Information for Parents - The School’s Anti-Bullying Policy and Procedure

As a school we have a clear anti-bullying policy and a very successful record in dealing with reports of bullying. The school’s Anti-Bullying & Harassment Policy is available to parents on request. As in all schools the golden rule in successfully dealing with bullying is to report it! Although always vigilant it is not possible to be aware of all bullying situations in school, unless reported.

There are many definitions of bullying, but most consider it to be:

• repeated, often over a period of time (whilst recognising that even a one-off incident can leave a pupil traumatised and nervous of future recurrence)

• deliberately hurtful (including aggression)

• difficult for victims to defend themselves against

Bullying is the wilful, conscious desire to hurt, threaten or frighten someone. Bullying can be physical or psychological. It may involve physical assault, verbal abuse, gesture, intimidation, extortion or exclusion from the group. Bullying can be carried out by an individual or a group.

An individual pupil's perspective on what constitutes bullying is also a key element to take into account e.g. if one person thinks it’s a joke to call someone names but the victim is upset or hurt by the comments, then it is the victims feelings that are paramount.

Bullying can take many forms, but three main types are:

• physical – hitting, kicking, taking belongings, sexual harassment or aggression

• verbal – name calling, insulting, making offensive remarks

• indirect – spreading nasty stories about someone, exclusion from social groups, being made the subject of malicious rumours, sending malicious e- mails or text messages on mobile phones.

Bullying is not falling out with friends, choosing not to play with someone, disliking someone, one off aggressive behavior such as a fight between children who disagree, accidental physical contact, or the normal rough and tumble of playground life. As a County, Carmarthenshire County Council request regular updates on bullying.

Complaints Procedures

Pupil Appeal Procedures

1. The normal procedure for a pupil appeal is for the pupil to talk the matter over with his/her own form tutor or subject teacher or year tutor (Head of Pupil Progress). Most matters can be dealt with by a form tutor’s help and advice.

2. For a minor genuine grievance the form tutor, subject teacher or Head of Pupil Progress will intercede with the person(s) concerned. This is on the understanding that if the pupil who is making the complaint is proved to be at fault then a sanction might well be applied. However, if it is a staff decision that is found to have been made in error or seen as genuinely too harsh, a solution will be attempted.

3. For a major genuine grievance the appeal will be referred to the Deputy Head, who in receipt of a written report from the pupil, will normally investigate. He/She will liaise closely with the appropriate year tutor, or with another senior member of staff if the appeal is against a decision of a year tutor.

4. It should be noted that any mischievous appeal, which wastes the time of a staff member, will result in a serious sanction.

Parent Concerns

1. Parents are asked to discuss any issue of concern with the year tutor (Head of Pupil Progress) and this should always be the first line of contact.

2. Should a parent remain unhappy with the situation and wish to discuss it further, then parents should contact the Deputy Head.

3. In the event of further dissatisfaction, parents always have the right to contact the Headteacher.

4. If, after our best efforts, parents remain concerned then the parent governors are willing to be consulted.

Please contact the Clerk to the Governors (based at Bryngwyn) who will supply you with a Parent Governor telephone number.

The school contact number is 01554 750661.