Lewis Charlton School
LEWIS CHARLTON SCHOOL ANTI - BULLYING POLICY
Lewis Charlton School adopts an anti-bullying policy. Staff members are expected to be
vigilant to the various, often subtle forms, that bullying can take and to intervene at the
first hint of bullying between peers. lntervention could, at this stage, take the form of
reminding children of adult presence, giving a questioning or disapproving look, using
diversion tactics or refocusing students on their work. If the suspected bullying continues
staff will need to interrupt the behaviour more sharply. Separation of the bullying from
the bullied will need to take place and it may be necessary to alert further staff to affect
this. It is important that staff do not dismiss the behaviour as inconsequential squabbles.
Most, if not all of our students, will have been victims of bullying. Many will have bullied
others. Lewis Charlton School is committed to changing both situations and helping
children to move towards self-assertion and respect for others. To these ends students
will rarely be unsupervised, even during leisure periods and staff are asked to be alert to
untimely or uncharacteristic signs of stress in individual children.
The ethos of the school promotes the likelihood that student observers will confide in
staff if they perceive bullying. The nature of the student group may determine that
children are very attuned to the role of the victim and maybe even set themselves up as
such. Open staff/student communication is the key to establishing a culture of honesty
and inter-dependence. Delinquent subcultures and staff/students "splits" are to be
heavily sanctioned.
Anxiety is often at the root of bullying. Our task is to establish firm boundaries with the
bully in order to work towards reparation. Counselling the bully as well as the victim is
relevant. Other children can be instrumental in effecting change for the bully. They can
also help to support the victim, maybe introducing means of greater resilience and/or
movement away from punishment-seeking'
Sometimes students may attempt to intimidate staff. Staff will be expected to respond in
a non-retaliatory manner but to refuse the victim-role, involving other staff as necessary
to ensure the physical and emotional safety of the adults and children. In the event that a
child perceives he or she is being bullied by an adult, or a member of staff is concerned
about the behaviour of an adult towards the child, complaints procedures and/or child
protection procedures will be invoked.
Whole school issues will be considered as just that - with the whole school- Corporate
responsibility will be encouraged in a group that is small enough for each individual to be
heard but large enough to obtain different perspectives. Taking account of the individual
and the group is a key focus at the school, as testified by our work with our consultant
psychotherapist and group analyst.
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Anti-Bullying page 2
Twice daily school meetings provide the forum for discussion of bullying - boundarysetting and policy making. Addressing bullying is an issue rather than an incident in the
context of group of children, all of whom have felt victims and most of whom have been
perpetrators, requires staff sensitivity but provides opportunity for the young people to
look at their own behaviour from a less defensive position and promotes the
development of empathy.
An emphasis on sanctions risks returning the bully to the unthinking, defensive position.
However students need to be aware that member of Lewis Charlton School entails a
commitment to the school's anti-bullying and the basic "Keeping Safe" message of the
School Code.
What is bullying?
Bullying is when one or more people physically, emotionally or psychologically hurt or
cause harm to a person. Bullying usually happens over period of time and consists of a
series of different incidents. Bullying is the abuse of power by one person over another.
Different types of bullying include:
PHYSICAL - hitting, kicking, spitting, biting' squeezing, tripping someone up,
stealing/damaging someone's belongings.
VERBAL - name calling, insulting a person’s family, threats of physical violence,
spreading rumours, constantly putting someone down.
EMOTIONAL/PSYCHOLOGICAL - excluding someone from a group, humiliation
RACIST - insulting language/gestures based on a person’s actual or perceived ethnic
origin or faith, name calling, graffiti, racially motivated violence
SEXUAL- sexually insulting language/gestures, name calling, graffiti, unwanted physical
contact
HOMOPHOBIC - insulting language/gestures based on a person's actual or perceived
sexuality, name-calling, graffiti, homophobic violence (see individual homophobic
bullying policy)
ELECTRONIC - bullying by text message, Internet, chat rooms, bulletin boards and
through instant messaging services (see individual cyber bullying policy)
How LC will handle bullying
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When bullying is reported it will be taken seriously.
Staff will work with the young person who is being bullied to help them feel safe
and find responses to bullying that work
Staff will work with the young person or people who are bullying to challenge the
bullying behaviour
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Wherever possible, staff will work with the parent carers of any student who is
being bullied to support and encourage that student in finding solutions to the
bullying
Anti-Bullying page 3
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Wherever possible, staff will work the parents/carers of any student who is
bullying to support and encourage that student in finding altematives to their
bullying behaviour
Pupils being bullied: what do you do?
Follow the "TELL" technique
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TALK to someone
EXPECT that they do something to stop the bullying. If not, tell someone else or
make an official complaint.
LOOK for things you can do well. Do not be put down
LEARN to love yourself. Bullies hate confidence because they lack it!
Pupils who see someone being bullied: what do you do?
Follow the "CARE ' Technique
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CONTACT a member of staff
ALLOW adults to deal with the problem without trying to "take the law into your
own hands" - You too risk becoming a victim or a bully
REASSURE your friend by just being you
ENGAGE in organised group discussion about bullying to help to develop caring
school
Pupils who are being bullied can expect that:
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You will be listened to and taken seriously
Action will be taken to help you stop the bullying
You will be involved in the process of deciding what action to help stop the
bullying and any worries that you may have will be listened to and respected
You will be given the opportunity to talk about the way that bullying has made
you feel and find strategies to deal with these feelings and to understand and
cope with bullying behaviour
lf you are ever in fear for your physical safety, staff will take immediate action to
keep you safe
Pupils who are bullying can expect that:
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Your bullying behaviour will be challenged
You will be treated fairly
You will be given the opportunity to change your behaviour and encouraged and
supported in doing so
You will be expected to work with staff to look at the reasons you have been
bullying and to find and put into practice other ways of behaving
you will have regular meetings with staff to review your behaviour.
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Anti-Bullying page 4
All staff will be expected to:
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Promote an environment that is constructive and safe for all pupils through their
own teaching practice and actions
Follow the procedures set out in this policy when they are dealing with bullying
Work in co-operation with colleagues, pupils parents/carers to combat bullying
Attend training sessions
Parents/carers: if your child is being bullied you can expect that:
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You and your child will be listened to
Staff will ensure that you are involved in the process of supporting your child in
dealing with the bullying
Staff will do their best to address any concerns you may have
If your child is bullying another student you can expect that:
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You and your child will be listened to
Your child will be treated fairly
Your child will be expected to change his/her behaviour and supported and
encouraged in doing so by staff
REMEMBER THE SCHOOL CODE OF CONDUCT AND BEAT THE BULLY IN YOU
ISSUED BY:
ISSUE DATE:
REVIEWED BY:
S. HOWITT
6/9/10
G. PEARSON
G.Pearson
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DATE OF
REVIEW:
6/9/11
4/9/12