Action against Bullying

  • Bullying can happen in school and in the work place.
  • Bullying is usually defined as repeated behaviour over time which is intended to hurt someone either emotionally or physically, and is often aimed at certain people because of their appearance, religion, behaviour, disabilities or illness, family, even how well you are doing at school or how popular you are.
  • Bullying can lead to self-doubt, lack of confidence, low self-esteem, depression, anxiety and sometimes self-harm. Bullying is repeated or serious; it is harmful to everyone involved, not just the person being bullied.

It includes…

Actions to hurt, humiliate and intimidate others.

  • Emotional
  • Physical
  • Prejudice-based and discriminatory
  • Sexual
  • Direct or indirect verbal
  • Cyber-bullying

Emotional

  • Being unfriendly
  • Excluding
  • Tormenting

Physical

  • Hitting
  • Kicking
  • Pushing
  • Taking another’s belongings
  • Any use of violence

Direct or indirect verbal

  • Name-calling
  • Sarcasm
  • Spreading rumours
  • Teasing

Prejudice-based and discriminatory

  • Taunts
  • Gestures
  • Graffiti
  • Physical abuse focused on a particular protected characteristic

Sexual

  • Explicit sexual remarks
  • Display of sexual material
  • Sexual gestures
  • Unwanted physical attention
  • Comments about sexual reputation or performance
  • Inappropriate touching

Cyber-bullying

  • Through social networking sites, messaging apps or gaming sites

It is not….

  • Sibling rivalry
  • Disagreements between friends / not liking someone
  • Being left out of an event / discussion
  • Crowded corridors or staircases / accidental bumping
  • Someone being bossy
  • Single jokes about someone else
  • Isolated acts of aggression or meanness

Action against bullying

Bullying is more likely to continue if a person keeps quiet and lets the bully have power by staying quiet. Bullies are less likely to bully people who are strong and stand up to them. We will always try to help students with any form of bullying that is reported to us.

In school:

  • Tell a teacher or your form tutor
  • Speak to your Head of Year
  • Speak to your Pastoral Manager
  • Email [email protected] to report a problem

We address incidents of bullying seriously with both the bully and the victim. We graduate our response to the level of incident and the extent of any repetition. We can however only deal with incidents we know about. It is vital to report bullying.

Bullying outside school:

If the bullying is taking place outside school we can also help you find support from a range of support agencies. For example

  • Bullying Online (http://www.bullying.co.uk)
  • Bullying.org (http://www.bullying.org)
  • Anti-bullying alliance (http://www.anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk)
  • Action against Bullying: An anti-bullying service for parents, carers and professionals. The Action Against Bullying Support Line is now available on: 0845 075 1010. Calls will be handled through trained staff members who will provide information and guidance, and referral to other specialist services.

Department for Education Advice for Parents and Carers on Cyberbullying

To read our Anti-Bullying Policy please click here to view our policies page.