Houghton School, Main Street, Houghton on the Hill, LE7 9GD

0116 2412 465

office@houghton.leics.sch.uk

Houghton on the Hill C of E Primary School

"My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you." John 15:12

Anti-Bullying Statement

Anti-Bullying Statement

  • Bullying is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.
  • Bullying is not in keeping with the Christian Values of our school.
  • Bullying is anti-social behaviour and affects everyone, children and adults
  • Bullying is defined as deliberately hurtful behaviour towards an individual or group, repeated over a period of time, where it is difficult for those being bullied to defend themselves.
  • Bullying can be physical (e.g. hitting, kicking, theft, damage to property).
  • Bullying can be verbal (e.g. name calling, racist remarks, threats, nasty teasing).
  • Bullying can be psychological (e.g. spreading rumours, excluding someone from social groups).
  • Bullying can be cyber-bullying (e.g. using mobile phones and social media to spread rumours, unkind images or insults).
  • Bullying can take many forms, including: racial, religion, cultural, SEN or disability, appearance and health, home circumstances, homophobic, bi-phobic, transphobic, sexual).
  • Bullying is not confined to children and young people; we recognise adults and children can be both bully and victim.
  • Bullying is not confined to the school site, and we take of equal importance any reported bullying outside the school day that affects any member of our school community.
  • Bullying is not playground squabble, disagreements and conflicts; it is a repetitive, intentional hurtful behaviour focused on one individual or group.

 

Reporting and Recording Bullying

  • Any child who feels bullied is encouraged to report to a trusted adult, or to one of the school’s Pupil Anti-Bullying Ambassadors who will then report it to a member of staff.
  • Children are encouraged to ‘tell, tell and tell again’.
  • Any parent who feels their child is being bullied is encouraged to report to the class teacher or a senior member of school staff.
  • Adults who feel they are bullied are encouraged to report this to the headteacher, or if this is not possible to the lead governor for anti-bullying.
  • All members of the school community are expected to report and must not ignore any bullying they have witnessed.

 

  • All reported allegations of bullying will be recorded in the schools Bullying Log, together with any evidence of substantiation is available.
  • The school will record actions taken and the outcomes of these actions.
  • Allegations of bullying are reported termly to the Full Governing Body in anonymised form, through the headteacher’s report.
  • Bullying incidents will be recorded in the school’s risk management strategy.
  • Data related to bullying allegations will be reviewed termly by the headteacher, and annually by the Governor Safeguarding Committee.

 

Responding to Allegations

On receiving an allegation related to bullying, a senior member of staff will:

  • Take accounts from all involved (victim, bully, bystander witnesses).
  • Inform parents where there is substantiating evidence of bullying.
  • Apply sanctions according to the severity of the bullying. 

In accordance with our Behaviour Policy, confirmed bullying is considered a more serious behaviour and therefore there are no warnings issued:

  1. Loss of break times (in blocks of five minutes);
  2. Removal of pupil from class/activity;
  3. Formal letter home/meeting with parents;
  4. Exclusions from areas (e.g. playground) or activities (e.g. clubs);
  5. Lunchtime exclusion;
  6. Fixed term exclusion;
  7. Permanent exclusion.

In addition:

               Bullies may be helped by:

  • Opportunities to hear from the victim about how they felt;
  • Close working with parents;
  • Daily report card to modify behaviour;
  • Referral is appropriate to other agencies (e.g. school nurse, family steps).

 

Victims may be helped by:

  • Opportunities to tell the bully how they felt and why;
  • Allocation of a named adult for them to confide in;
  • The school pupils being informed of a bullying incident and explicitly told that bullying is unacceptable.

 

 

Preventing Bullying

The school is committed to actively preventing bullying. We therefore will:

  • Review our Anti-Bullying Policy annually, in conjunction with governors, staff and parents;
  • Create an Anti-Bullying Charter with pupils, displayed prominently in the school;
  • Select Pupil Anti-Bullying Ambassadors to support the work of the policy;
  • Provide posters around the school to remind children how to report bullying;
  • Regular references to anti-bullying in school newsletters;
  • An anti-bullying page on the school’s website;
  • Actively engaging in Anti-Bullying week annually;
  • Using our PSHCE to challenge prejudice and social behaviours;
  • Providing regular training opportunities for staff and governors;
  • Specific training is provided for lunchtime staff, as this is a high risk area.