Bullying in Primary schools is not always physical but is more usually verbal, social or emotional.   It can manifest itself in a variety of ways e.g.

• name calling
• ignoring / isolating
• talking about
• pushing
• kicking

All bullying is serious, especially to the victim, and the school will not treat any alleged and / or reported incidences lightly.

Parents, School and Pupils should work together in trying to stamp out bullying

Our aim is to eradicate bullying by:

• developing awareness among pupils and parents that bullying is unacceptable.
• working in partnership with parents to minimise bullying
• encouraging a climate of openness and a listening culture
• developing a range of strategies to deal with bullying
• creating a sense of shared responsibility among pupils

What to do if you are being bullied?

• Stay calm
• Stay with friend
• Report any incidence of bullying to an adult e.g. your class teacher, an adult in the playground, a member of the office staff,  Mr Sharp or Mrs Nicolson.
• Report incidence of bullying to your parent or carer.
• Don’t retaliate!

What to do if you suspect your child is being bullied?

Parents, staff and pupils must be fully aware that bullying is unacceptable at school.  Parents and pupils must be made aware of the fact that the school will not condone any form of violence and so parents should not encourage their child to hit back in the face of bullying.  Indeed retaliation [physical or verbal] will often:

• Lead to worsening of the original situation
• Make it more difficult to determine who is at fault
• Encourage violence
• Lead to someone being hurt

If the incident has happened in school, and has been reported to the school, parents should give the school sufficient time to deal with the matter – bullying can be complex and difficult to solve.

What the school will do?

Where an incidence of bullying has been reported by a pupil or adult, a member of the school management team will investigate what exactly has happened, and who was involved.  If bullying is found to have happened then those families involved will be informed, supported and challenged by school staff accordingly.

Sanctions will be carried out against the perpetrator where deemed necessary.  These may vary according to;

• The age of the pupil concerned,
• The nature of the incident,
• Whether it is a repeat incident or a first offence.

Sanctions may take the form of counselling, behavioural learning opportunities or withdrawal of privileges.

Parents of pupils found to have been bullied will be contacted at the outset and kept informed and supported throughout any process involved.

Parents of any pupil who has been found to be bullying will be contacted immediately and fully involved in the process from the outset.

Planned, follow-up interviews will take place to ensure that there are no further episodes.