Anti-Bullying
Bullying is usually defined as behaviour that is:
- Deliberately repeated
- intended to hurt someone either physically or emotionally
- often aimed at certain groups, for example because of race, religion, disability, gender or sexual orientation
Everyone in the Somercotes Academy family is responsible for making sure bullying is not tolerated.
| Bullying takes many forms and can include: | The Law: |
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Some forms of bullying are illegal and should be reported to the police. These include:
Schools must also follow anti-discrimination law. This means staff must act to prevent discrimination, harassment and victimisation within the school. This applies to all schools in England https://www.gov.uk/discrimination-your-rights |
Reporting Bullying…
We ask pupils to report bullying in school or by others at school to Somercotes Academy in the first instance — or to someone the pupil can trust who can help if it happens outside school, for example in a club or at home while online. Tell the police if the bullying involves a crime.
Pupils can talk to any member of staff at school, however specific people who are here to help are:
- Form Tutor
- Head of Year
- Assistant Principal — Mr West
- If you want a parent or friend to call school on your behalf to report bullying in school hours the number is 01507 353459
We also have an anonymous bullying reporting tool
This was suggested by our pupils as a way in which to ensure pupils had a way to communicate with school about bullying if they didn't feel able to do so face to face or if they wanted to do so when not in school.
If you are reporting an incident outside school hours and you feel concerned about you or someone else, speak directly with an adult family member or trusted adult.
If they are not available you can contact www.childline.org.uk or call 0800 1111. If you or someone else is in immediate danger or in emergency call 999.
We Tackle Bullying — help outside of school
We work with a number of agencies to prevent and tackle bullying and deal with the consequences of bullying. There are useful resources and information for pupils and parents on the websites of these organisations that you can go to and use for help when pupils are not in school.
- Childline
- Kooth.com
- Mind
- Samaritans
- CEOP
- Cyberbullying | Bullying online advice (nationalbullyinghelpline.co.uk)
- Anti-bullying Alliance
- SaferNEL | Bullying and hate crime — SaferNEL
- Our Trust Policy on Anti Bullying can be found here; https://www.somercotesacademy.co.uk/somercotes/media/files/anti-bullying-policy.pdf
Our Bullying Reporting and Action Process
We may deal with bullying in different ways, depending on each situation, with the ultimate aim of tackling the issue, educating pupils and ensuring parents know their child is safe. We might deal with it in school, for example by disciplining and educating those who bully, using restorative approaches, supporting and empowering those who have been bullied, or we might report it to the police or social services.
If you do not feel we have acted in accordance with our anti bullying policy you can complain to the school https://www.somercotesacademy.co.uk/somercotes/media/files/complaints-policy.pdf
Anti-Bullying policy: https://www.somercotesacademy.co.uk/somercotes/media/files/anti-bullying-policy.pdf
Police — reporting bullying Anyone can make a complaint to the police about bullying but it's usually a good idea to speak to us first. If you're reporting cyberbullying, keep a record of the date and time of the calls, emails or texts — don't delete any messages you receive.
What to do if your child has been bullying others
Some children may be involved in bullying other children at one time or another. In fact, some children who are bullied (either at school or elsewhere) also bully other children. Parents and carers are often not aware that their child is involved in bullying others.
Don't panic. We want to work with you in a supportive way to change the behaviour your child is currently demonstrating. Don't think your child is dreadful. They are exhibiting some anti-social behaviour at the moment, but this can be corrected if everyone works together.
Be prepared to listen to school staff and accept our advice.
How to stop your child from bullying other children
- Talk to your child and explain that what they are doing is not acceptable and is making other children very unhappy.
- Discourage other members of your family from ever using bullying behaviour or from being aggressive to get what they want.
- Show your child how they can join in with other children without bullying.
- Make an appointment to see your child's class teacher or form tutor to explain how you can work together to stop your child from bullying other children.
- It is very important to work closely with the school. Regularly ask your child how things are at school. Give your child lots of praise and encouragement when he or she is co-operative or kind to other people.
What to do if your child is being bullied
If your child is being bullied, you need to contact us as soon as possible to arrange an appointment to meet with your child's form tutor. Tel: 01472 500 505 Email: enquiries@tollbaracademy.co.uk
Always try to be calm. We will want to resolve the problem with you, but we may not always be aware of the problem. In some cases, the causes may be very complicated.
- Be as clear as possible about what your child says has happened — give dates, places and names of others involved.
- Ask if there is anything you can do to help your child or the school.
- Read our anti bullying policy. https://www.somercotesacademy.co.uk/somercotes/media/files/anti-bullying-policy.pdf
- When you speak with us make a note of what action we intend to take.
- Stay in touch with the school and let them know if the problem continues or if things improve.
- Please do not confront the child causing the bullying or their parents this can make matters worse.
- Part of this process may involve the fact that your own child may need to change aspects of their behaviour. This is nothing to worry about. Schools need to ensure that the plans they put in place help your child to feel safe, and your child will have to take some responsibility for ensuring that this happens.
