Anti-bullying

What happens if a child is being bullied?

What is bullying?

Bullying can be defined by behaviour by an individual or group, usually repeated over time, that intentionally hurts others either physically or emotionally.

ARTICLE 2 UN RIGHTS OF THE CHILD (non-discrimination)

The Convention applies to every child without discrimination, whatever their ethnicity, sex, religion, language, abilities or any other status, whatever they think or say, whatever their family background.

Bullying is expressed through a range of hurtful behaviours: it can happen face-to-face or in the digital environment. It can be carried out by an individual or group but is generally executed in front of an audience to assert power or popularity. It may involve an element of secrecy so that adults are not aware of it.

Bullying differs from an argument, a fight or friendship fallout in that it:

• is deliberate or intentional

• is generally repeated over time

• involves a perceived imbalance of power between perpetrator and target

• causes feelings of distress, fear, loneliness, humiliation and powerlessness. It is recognised that a one-off incident can leave a learner traumatised and nervous of reprisals or future recurrence.

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There are a number of distinctive elements associated with bullying. These include, but are not limited to:

• intention to harm – bullying is deliberate with the intention to cause harm. Those who bully others are often skilled at knowing exactly how to humiliate or hurt their target, picking on key aspects of their appearance, personality or identity that produces the effect wanted. They seek out the area in which they have power over their target

• harmful outcome – someone or a group is hurt physically or emotionally. They can be isolated, humiliated or made fearful. Their sense of self-worth is reduced

• direct or indirect acts – bullying can involve direct aggression such as hitting, as well as indirect acts such as spreading rumours, revealing private information about someone or sharing intimate images with people for whom the information/images were not intended

• repetition – bullying usually involves repeated acts of negative behaviour or acts of aggression. An isolated aggressive act, such as a fight, is not usually considered bullying.

Yet any incident can be the start of a pattern of bullying behaviour which develops subsequently. That is why incident records are so valuable.

• unequal power – bullying involves the abuse of power by one person or a group who are (perceived as) more powerful, often due to their age, physical strength, popularity or psychological resilience.

How is bullying expressed?

Bullying can take many forms, including:

• physical – kicking, tripping someone up or shoving them, injuring someone, damaging their belongings or gestures of intimidation

• verbal – taunts and name-calling, insults, threats, humiliation or intimidation

• emotional – behaviour intended to isolate, hurt or humiliate someone

• indirect – sly or underhand actions carried out behind the target’s back or rumour-spreading

• online – using any form of technological means, mobile phones, social networks, gaming, chat rooms, forums or apps to bully via text, messaging, images or video

• relational aggression – bullying that tries to harm the target’s relationships or social status: drawing their friends away, exploiting a person’s additional learning needs (ALN) or long-term illness, targeting their family’s social status, isolating or humiliating someone or deliberately getting someone into trouble

• sexual – unwanted touching, threats, suggestions, comments and jokes or innuendo. This can also include any misuse of intimate, explicit images of the learner targeted

• prejudice-related – bullying of a learner or a group of learners because of prejudice. This could be linked to stereotypes or presumptions about identity. Prejudice-related bullying includes the protected characteristics. Prejudice can and does also extend beyond the protected characteristics and can lead to bullying for a variety of other reasons such as social status and background.

Possible Signs of Bullying

(NSPCC GUIDANCE)

https://www.nspcc.org.uk/what-is-child-abuse/types-of-abuse/bullying-and-cyberbullying/

No single sign will indicate for certain that your child's being bullied, but watch out for:

• belongings getting 'lost' or damaged

• physical injuries, such as unexplained bruises

• being afraid to go to school, being mysteriously 'ill' each morning, or skipping school

• not doing as well at school

• asking for, or stealing, money (to give to whoever's bullying them)

• being nervous, losing confidence, or becoming distressed and withdrawn

• problems with eating or sleeping

• bullying others.

Effects of Bullying

The effects of bullying can last into adulthood. At its worst, bullying has driven children and young people to self-harm and even suicide.

Children who are bullied:

• may develop mental health problems like depression and anxiety

• have fewer friendships

• aren't accepted by their peers

• are wary and suspicious of others

• have problems adjusting to school, and don't do as well.

All children who are affected by bullying can suffer harm – whether they are bullied, they bully others or they witness bullying.

What bullying is not:

The following examples are cases which would not normally be considered bullying:

• friendship fallouts – a friendship feud may however deteriorate into bullying behaviour that is enabled by the fact that former friends have an intimate knowledge of the fears and insecurities of one another. Children and young people who are targeted by former friends feel the betrayal deeply and are frequently isolated from their former friendship group

• a one-off fight – this will be addressed according to the school’s positive relationships policy unless it is part of a pattern of behaviour that indicates intentional targeting of another individual

• an argument or disagreement – between two children or young people is not generally regarded as bullying. Nevertheless they may require assistance to learn to respect others’ views

• a one-off physical assault – this would be stopped and addressed immediately. Police involvement in cases where physical assault has happened may also be appropriate

• insults and banter – children and young people will often protest that an incident was a joke or banter. If two friends of equal power are in the habit of bantering with one another it is not deemed to be bullying. If one learner uses banter to humiliate or threaten another who is powerless to stop it and made fearful by the act, the border between banter and bullying is likely to be crossed The police should be notified as soon as possible if it is suspected that a criminal offence has been committed against a child or young person.

• a one-off instance of hate crime – unless this behaviour is repeated it would not usually be regarded as bullying but it would be criminal behaviour, which the Welsh Government would expect to be dealt with in accordance with the school’s behaviour policy and other relevant policies, such as the school’s ‘Prevent’ policy. If considered necessary, the school would also need to involve the police.

Why it is important to prevent and challenge bullying:

Schools must comply with their legal duty to safeguard all learners. A great body of research shows the devastating and long-lasting impact bullying can have, not only to targets but to perpetrators of bullying and bystanders too. Severe impacts can be long-term, including poor mental health and reduced well-being. Bullying can also lead to children and young people becoming lonely and socially isolated. The growing evidence on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) demonstrates the ways in which childhood experiences can have significant impacts on a person’s ability to form and maintain relationships in childhood or adolescence and with long-lasting impacts into adulthood. This is why it is so important to ensure children and young people have positive relationship experiences.

ARTICLE 39 UN RIGHTS OF THE CHILD (recovery from trauma and reintegration)

Children who have experienced neglect, abuse, exploitation, torture or who are victims of war must receive special support to help them recover their health, dignity, self-respect and social life.

Raising awareness of bullying at HTPS

Schools must comply with their legal duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of learners and any other legal duties. The headteacher and school governing body will ensure all teachers, support staff and administrative staff are aware of their school’s anti-bullying policy and the procedures to follow if a learner reports being bullied. Some approaches to raise awareness, include:

• Restorative Approaches

• Annual refresher training on the anti-bullying and positive relationships policy

• Awareness weeks such as ‘Positive Relationships Week’

• Staff briefings to provide updates as needed

• ACES and trauma informed practice

• THRIVE approaches

Anti-bullying as part of the school curriculum

Whole school initiatives and proactive teaching strategies are used throughout the school to develop a positive learning environment with the aim of reducing opportunities for bullying to occur. These include:

• Restorative Approaches

• Strong focus on the school values (centred around respect)

• Assemblies to reinforce positive behaviour

• Awareness weeks such as ‘Positive Relationships’ week

• Weekly positive reward cup for positive relationships and playtimes cup for positive playtimes

• Lunchtime ‘chill-zone’ social groups

• Daily ‘time to talk’ sessions where children can self-refer themselves for sessions with an Emotional Support Assistance

• PSE, SEAL, THRIVE, ELSA, Pause for Thought, Reflect to Respect, Reflection Steps and Circle Time activities are used to support anti-bullying work

• Emotional Support Assistant – providing bespoke support

• Praise and reward for good behaviour- Awards Assembly, Golden time, Dojo points, Warm Fuzzies, Star of the day, termly reward trips, stickers, praise postcards etc

• Encouraging the whole school community to act as role models for the desired behaviour

• Treating all adults and children with respect

• Use of purple, yellow and red slips to communicate with parents

• Communication of the policy, as well as periodic updates to ensure that staff and pupils are continuously aware of their individual responsibilities

• Parent support planning meetings with families

• Half termly pillars of expectations

• Ongoing professional learning for staff including ACES and trauma informed practices

• Calmelyons peer mediators

Anti-bullying ambassadors

We have recently trained up a group of children as anti bullying ambassadors as part of the Diana Award Anti-Bullying Campaign. It engages young people, parents and teachers to change the attitudes, behaviour and culture of bullying by building skills and confidence to address different situations, both online and offline.

https://www.antibullyingpro.com/

Incidents of bullying are very low at Herbert Thompson but if you are ever concerned that your child might be being bullied, please speak to Mrs Marsh or Mrs Jones.