Anti-bullying

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Anti-bullying 2022-06-28T10:25:05+00:00
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Being an anti-bullying school

Haggerston School is an anti-bullying school; bullying is not accepted in our community. We work in partnerships based on mutual respect and we value and respect everyone equally through listening and sharing. 

Please see our anti-bullying policy on our Policies webpage for further information.

What is bullying?

Bullying can be defined as a physical, psychological or verbal attack against an individual or group of individuals, by a person or group of persons, causing physical or psychological harm to the victim. The attacks typically are repeated and occur over a period of time. Haggerston School recognises that there are different types of bullying behaviours, but maintains that bullying of any type is not acceptable.

The Student Union’s statement about bullying:

“Bullying can lower someone’s self-esteem and lead to self confidence issues; this can also occur on social media. Bullying should not be a form of seeking approval.”

Students at Haggerston School believe:

  • We must open our eyes and raise awareness so that bullying has greater visibility.
  • We must realise that discrimination is not “banter”.
  • We should tell a trusted adult.
  • We should support each other and try to be the best version of ourselves.
  • We must educate ourselves and realise that bullying is never acceptable.

How we educate about bullying

Click on the below titles to find out how we deal with bullying at Haggerston School.

Prevention

“A school’s response to bullying should not start at the point at which a child has been bullied. The best schools develop a more sophisticated approach in which school staff proactively gather intelligence about issues between pupils which might provoke conflict and develop strategies to prevent bullying occurring in the first place.” (Department for Education – Preventing and tackling bullying, July 2017)

Preventing bullying behaviours can be possible through a range of proactive measures. At Haggerston School, we look for every opportunity to prevent bullying type behaviours from happening.  Some of the actions the school takes to prevent bullying include:

  • The issue of bullying is included in the curriculum and classwork.
  • Bullying is addressed through the PSHE programme and is aligned with the standards of the PSHE Association.
  • The Form Time and Assembly programmes reinforce British Values and the ethos of the school.
  • We also prevent bullying by teaching right and wrong and empathy, how to keep ourselves safe and get out strategies, we also signpost where to go for support and help, in school locally and nationally. 
  • Students are not permitted to use their mobile phones around the school. This is partly to prevent cyber-bullying.
  • Duty staff have been trained to be vigilant and to watch and listen for any bullying type behaviours, no matter how small.
  • Duty points have been carefully considered to ensure there are no ‘dead spaces’ where bullying can take place undisturbed.
  • Seating plans in lessons are carefully considered using any relevant information about the relationships between specific pupils.
  • External speakers raise awareness of issues such as racism and homophobia.
  • Posters around the school emphasise the importance of diversity in the school community.
  • Working with the wider community such as the police/children’s services where bullying is particularly serious or persistent to send a strong message that bullying is unacceptable within our school.

Haggerston School recognises that specific groups of students are particularly vulnerable to bullying.  These include children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), young carers, Black and Minority Ethnic (BME), those who are, or thought to be lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersexual, asexual or pansexual (LGBTQ+).  As such, prevention of bullying considers the specific patterns of discrimination these groups face.

Ways of reporting bullying

  • Tell a trusted adult
  • Complete the online reporting google form
  • Use one of the green anti-bullying boxes

Responding to reports of bullying

Haggerston School will take the following steps when dealing with concerns about bullying: 

  • If bullying is suspected or reported, the member of staff who has been made aware of it must log this on the ClassCharts system both as a behaviour incident and a safeguarding concern; 
  • A clear account of the concern will be recorded and referred to the appropriate Head of Year/Assistant to the Head of Year/Safeguarding Team; 
  • The Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL)/Deputy DSL/Head of Year/Assistant Head of Year will interview everyone involved and keep a detailed record. This will be held in line with the school’s data protection policy/practice; 
  • Form tutors will be kept informed and will provide support where appropriate; 
  • Parents and other relevant adults will be kept informed; 
  • Sanctions will be used as appropriate and in consultation with all parties involved; 
  • It is vital that accurate records are kept of incidents and how the school has responded.

Supporting students who have been bullied

Students who have been bullied will be supported by:

  • offering an immediate opportunity to discuss the experience with an appropriate member of staff of their choice; 
  • providing reassurance that the bullying will be addressed; 
  • offering continuous support; 
  • restoring self-esteem and confidence; 
  • the use of specialist interventions and/or referrals to other agencies e.g. educational psychology, where appropriate;

Helping students who have bullied

Students who have bullied will be helped by:

  • discussing what happened; 
  • discovering why the student became involved; 
  • establishing the wrongdoing and need to change; 
  • informing parents to help change the attitude of the student; 
  • referring them via the Student Concern Form to make use of specialist interventions and/or referrals to other agencies where appropriate; 
  • sanctions where bullying incidents are clearly proven e.g. the bully should apologise and think of a way in which they can make up for the behaviour;
  • the bullying incident being referred according to the clear guidelines in the whole school behaviour policy.

Parent Guidance