Bullying is taken very seriously at St Patrick’s Primary School. We have a zero tolerance approach on bullying. St Patrick’s School, with its Catholic foundation, seeks the wholeness of all its children: spiritual, physical, intellectual and social.
At St Patrick’s School we recognise that bullying can occur. When it does it can be harmful both physically and emotionally for the victim. It can also be a sign that the child carrying out the bullying has underlying issues that need to be addressed. We therefore do all we can to prevent it, by developing a school ethos where bullying is regarded as unacceptable. We aim to ensure that all groups of pupils feel safe and secure in school, and appropriate measures are in place to prevent bullying. The purpose of our anti-bullying policy is to enable adults in the school to recognise bullying when it takes place and to deal with it effectively.
What is bullying?
Bullying is deliberately hurtful behaviour. It is usually repeated, often over a period of time and can make it difficult for those being bullied to defend themselves. We believe that there are a number of types of bullying and children are made aware of this in their PSHCE lessons.
It is important to understand that bullying is not occasional falling out with friends, name calling, arguments or when the occasional ‘joke’ is played on someone. Children do sometimes fall out or say things because they are upset. When occasional problems of this kind arise it is not classed as bullying. It is an important part of a child’s development to learn how to deal with friendship breakdowns, the odd name calling or childish prank. We all have to learn how to deal with these situations and develop social skills to repair relationships.
It is bullying if it is done repeatedly and on purpose. Whenever the opportunity arises it must be made profoundly clear that we will not tolerate bullying at St. Patrick’s. We are committed to provide a caring, friendly and safe environment for all pupils so that they can grow and learn in a relaxed and safe environment.
Why do we tackle bullying?
We tackle bullying as an issue because we are an effective, caring school and we believe that:
Role of parents
Parents have an important part to play in our anti-bullying policy. We ask parents to:
Reporting and responding to bullying incidents
Allegations and incidents of bullying at St Patrick’s Primary School will be taken seriously by all staff and dealt with impartially and promptly. All of those involved will have the opportunity to be heard. Staff will support all children involved whilst the allegations and incidents are investigated and resolved. The following procedures are to be followed:
Strategies for the prevention and reduction of bullying
Whole school initiatives and proactive teaching strategies will be used throughout the school to develop a positive learning environment with the aim of reducing the opportunities for bullying to occur. These include:
Encouraging the whole school community to model appropriate behaviour towards one another.