Windwhistle Primary School
Anti-Bullying Policy
What is Bullying?
We don’t allow unkind or cruel behaviour in our school. But not all unkind
behaviour is bullying. The key characteristics that turn unkindness into bullying
are:
• that it is repeated and goes on over time;
• that it is deliberate and not accidental;
• that it involves the person doing the bullying having some sort of power over the person experiencing the bullying – usually at primary children’s age this power will come from being bigger, having a ‘gang’ of friends or having a toy or something that everybody wants to play with.
Children will often fall out with friends or say unkind things when they are angry. We explain to children that this is different from bullying.
How to parents can help their children
• Make time when your child is feeling relaxed and happy to talk about school, friendships, what they like to do in outdoor play, at lunchtime and so on
• Watch out for signs of not wanting to go to school/setting, frequent headaches or tummy aches, and unexpected and unusual anger or tears
• If your child tells you they are unhappy because someone is being unkind to them, listen carefully and make sure they understand that you care how they feel and take it seriously
• Make sure that your child understands that there is nothing wrong with them and that you respect them for being brave enough to tell someone
• Try not to suggest that your child becomes different from how they are, for example by being more assertive, or fighting back. They may feel that they are not good enough ‘as they are’ but this is not true. They need to know that it is the children doing the bullying who have to change their behaviour.
• Make an appointment to visit the school. We will take your concerns seriously, listen to what you have to say, support and help your child and act within our anti-bullying policy. When we have found out about what has happened, we will tell you what we have found out and what we have done to help your child.
What messages and key information do we trying to communicate to children?
General
v Similarities and differences are to be valued and celebrated to create an ethos of respect –necessary if bullying behaviours are to be stopped.
v Groups are important in our lives – we all need to belong.
v Bullying is deliberate, ongoing and involves an inequality of power.
v Bullying situations involve three parties: the person who is bullied, the witnesses and the person doing the bullying.
v Bullying can take a variety of forms. Judgements about how serious or mild it is can only be made by considering the way it feels to the person experiencing the bullying. We all respond differently.
v We all have to ‘tell’ on bullying! In order to become a school where ‘telling’ is the norm, we try to understand why children who are bullied and witnesses don’t tell, and make it more possible for them to do so.
About those who are bullied
v Bullying can happen to anyone.
v We are all different.
v We need to empathise with their feelings (fear, anticipation).
v We need to understand the link between feelings, thoughts and behaviours so that we can understand how those who are bullied might respond.
v Children need a clear plan that will keep them safe if they experience bullying. It is equally important for children to use the social, emotional and behavioural skills they have built up:
o to use a variety of ways of managing their emotions, for example feelings of fear or anger aroused by bullying behaviours;
o to use the problem-solving process for bullying situations as for other interpersonal difficulties.
Children who experience bullying need friends and kindness. All children should use their skills of friendship building and communication as part of any plan to deal with bullying situations.
About witnesses
Witnessing bullying behaviour is a powerful situation to be in. We need to understand the feelings that witnesses may experience and why they sometimes don’t tell about the bullying they have seen.
Witnesses can act as an audience, which can encourage the children doing the bullying, even if they do not mean to.
Taking Immediate Action
Dealing with a bullying incident:
First:
• Express relief that the bullying is now out in the open and can be dealt with
• Support the victim(s)
• Identify what has happened
• The aim of any intervention must be to stop the immediate bullying
• Decide on an appropriate sanction
§ Inform the parents of the bully and the victim
• Help the bully change his or her behaviour
• Make the peer group aware and ask them to help the victim
§ Look at seating arrangements in the classroom
§ Buddy up children who are being bullied or at risk of being bullied
Provide support for the victim
• Use reliable peers, learning support assistants and others as supporters
• Spend time with the pupil. This can only be a short-term measure, as most victims of bullying want to be with their peer group
• Help the victim to act more decisively to increase his or her own confidence.
• The Learning
Withdrawn and isolated victims
• Need the opportunity to be involved in special confidence building programmes
• Have difficulty integrating with their peer group
§ Bullied pupils are either usually passive or become so because of the bullying
Change the behaviour of the bully:
• Use small group or individual intervention programmes so that bullies are confronted with the impact their behaviour has had on the victim, and the other pupils are given the opportunity to talk about what has been going on.
While the victim is not present, the teacher taking the group talks about how the victim has been feeling, without blaming anyone. The pupils are asked for help to make the “victim” feel safe and to come up with an inclusive strategy that will draw the pupil back into the group.
Peer programmes
Peer mediation programmes have been successful in encouraging young people to seek help when they are in a conflict situation.
“Successfully dealing with bullying involves building a genuine community within the
school. Everyone accepts they have the right to be free from harassment and that they have the responsibility to support their weaker and more vulnerable peers.”
