William Shrewsbury Primary School

We aim to create a happy, caring environment in which children develop self-confidence and independence and are encouraged to be considerate and show respect for others, while reaching their true potential.

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ANTI-BULLYING POLICY There is no justification whatsoever for bullying behaviour and it is not to be tolerated in any form. Bullying of whatever kind is unacceptable and must not be regarded as an inevitable or necessary part of growing up. It must be clearly understood by everyone that it is wrong and will not be tolerated in this school, or on the way to and from school. Our ultimate aim is to provide a safe learning environment free of any threat or fear, which will enable us to support the aspirations, achievement and welfare of everyone in the school community.

Definition William Shrewsbury School define bullying as: ‘Incidents of unacceptable behaviour by one or more people, which results in or with the intention of somebody feeling hurt, threatened or frightened. This can be physical, cyber, gesture, verbal, emotional or psychological and includes hitting, intimidation, coercion, ostracising, damaging a person’s property as well as racial, sexual and disability harassment. This can be short term or continue for a longer period of time.’ Refer also to ‘The Equality Act 2010’ and ‘The Children’s Act 1989.’ The values and beliefs underlying this policy are:  All bullying is unacceptable regardless of how it is delivered or what excuses are given to justify it.  William Shrewsbury School recognises the detrimental effect on pupils who may be subjected to bullying and will work actively to minimise the risks.  Both those who are bullied and those who bully will be treated in a supportive manner, rather than be regarded as a burden to staff and peer groups.  The harmful effect on pupil performance, which can be occasioned by bullying, is recognised and William Shrewsbury school is committed to combating all bullying behaviour. Bullying affects everyone, not just the bullies and the person being bullied. It affects those who watch and less aggressive pupils can be drawn in by group pressure. Staff should be alert to signs of bullying and harassment, must take seriously any complaint of bullying and deal with it firmly, fairly and promptly. Statement of Intent The aims and objectives are: 

To reduce and eradicate, wherever possible, instances in which pupils are subjected to bullying in any form.  To establish appropriate means of providing after care should an incident of bullying occur.  To ensure that all pupils, staff, parents and governors are aware of this policy and fulfil their obligation to it. 2

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This policy is a whole school policy, and part of a wider commitment to developing positive relationships, equal opportunities and citizenship within the community.

WILLIAM SHREWSBURY PRIMARY SCHOOL SCHOOL AIMS AND MISSION STATEMENT ‘ to provide the highest quality educational experiences in a caring, stimulating environment, enabling our children to learn, grow and achieve in all aspects of their lives by promoting independence and a life-long love of learning.’ Action to combat bullying There are clear procedures and guidelines for all school members to follow should bullying occur. In order that incidents may be detected, behaviour monitored and appropriate after care delivered, there is a support system within the school, with specific roles and responsibilities identified. Bullying can take many forms, including:  Physical – hit, kick or manhandle  Verbal – teasing/ name-calling, insults relating to physical or social appearance, disability/ gender/ ethnic origin/ sexual orientation or personality  Psychological – spreading rumours, excluding from activities/ discussions/ groups of friends  Extortion – threats to obtain money or property  Damage/ theft to/ of belongings  Cyber-bullying (See Appendix) As a school we shall seek to:  Support children who are being bullied  Help bullies to change their behaviour  Meet those concerned individually and find out the facts of any incident  Use peer group pressure to actively discourage bullying  Break up bully groups where necessary  Involve parents at an early stage if an incident is serious or repeated  Help children develop positive strategies and assertiveness  Involve and discuss regularly with children agreed class rules and behaviour  Involve other agencies when necessary Procedures and Consequences The following are a summary of our working practices: 1. Children, adults, dinner supervisors, office and support staff should report incidents to teaching staff or LMT. a. All alleged incidents of bullying are taken seriously, reported to SLT and logged b. Cases of serious bullying should be logged on the appropriate form: REPORTED INCIDENT OF ALLEGED BULLYING. This is done by a member of LMT. These forms will be given to the appropriate member of LMT and collected regularly for review by Mr. Runacus. The forms will be kept in the Anti-Bullying file to help monitor bullying within William Shrewsbury.

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2. The Headteacher, Mr. Runacus, the appropriate member of the LMT and the class teachers are to be informed of those involved, the agreed action to be taken, including the support to be given to the victim and perpetrator/s. 3. Initially the ‘no blame’ system will be used to allow both the victim and bully/bullies to improve situations. The seven steps used in this system are followed:  Step 1 Interview with victim  Step 2 A meeting of those involved  Step 3 Explain the problem  Step 4 Don’t blame anyone  Step 5 Ask the group to make suggestions  Step 6 Leave it up to them  Step 7 Interview individuals to discuss progress 4. The bullying behaviour and threats of bullying must immediately stop. This will be monitored. 5. The bully will offer an apology and other consequences may take place or be considered. (see Behaviour Policy) 6. Whenever possible pupils will be reconciled. 7. Attempts will be made to help the bully (bullies) change their behaviour. 8. Attempts will be made to support the victims. 9. If the bullying continues or the bully changes their victim but continues to bully, further steps may be taken:  A record of the bullying will be made on the form: REPORTED INCIDENT OF ALLEGED BULLYING. This is done by a member of SLT and appropriate teachers will be informed. At this point the child is given the opportunity to put things right. A date will be agreed to review their changed behaviour and if improvement is made the form will be destroyed. The agreed date should be at least half a term long to ensure behaviour is being improved. (Serious bullying incidents may require parents to be involved at this stage.)  The bully may be monitored by teachers, peer mediators, dinner supervisors, parents or peers.  If bullying continues the child’s parents will be informed and ask to meet with LMT. Targets for improvement will be set with the child and their parents. This may involve an IBP. These are developed for each individual child’s specific needs with our school SENCO. William Shrewsbury SENCO, the class teacher and or support staff/parents develop an appropriate IBP. An IBP may contain a wide variety of programmes relevant to pupils’ behavioural needs.  Behaviour Reports, Personal Behaviour Contracts and Individual Behaviour Programmes may also be used to help the bully improve their behaviour.  Anti-bullying work may be needed within the child’s/children’s class or year group to emphasize the seriousness of bullying.  The bully may need further support with our pupil support councillor. (CAMHS).  If necessary and appropriate, the police will be consulted. 4

10. Parents’ involvement: Parents reporting a bullying incident should be listened to as promptly as possible and informed of the outcome of their concerns. 11. The member of the LMT involved will arrange meetings or discussion times with both the bully’s and victim’s parents so that support may be organised for both the victim and bully, if necessary. Records of meetings with parents will be recorded. Parental support will be very important for both the victims and bullies. 12. In serious cases, suspension or exclusion may be considered. 13. Within our PSHE curriculum there are many opportunities to discuss inappropriate bullying behaviour and each year group has set areas of the anti-bullying programme to teach. We also hold an Anti-Bullying week each year to highlight the importance of this. 14. Our Mission Statement and Core Values emphasise the collective responsibility, all staff share, in dealing with any form of intimidation or bullying among adults. 

The policy is communicated and periodically updated in order to ensure all staff, pupils, parents and governors are continuously aware of the policy and their individual responsibilities. A copy of the statement of intent, definition and brief summary of the school anti-bullying policy will be included in the school prospectus.

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The school environment, procedures and practises are examined and altered in an effort to reduce the risks of bullying behaviour occurring.

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All staff (teaching and non-teaching) are made aware of their responsibilities in respect of this policy so that it can be delivered in a caring and efficient manner.

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The school recognises the need for appropriate training and support.

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Opportunities are regularly provided for all pupils, staff, parents and governors to discuss and implement the policy.

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Strategies include our annual Anti-bullying Week and PSHE Life Skills Programme which outlines opportunities for teachers and year groups to combat and educate against bullying.

Prevention At William Shrewsbury we use many methods to prevent bullying. These include:  Pupils being involved in formulating our Golden Rules and class rules.  Pupils having their own School Councils both in KS1 and KS2 which allow pupils to have a student voice.  Parents and pupils signing the Home School Agreement.  Parents being made aware of school rules through our Behaviour Code/ pamphlet for parents.  Pupils being responsible for their school through posts of responsibility e.g. prefects, star monitors, Colour Family ambassadors, librarians, gardeners, badge holders and class monitors.  Perfect Pals, our peer mediators, help support, monitor, arbitrate and reconcile pupils. 5

 Keeping pupil self-esteem high through positive encouragement of good behaviour (refer to the Behaviour Policy).  Using behaviour contracts and reports personalized for individual children.  Teaching about anti-bullying and difference and diversity.  Reading or writing stories relating to anti-bullying.  Using drama or role-play to promote discussions.  Promoting good sportsmanship through all physical education.(refer to PE Policy)  Using Circle Time to discuss issues and allow individual pupils opportunities to voice concerns.  Having an Anti-bullying Week in Spring Term where each year group follows a special programme of anti-bullying work.  Assemblies relating to anti-bullying behaviour.  Assemblies where pupils are explicitly encouraged to recognise bullying and support peers by telling.  Emotional Literacy Issues and strategies within our curriculum.  Using internet links, IWB programmes, DVD’s, Videos, TV programmes to demonstrate unacceptable and acceptable behaviour concerning bullying.  Pupils watching appropriate role models.  Listening and discussing types of bullying and consequences with specialists.  WS Happiness Survey that offers a communication system between pupils and their teacher.  Individuals working with Rachel Sue Salt our Inclusion Officer.  Teaching and support staff being strategically placed during duties to ensure our environment is monitored and safe.  ICT work on Cyber-Bullying to highlight issues that this may cause. Parents and Pupils It is important that pupils, parents and staff recognise their responsibilities in ensuring that the purpose and intent of the anti-bullying policy is effectively implemented. Pupils are expected to: (Reviewed with School Councils)  Report all incidents of bullying using the procedures in place.  Act in a respectful and supportive manner reporting any suspected incidents which the victim may be afraid to report.  Adhere to and promote the aims and objectives of this statement.  Refrain at all times from any behaviour, which would constitute bullying. Parents too can play a vital role by:  Stressing to their children the importance of social behaviour.  Reporting any misgivings they have concerning bullying.  Actively endorsing and supporting the Anti-Bullying Policy.  Noting that it is never appropriate to use physical violence against, or in any other way seek to bully, a bully. Staff Anti-bullying Staff should to be aware of policies and guidelines from the Local Authority concerning bullying and harassment in the workplace and the schools interpretation of it. These are available from S LT. Evaluation Procedures In order to assess the effectiveness of this policy, the following standards will be used as a means of measuring performance: 6

Monitoring and Evaluation of Anti-bullying       

Numbers of reported incidents will be monitored. (Even though these may increase during the implementation of our policy or during active anti-bullying initiatives. Our intention is that these reduce over a period of time.) Views of parents and other members of the school community will also be sought over how effective they think the school is when dealing with bullying. These may include questionnaires to staff, parents and pupils. Variations in the number of reported incidents over a given period will be monitored and evaluated. Variations in the nature of reported incidents over a given period will be monitored. Variations in the number of pupil absences, including post-registration absence as an indicator of bullying, both unauthorised or condoned. Discussions with School Councils or recommendations from School Councils. Information from children and staff, Health and Safety Committee, Play Committee, Eco Representatives, parents and Governors, to consider environmental issues that may combat bullying.

All pupils, staff, parents and governors have an active part to play in the evolution, development and maintenance of this policy. It is everyone’s responsibility to prevent bullying from happening. M. Runacus Review Date : Summer 2016

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Appendix CYBER-BULLYING We take cyber bullying as seriously as all other types of bullying and, therefore, will deal with each situation individually. Cyber Bullying Technology allows the user to bully anonymously or from an unknown location, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Cyber-bullying leaves no physical scars so it is, perhaps, less evident to a parent or teacher, but it is highly intrusive and the hurt it causes can be very severe. There are many types of cyber-bullying including: 

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Text messages —that are threatening or cause discomfort - also included here is "Bluejacking" (the sending of anonymous text messages over short distances using"Bluetooth" wireless technology) Picture/video-clips via mobile phone cameras - images sent to others to make the victim feel threatened or embarrassed. Mobile phone calls — silent calls or abusive messages; or stealing the victim’s phone and using it to harass others, to make them believe the victim is responsible. Emails — threatening or bullying emails, often sent using a pseudonym or somebody else’s name. Chatroom bullying — menacing or upsetting responses to children or young people when they are in web-based Chatroom. Instant messaging (IM) — unpleasant messages sent while children conduct real-time conversations online using MSM (Microsoft Messenger) or Yahoo Chat– although there are others. Bullying via websites — use of defamatory blogs (web logs), personal websites and online personal “own web space.”

At William Shrewsbury children are taught how to use new technologies safely through discrete ICT lessons as well as in other areas of the curriculum. The children are taught:  How to use technology appropriately.  The risks and consequences of misusing technology.  The children know what to do if they or someone they know are being cyber bullied.  The school provides its pupils with secure ICT systems such as Skoodle. To report any problems with cyber bullying.  To not delete any offensive messages, texts and e-mails.  To never reply or respond to any abusive calls, messages, texts and e-mails. Young people are particularly adept at adapting to new technology, an area that can seem a closed world to adults. As a result school informs parents about E-communication standards and practices in schools, what to do if problems arise and what’s being taught in the curriculum. Parents are provided with copies of the e-safety and Acceptable Use Policy that includes clear statements about e communications. The consequences of cyber bullying may result in a simple verbal warning, parental discussion and further sanctions. This will occur in line with the school anti-bullying and behaviour polices. Appropriate support will be provided for pupils and parents if cyber bullying occurs by: assessing the harm caused, identifying those involved, taking steps to repair harm and to prevent recurrence.

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