Anti Bullying Policy

Statement of Intent
At Hoyland Springwood Primary School we are committed to providing a caring, friendly and safe environment for all of our children so they can learn effectively and enjoy school.

Bullying of any kind is unacceptable at our school. If bullying does occur, all children should feel confident in being able to tell an adult or friend and know that the incident/s will be dealt with promptly and effectively in a consistent and fair manner. We want to encourage a telling approach in our school so that anyone who knows that bullying is happening is expected to tell the staff. The purpose of this policy is to promote consistency of approach and to create a climate in which all types of bullying are regarded as totally unacceptable.

What Is Bullying?
Bullying is the use of aggression with the intention of hurting another person. Bullying results in pain and distress to the victim and those associated with them. Bullying can be: Emotional - being unfriendly, excluding, tormenting. Physical - pushing, kicking, hitting, punching or any use of violence. Racist - racial taunts, graffiti, gestures. Sexual - unwanted physical contact or sexually abusive comments Verbal name calling, sarcasm, spreading rumours, teasing. Cyber- bullying - when a person, or a group of people, uses the internet, mobile phones or other digital technologies to threaten, tease or abuse someone

Bullying hurts. No one deserves to be a victim of bullying. Everybody has the right to be treated with respect.

Policy aims
To promote a secure and happy school environment free from threat, harassment and any type of bullying behaviour. To create a positive school ethos which encourages children to disclose and discuss incidences of bullying behaviour. To take positive action to prevent bullying from occurring and to develop effective procedures to investigate and deal with bullying behaviour. To show commitment to overcoming bullying by practising zero tolerance. To inform children and parents of the schools expectations (via our home school agreement and newsletters) and to foster a productive partnership which helps maintain a bully-free environment.

Objectives
All children, parents, staff and governors should have an understanding of what bullying is. All school staff should know what the school policy is on bullying and follow it consistently when bullying is reported or suspected. All children and parents should know what the school policy is on bullying and what they should do if bullying arises. As a school we take bullying seriously. Children and parents should be assured that they will be supported when bullying is reported.

Some Signs and Symptoms of Bullying

A child may indicate by signs or behaviour that he or she is being bullied. Adults should be aware of these possible signs and that they should investigate if a child: is frightened of walking to or from school begs to be driven to school or changes their usual routine is unwilling to go to school begins truanting becomes withdrawn, anxious, or lacking in confidence starts stammering attempts or threatens suicide or runs away cries themselves to sleep at night or has nightmares feels ill in the morning standards of school work slip noticeably comes home with clothes torn or equipment damaged has possessions which go missing asks for money or starts stealing money has unexplained cuts or bruises becomes aggressive, disruptive or unreasonable is bullying other children or siblings stops eating is frightened to say what's wrong or doesnt want to discuss the problem gives improbable excuses for any of the above

These signs and behaviours could indicate other problems, but bullying should be considered a possibility and should be fully investigated

Staff Responsibilities
To listen to all parties involved in incidents and to investigate as fully as possible. To adopt a calm, unemotional problem-solving approach when dealing with incidents of bullying behaviour reported. In any incident of bullying, the member of staff will speak separately to the children involved, in an attempt to get both sides of the story. All interviews will be conducted with sensitivity and with due regard to the rights of all the children concerned. Children who are not directly involved can also provide useful information in this way. To take appropriate action, or to refer the matter to a member of the LT for further action. To record all bullying incidents investigated in the behavior log and SIMS.net To inform parents of bullying incidents and the action taken to resolve the situation so that they are in a position to help and support their child. To promote the use of a range of teaching and learning styles and strategies which challenge bullying behaviour. To foster by example the values we as a school believe in.

All non-teaching staff are expected to report all incidents of bullying behaviour witnessed by them to a member of the teaching staff. All reports of bullying, no matter how trivial, will be investigated and dealt with by class teachers, learning mentor or behaviour inclusion worker. In that way children will gain confidence in telling. This confidence factor is of vital importance.

Outcomes
1. The bully may be asked to genuinely apologise. Other consequences may take place in line with our school behaviour policy. 2. In serious cases, suspension or even permanent exclusion will be considered. 3. If possible the children will be reconciled. 4. After the incident / incidents have been investigated and dealt with, each case will be monitored to ensure repeated bullying does not take place. 5. Parents are to be informed of any outcomes either verbally or in writing

Anti Cyber-Bullying Policy

This school believes that all people in our community have the right to teach and learn in a supportive, caring and safe environment without fear of being bullied. We believe that every individual in school has a duty to report an incident of bullying whether it happens to themselves or to another person.
WHAT IS CYBER-BULLYING?

There are many types of cyber-bullying. Although there may be some of which we are unaware, here are the more common. 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 victims 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 elses 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 realtime 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" sites such as Bebo (which works by signing on in ones school, therefore making it easy to find a victim) Facebook and Myspace although there are others. At Hoyland Springwood Primary, we take this bullying as seriously as all other types of bullying and, therefore, will deal with each situation individually. An episode may result in a simple verbal warning. It might result in a parental discussion. Clearly, more serious cases will result in further sanctions. 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.

Our school has:

An Acceptable Use Police (AUP) that includes clear statements about ecommunications Information for parents on: E-communication standards and practices in schools, what to do if problems arise, whats being taught in the curriculum. . Support for parents and pupils if cyber bullying occurs by: assessing the harm caused, identifying those involved, taking steps to repair harm and to prevent recurrence.