Anti-Bullying Policy 

This policy takes into account the following documents and is reviewed annually as part of our Governing Body Policy Reviews:  

Preventing and Tackling Bullying Advice for Head Teachers, Staff and Governing Bodies DfE 2017 

Working Together to Safeguard children DfE 2018 

Keeping Children Safe in Education DfE September 2023 

Shropshire Safeguarding Partnership Guidance- SSP 

Context and understanding what Bullying is:  

Bullying takes place in schools as it does in other workplaces.  

The aim of the anti-bullying policy is to ensure that pupils in this school learn in a supportive, caring and safe environment without fear of being bullied. Bullying is anti-social behaviour and affects everyone; it is unacceptable and will not be tolerated in school. Only when all issues of bullying are addressed will pupils be able to fully benefit from the opportunities available at our school.  

Bullying by definition (DfE Preventing and Tackling Bullying 2017) is: 

Behaviour by an individual or group, usually repeated over time, that intentionally hurts another individual or group either physically or emotionally. Although sometimes occurring between two individuals in isolation, bullying quite often takes place in the presence of others 

Bullying can be related to:  

Race, religion or culture;  

Special educational needs or disabilities; 

Appearance or health conditions;  

Sexual orientation, sexist or sexual bullying;  

Young carers or looked-after children or otherwise related to home circumstances;  

Verbal (name calling, sexist, racist and homophobic remarks, and other discriminatory language);  

Indirect (cyber bullying, spreading rumours, excluding someone from social groups);  

Radicalisation and Extremism. 

Bullying includes:  

Name-calling, taunting, mocking, making offensive comments, kicking, hitting, pushing or taking belongings;  

Inappropriate text messaging and emailing, 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.  

Although sometimes occurring between two individuals in isolation, bullying quite often takes place in the presence of others, for example, between pupils, between pupils and staff, or between staff; by individuals or groups; face to face, indirectly or using a range of methods.  

Pupils being bullied may demonstrate emotional and/or behaviour problems including signs of depression, physical problems such as headaches and stomach pains, taking unusual absences or clinging to adults. There may be evidence of changes in work patterns, lacking concentration or truanting from school.  

Pupils are encouraged to report bullying by talking with staff, friends and parents. We believe strongly in encouraging our pupils to feel happy, safe and this in turn allows them to learn. Our school has pupil ambassadors and prefects which discuss pupil voice and all classes have regular circle time to discuss and raise issues. Anti-bullying awareness is addressed each year where an emphasis is placed on posters, assemblies, workshop and information is made available to help pupils address bullying. 

Parents are informed of the school’s stance on anti-bullying, its definition of bullying and how parents and the school can work together. Our school website has links and information regarding policies and where to seek and get help. Our school offers a warm and welcoming environment with staff available to meet and greet at the start and end of the day. Our staff are experienced and vigilant in spotting the signs of bullying and all staff receive regular training to ensure any incidents are swiftly and promptly dealt with. 

All school staff must be alert to the signs of bullying and act promptly, sensitively and effectively against it in accordance with school policy. There is no “hierarchy” of bullying – all forms of bullying should be taken equally seriously and dealt with appropriately. This is the case even where incidents occur outside the school premises (The Education Act 2006 gives head teachers the power to discipline pupils even where incidents of bad behaviour take place outside school premises and when the pupils are beyond the lawful control of school staff).  

This policy is linked directly to the following policies:  

Behaviour Policy  

Safeguarding & Child Protection Policy  

Equality Policy (Race Equality, Disability Equality, SEN policies, additional policies related to protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010)  

RSHE policy.  

Aims of this Policy  

The aims of the school’s anti-bullying strategies and intervention systems are to:  

Prevent, de-escalate and/or stop any continuation of harmful behaviour in line with the Behaviour Policy;  

React to bullying incidents in a reasonable, proportionate and consistent way;  

Safeguard those pupils who have experienced bullying and those who have been involved in the act of bullying, and to trigger actions to support these pupils.  

Roles and responsibilities  

The role of the Governing body  

Governors have the responsibility to ensure that the anti-bullying policy is in place, that it reflects school’s values and practice, and is reviewed annually. The Governing Body of Mere’s Edge Federation conduct their role professionally and with due care and attention. They are keen to provide a stimulating education provided for in a caring Christian Environment. The governors have agreed the principles of Shropshire Children’s Trust and Safeguarding Children Board Anti-Bullying Charter.  

Governors are informed of, and monitor, the numbers of incidents and steps the head teacher and staff have taken to deal with these  

Governors have appointed Mrs Mandy Jones as the Executive Headteacher leading on bullying related to radicalisation and extremism  

The role of the Executive Head teacher and staff:  

1. Policy and procedures : 

The Executive Head Teacher leads on anti-bullying:  

Name: Mrs Mandy Jones            Role: Executive Headteacher

This policy is familiar to all staff and its clear links to other key policies.  

The following steps will be taken by staff when dealing with incidents:  

if bullying is suspected or reported, the incident will be taken seriously and appropriate first steps are taken promptly by the member of staff who has been approached  

each incident will be investigated thoroughly, sensitively and effectively  

a clear account of the incident, actions taken and review date will be recorded onto our online My Concern Website, given to the head teacher/senior manager and kept so incidents can be monitored  

relevant staff will be kept informed and if the bullying persists they will record this and inform the head teacher/senior manager, and appropriate further action is taken  

parents/carers will be kept informed appropriately  

appropriate rewards and sanctions in line with the school’s Behaviour Policy will be used to support the improvement of pupils’ behaviour  

Criftins CE Primary School & Cockshutt CE Primary School and Nursery will inform the Local Authority of any hate or prejudice related incident as part of the school’s Public Sector Equality Duty under the Equality Act 2010 and in support of the Shropshire Tackling Hate Crime Initiative; a report form is available in the appendices of this policy.  

2. The Role of Pupils : 

• Know that school has an Anti-Bullying Policy 

• Know and understand the difference between unkind behaviour and bullying 

• Feel confident that school will act quickly and fairly with bullying issues that are reported. 

3. The Role of Parents/ Carers: 

• Parents and carers should work in partnership with school to support pupils. 

• Report incidents of bullying 

• Look for signs of behaviour changes, which may be linked to bullying. 

• Support and encourage their child to talk to someone in school, if they are being bullied. 

4. How we support pupils  

Pupils who have been bullied will be supported as appropriate by:  

having an immediate opportunity to discuss the incident(s) with an appropriate member of staff  

being reassured  

being offered support  

raising their self-esteem and confidence  

being encouraged to report further issues  

arranging a review date/time to discuss outcomes and appropriate follow-up  

Pupils who have bullied will be supported by:  

having an immediate opportunity to discuss the incident(s) with an appropriate member of staff  

establishing what behaviour was inappropriate and why the pupil became involved  

establishing clearly what behaviour needs to change, and how the school can support this change 

informing parents/carers of agreed actions, and establishing how they can support  

arranging a review date/time to discuss outcomes and appropriate follow-up  

School as required may make use of: 

Young Minds www.youngminds.org.uk 

Bullying UK www.bullying.co.uk 

Kidscape www.kidscape.org.uk 

NSPCC www.nspcc.co.uk 

5. Curriculum  

Pupils will have opportunities to develop their understanding of the nature of bullying, to explore their own and others attitudes to bullying and to develop the skills to deal with bullying through RSHE and other subject areas and through assemblies and other school activities.  The school has a regular Anti-Bullying Focus along with the national anti-bullying week where pupils focus on how we can make the change by speaking out.  

The policy will be promoted and implemented throughout the school and across our Federation. 

Monitoring, evaluation and review  

This policy was amended September 2023 and approved by the Governing Body. 

This policy is reviewed annually by the Governing Body and school staff taking into account training and research around AntiBullying. 

Review Date : September, 2024