At St James’ we take bullying very seriously. Pupils and parents should be assured that they will be supported when bullying is reported to a member of staff.
We have three rules which are:
In school we work to promote an ethos where children are safe, respectful and individual. We aim draw upon these core values to illustrate how bullying can be prevented and resolved. The School recognises that children will learn best in a safe and calm community that is free from disruption and in which education is the primary focus. Staff, children and parents have a responsibility to report bullying as soon as possible. They also have a responsibility to implement the preventative strategies outlined in our Anti-Bullying policy.
We use a shared moto at St James’ which we promote through posters around the school and assemblies.
Bullying is ‘Behaviour by an individual or a group, usually repeated over time that intentionally hurts another individual either physically or emotionally’.
Bullying can include: name calling, taunting, mocking, making offensive comments, kicking, hitting, taking belongings, inappropriate text messaging and electronic messaging (including through web-sites, social networking sites and instant messenger), sending offensive or degrading images by phone or via the internet, producing offensive graffiti, gossiping, excluding people from groups and spreading hurtful and untruthful rumours. Not all unpleasantness between pupils is bulling, some can be regarded as random acts of unkindness such as refusing to talk to a person.
Each year, we as a school take part in Anti-Bullying Week (held in the month of November). Anti-Bullying Week shines a spotlight on bullying and encourages all children, teachers and parents to take action against bullying. Over the course of Anti-Bullying Week, we hold a number of school assemblies and each class completes a number of activities designed at educating the children about what bullying is and how to deal with its different forms effectively.
Anti-Bullying is a regular theme for Collective Worship and during the spring term we have a three week focus on Anti-Bullying. Through Collective worship, we explore trust, courage and humility, and how these relate to anti-bullying in our school.
We have introduced an Anti-Bullying policy for the children of St James’ explaining bullying and what they should do if they feel that they are being bullied.
If pupils witness bullying or feel they are being bullied they can tell any member of staff who must pass the information on to the relevant class teachers or the Headteacher.
Pupils may also write down any worries they have about bullying and put theses into a worry box for Mrs Turner to read. This information may be passed on to class teachers.
If a member of staff witnesses bullying they must record this onto our online reporting system, CPOMS which will alert the necessary staff, who will take appropriate action.
Parents can report bullying by:
If you think your child is being bullied by other pupils at his or her school you should speak to the school.
If your child tells you that he or she is being bullied, you should:
