ANTI- BULLYING
Bullying is an intricate and widespread problem throughout society and St. Timothy’s is no exception. All staff have a duty to stop any bullying or possible bullying they may see. A climate must exist within the school where pupils feel safe to report any instances of bullying they come across. They must be reassured that they are doing the right thing in reporting any incidence of bullying. All staff in St. Timothy’s are committed to combating all bullying behaviour.
What is Bullying
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 minimise occurrences of 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 incidence of bullying to an adult e.g. class teacher, member of office staff, Depute Head Teacher, Head Teacher.
- Report incidence of bullying to parent/guardian.
Don’t hit back
What to do if you suspect your child is being bullied.
Parents, staff and pupils must be fully aware that bulling 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 Senior Management Team will investigate what exactly has happened, and who was involved. If bullying is found to have happened then the bully will be dealt with by the Management Team 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, punishment exercise or withdrawal of privileges.
Parents of pupils found to be being bullied will be informed of any major incidents of bullying.
Parents of pupil[s] who have been found to be bullying will be asked to come to the school for a parental interview with a member of the Senior Management Team.
Follow up interviews will take place [formally and/or informally] to ensure that there are no further episodes.
