Bullying of a persistent nature takes place rarely at our school. However, we must always remain alert to the possibility of its occurrence.

Bullying can take place in many ways and is not always obvious. An equal disagreement between children who are usually friends would not cause concern if this was not often repeated or prolonged. However if your child is unhappy to come to school there must be a reason. Sometimes they just want to be at home. Perhaps something exciting is happening there e.g. a new baby or visitors from abroad. Perhaps something unhappy is happening at home that they want to know about to make sure they and their loved ones are safe. If these possibilities have been counted out then perhaps the problem is at school and you should tackle it sooner rather than later.

The most important strategy for all children to understand and carry out is to tell someone if they feel that they are being bullied. This could be their class teacher or teaching assistant, a member of the family or a best friend. The person who has been told then has the responsibility to bring it to the attention of an adult in school who will then follow the correct procedures in school. If we don’t know about it we can’t help. We have found that where school has been informed early on about the problem then the success rate of dealing with bullying is significantly improved. Generally speaking it is better to involve school rather than the parent of the suspected bully. It is then harder for us to resolve if a parental argument has taken place.

Please discuss the problem with your child’s class teacher initially and they will look into the problem. They will also inform senior members of staff, who will consider if any additional measures need to be taken.

If the problem is resolved -  great! If not then please see the Head Teacher who will then engage additional measures to resolve the problem.

Should it become apparent that a child is being bullied in any way at all they will be taught specific strategies to support them. A circle of friends will also be implemented to aid the victim as well as the bully. Frequent monitoring and strategies with members of staff will be put in place until the problem has been fully resolved. Parents will be kept informed of progress being made throughout.

Should it become clear that children are involved in the bullying of another child their parents will be informed and discussion will take place as to the successful resolution of the problem for all children. The bully is often unhappy too!

On a more positive note we have only rare occurrences of bullying and we have been successful in tackling them. Our Personal, and Social education lessons tackles many of these issues with children in the hope that they are less likely to bully and they know what to do if someone attempts to bully them. Bullies only bully if you allow them to. The bullied child must tell someone!

Full details can be found in our anti-bullying school policy, available from the school website.