives are:

• To eradicate the use of homophobic, biophobic, transphobic, sexist, racist and other discriminative language by students in the school.

Our Definition of Bullying is:

“Bullying involves dominance of one student by another, or a group of others, is premeditated and usually forms a pattern of behaviour.”

(Adapted from Circular8/94 Pupil behaviour and Discipline)

Bullying is therefore:

• deliberately hurtful
• repeated, often over a period of time
• difficult for victims to defend themselves against

It can take many forms but the main types are:

• Physical: hitting, kicking, taking another’s belongings
• Verbal: name calling, insulting, making offensive remarks
• Indirect: spreading nasty stories about someone, exclusion from social groups, being made the subject of malicious rumours, sending malicious emails or text messages on mobile phones

Some forms of bullying are attacks not only on the individual, but also on the group to which he/she/they may belong. Within school, we will pay particular attention to:

• Racial harassment and racial bullying
• Bullying because of students’ religious beliefs
• Sexual bullying including ‘sexting’

• Homophobic, biphobic and transphobic (HBT) bullying. This is any bullying directed at someone who is or is perceived to be lesbian, gay, bisexual or trans (LGBT).

• Cyberbullying (see appendices for staff and student guidance)
• Bullying of students who have special educational needs or disabilities

Additional specific guidance is available from Stonewall with regard to homophobic bullying.

CREATING AN ANTI-BULLYING CLIMATE IN OUR SCHOOL

(Strategies for Prevention of Bullying)

Our School’s Behaviour Policy explains how we promote positive behaviour in school an environment where students behave well; where students take responsibility for each other’s emotional and social well-being; and where they include and support each other. Our curriculum is used to:

• Raise awareness about bullying and our anti-bullying policy
• Increase understanding for victims and help build an anti-bullying ethos
• To teach students how to constructively manage their relationships with others

Through the PSHE curriculum, we aim to raise student awareness, challenge attitudes and maintain the profile of school’s anti-bullying policy. This can be done both formally and informally through discussion, drama, role play, creative writing and use of DVDs. The inappropriate use of social network sites such as Facebook, Twitter and blogs are highlighted. Wherever possible in other curriculum areas, such as Citizenship, RE, English, Drama, History, the whole issue of power should be considered.

We also aim to promote appropriate behaviour by endeavouring to create an ethos in which bullying is not accepted by anyone within the school community. We use school assemblies and collective worship to reinforce this message.

We believe in treating students with respect, in presenting good role models, in explicitly stating that bullying is unacceptable. We have an ‘Anti-Bullying Week’ initiative and promote awareness through assemblies etc.

Periodic poster campaigns are used to remind students that bullying is unacceptable.

Our School Council offers a forum in which concerns about bullying can be discussed.

Students are provided with written guidance which explains what they should do if they are being bullied or if they see another student being bullied.

Written guidance is also available for parents on the signs of bullying and on what to do if they suspect their child is being bullied.

Students will be asked to identify where and when bullying occurs in school and we will try to eliminate any unsafe areas which are reported to us. We have a ‘bullying report

button’ included in the ‘Student Support’ section of the school website. This gives students the opportunity to report issues on behalf of themselves and others from the privacy of their own home. This facility is checked by members of the school pastoral and safeguarding team. It has an out of hours message that signposts children to the relevant support services if in desperate need.

We have improved the quality of leisure and play areas as part of our school development plan and ensure that a range of sports, clubs and activities are available for students at lunchtimes.

At the beginning of the school day and during lunch breaks, duty teams, in particular, are responsible for monitoring the behaviour of students in designated areas. Senior Leadership Team have specific allocated duties. Between and within lessons, all staff have a role to play.

STRATEGIES FOR DEALING WITH BULLYING

A variety of strategies may be employed to resolve bullying incidents by the Pastoral Team and they should be consulted for advice.

In the case of a specific incidence of bullying, it is important that the victim(s) and perpetrator(s) are kept separate.

We will interview the student (or students) involved in bullying separately. We will listen to their version of events.

We will talk to anyone else who may have witnessed the bullying.

We will reinforce the message that bullying is not acceptable, and that we expect bullying to stop.

We will seek commitment to this end.

We will affirm that it is right for students to let us know when they are being bullied.

Action may be taken against the perpetrator e.g. verbal warning, isolation for a period of time, exclusion, involvement of appropriate external agencies. Disapproval of the bullying behaviour should be vigorous and clear. Attention should be directed towards the behaviour and not the person. The perpetrator(s) should be made aware of alternative and more appropriate ways of behaving.

The bully’s parents or carers should be informed by telephone and or by letter and, whenever possible, a meeting arranged to discuss the incident(s) and school’s response.

Parents/carers of bullies should be encouraged to work together with school to reinforce the standard of behaviour expected and to minimise the chance of their child offending again. The bully will be asked to sign an Anti-Bullying Contract. The bully’s behaviour should be monitored for a specific agreed period and reviewed by the Pastoral Leader.

We believe that a variety of strategies may be employed in dealing with and resolving bullying incidents. These strategies may include:

• Seeing the victim/bully separately and working out a plan of action. When appropriate, we will adopt a joint problem-solving approach, and ask the students involved to help us to find solutions to problems. This will encourage those involved to take responsibility for the emotional and social needs of others.
• Adopting the method of shared concern, short individual chats with the bully/ bullies first and the victim/victims last, with a follow-up a week later, and a group meeting the following week
• Using the “no blame” approach

Interview the bullied student, listen to and note down the feelings expressed Organise a meeting for all those directly/indirectly involved, including bystanders Explain the problem and describe the feelings of the victim

Share responsibility, focus on the problem and not on who is to blame Identify solutions, invite suggestions

Let the students take the agreed action themselves

Meet again after a week, ascertain whether the bullying has stopped and how the victim feels.

We will provide support to students who are bullied. They will be reassured that they do not deserve to be bullied and that it is not their fault.

We will assure them that it was right to report the incident. We will encourage them to talk about how they feel.

We will try to ascertain the extent of the problem.

We will discuss strategies for being safe and staying safe. We will offer support through our Pastoral Leaders.

On occasion, it may be decided that a detailed investigation is unhelpful and a problem solving approach is the most effective response in resolving a bullying problem. We reserve the right to respond flexibly to every situation and make an informed judgement as to the most appropriate response.

REPORTING AND RECORDING BULLYING INCIDENTS

Students who have been bullied should report this to their Form Tutor, trusted adult or Pastoral Leader.

Students who see others being bullied should report this to their Form Tutor,trusted adult or Pastoral Leader.

Bullying incidents can be reported electronically through the ‘Bullying Report’ button located in the Student Support section on the school website. This monitored each morning throughout the school week by selected pastoral/safeguarding staff, no report is missed as an automatic message goes directly to staff within this team..

Members of staff who receive verbal reports that a student has been bullied should report this to the Pastoral Leaders.

Victims should be asked for details of the incident/incidents, giving the time, place, frequency, what was said or done, who was/were involved (if identification is possible), names of any witnesses or bystanders. This account and any others taken from the bully should be recorded with the relevant paperwork going to the Pastoral administrator in SP1 so she can place these on file. Details of this and of any action taken, along with monitoring and reviewing information should be recorded on Class Charts as a priority. Details will then be recorded in the appropriate student(s) record file (s). It is also vital that information with regard to bullying incidents is passed to staff on a need-to-know basis as soon as possible.

Where bullying is of a racist/homphobic nature, this will be reported to the member of staff On Call or Pastoral leader and they will follow the same procedures as indicated previously. In all cases a Restorative Justice meeting should take place between the

perpetrator and victim. This is at the victims discretion, and only if they feel comfortable in pursuing this route.

In the event of bullying incidents taking place in extra-curricular activities or on school visits, procedures for recording incidents should be followed and the appropriate Pastoral Leader informed at the earliest opportunity so that the matter can be investigated and resolved.

When a student transfers to another school, information with regard to any bullying incident and follow up work should be included in the file. Copies should be made and retained by school, prior to the file’s transfer.

MONITORING AND REVIEWING

The Anti-Bullying Policy is a living document and reflects the desire of all members of the school community to promote a positive, co-operative culture within our school. The number of incidences of bullying recorded and the success of action taken to resolve them will be reviewed annually by Pastoral Leaders. A report will be provided annually to the school governing body. The policy will continue to be reviewed annually by a representative group (including the student council) and adjustments made as appropriate.

Information for Students Don’t Suffer in Silence

If you are being bullied:

• Try to stay calm and look as confident as you can
• Be firm and clear, look the bully/bullies in the eye and tell them to stop
• Get away from the situation as quickly as possible
• Tell an adult what has happened straight away

After you have been bullied:

• Tell a teacher or another adult in school
• Tell your family
• If you are scared to talk to an adult by yourself, ask a friend to come with you
• Use the ‘Bullying Report’ Button to tell your pastoral leader about an issue, you can do this at home. They will get an email outlining details of the incident.
• Keep speaking up until someone listens and does something to stop the bullying
• Ask your Form Tutor or Pastoral Leader about support
• Don’t blame yourself for what has happened

When you are talking to an adult about bullying, be clear about:

• What has happened to you
• How often it has happened
• Who was involved
• Who saw what was happening
• Where it happened
• What you have done about it already

If you find it difficult to talk to anyone at school or at home at first, you can ring CHILDLINE ,Freephone 0800 1111 The phone call. It is a confidential service. Or visit www.childline.org.uk

If you see someone being bullied, you should tell your Form Tutor who can ensure the information is passed to the victim’s Pastoral Leader.

Remember that you can be an ACTIVE BYSTANDER.

This means that you can reject bullying behaviour by supporting the victim and encouraging him/her to join you and your group.

You can challenge bullying behaviour by making statements to support the victim e.g. “We don’t think that’s right.”

You can ensure that someone is not deliberately left out of a group and isolated. You can choose not to smile or laugh when someone is bullied.

You can tell a member of staff.

You can show the bully that you disapprove of his/her behaviour. Only be involved in an incident in order to STOP IT!!

Information for Parents

If your child is being bullied :

• Calmly talk to your child about it
• Make a note of what your child says, particularly who is said to be involved, how often the bullying has occurred, where it has happened and what has happened
• Reassure your child that telling you about the bullying was the right thing to do
• Explain that any further incidents should be reported to a teacher immediately
• Make an appointment to see the Form Tutor or Pastoral Leader
• Explain to the teacher the problems your child is experiencing

Talking to school about bullying

• Try to stay calm. Remember that the teacher may have no idea that your child is being bullied or may have heard conflicting accounts of an incident
• Be as specific as possible about what your child says has happened, give dates, places and names of other children involved if possible
• Check what action school is going to take
• Ask if there is anything you can do to help
• Stay in touch with school and let us know if things improve, as well as if problems continue.

If your child is bullying other children:

Many children may be involved in bullying other students at some time or other. Often, parents are not aware. Children sometimes bully others because:

They don’t know it is wrong

They are copying older brothers or sisters, or other people they admire They have not learned other, better ways of mixing with their school friends Their friends encourage them to bully

They are going through a difficult time and are acting out aggressive feelings

To stop your child bullying others:

• Talk to your child, explaining that bullying is unacceptable and makes others unhappy
• Discourage other members of the family from bullying behaviour or from using aggression or force to get what they want
• Show your child how to join in with other children without bullying
• Make an appointment to see your child’s Form Tutor or Pastoral Leader. Explain the problems your child is experiencing and discuss how you and school can stop them from bullying others
• Regularly check with your child how things are going at school
• Give your child lots of praise and encouragement when they are co-operative or kind to other people.