Every Child Matters

Bullying is wrong. Nobody deserves to be bullied. Worries about being bullied sometimes affect children especially when they transfer schools. For this reason Willingdon has an “Anti-Bully” Policy with a wide variety of strategies in place. At Willingdon we do not accept any form of bullying. We take any incidents seriously and we work hard to teach students caring ways of living and working together.

What is Bullying?

Bullying is an abuse of power. It can occur in any school or indeed any place people work or gather together in groups. Bullying is persistent abuse against one person or sometimes a small group of people. At its ugliest, bullying can be a result of racist or homophobic attitudes which need to be challenged.

Bullying is not an inevitable part of growing-up. It can take many forms, but the first step in dealing with it is recognising it. It may involve:
- Physical attack
- Verbal abuse
- Damage to property
- Spreading rumours
- Isolating an individual
Sometimes bullies may well not realise that their behaviour is bullying. They may even believe that what they are doing is, in some way, right or natural.

The Internet and Bullying

The school computer network is protected by filter systems which prevent children from accessing unsuitable websites and chat rooms. Good practice, and the safe use of computers, is also taught to all our students in the school subjects I.C.T. and P.S.H.E.

The rules which students sign up to when they use school computers state clearly that they must tell a member of staff if they access any material that is unpleasant or threatening. However, no system is completely foolproof. New internet sites and new programs and fashions develop at a rapid pace. The use of the internet at home can also impinge on students’ school lives.

Younger students in particular can sometimes get carried away when they use MSN, chat rooms or friendship sites such as Bebo, My Space and Facebook. They can write things in “cyberspace” which they would never dream of saying directly to someone and sometimes this can be very distressing and intimidating. When this happens it is clearly a case of bullying. Any student receiving messages or texts of this sort is encouraged to talk to a member of staff and to print off the message as evidence.

The same applies to pictures. Students are taught the dangers of posting photographs of themselves on web sites, nevertheless the enjoyment of sharing snaps with friends sometimes overpowers common sense and children have on occasions put up inappropriate images of themselves on web sites. This can lead to contact from inappropriate people. Any student who experiences worrying situations like this, must tell a member of staff.

Solutions

Some years ago, East Sussex schools developed a common approach to tackling the issue of bullying. At Willingdon we still follow this approach and have developed some additional techniques.

“Its good to Talk” The old BT slogan underpins our fundamental position.

Bullying thrives on silence.

Victims may often try to keep their problem hidden because of a variety of mistaken beliefs such as…
- They feel they shouldn’t tell tales
- They are ashamed
- They think that telling shows that they are weak
- They are worried that telling might make things worse
- They don’t think that anyone will believe them

Bullies rely on this. As long as the victim takes no action bullying will continue. Telling gives power to the bullied person and takes it away from the bully. Below is a list of people at school who can help.

Prevention, though, is better than cure. At Willingdon every student has a Tutor whose job it is to take care of every individual. In ‘Lifeskills’ lessons and in assemblies, issues such as bullying are discussed. In meetings of the Student Council which is made up of the children’s own representatives, the topic of bullying is deliberately raised on a regular basis.

Once an incident has been dealt with, a record is kept to help staff to support the victim and to manage the bully’s behaviour in future.

People Students can talk to

We encourage Students to take an active stand against bullying behaviour, and always report it….
- To any teacher
- To the form Tutor
- To Senior Staff
- To our police liaison officer
- To a school prefect

Our response to bullying

We support students by taking their worries seriously. There is no single, simple method. All incidents of bullying are responded to uniquely. The bullied person or witnesses will be listened to in private. The teacher will check pastoral records to see whether students have been involved in other incidents and information will be shared with pastoral staff. Over the page some of the methods are described. We decide our response in relation to the seriousness of the incident and the previous behaviour of those involved. Our priority is always to stop the abuse and to make clear that bullying is wrong.

Some methods

Our responses include:
- Counselling and advising the bullied person
- Assertiveness counselling
- Using a group approach with friends and classmates
- Involvement of parents

The ‘No Blame Approach’. This is a method advocated by the many organisations such as ‘Kidscape’ and works well in many low-level cases such as name-calling, hurtful gossip and isolation. A teacher will encourage a whole group, including bullies to support the bullied person.

Sanctions against the bully. These can include a wide range and would be applied according to the judgement of trained staff. Each year, a small group of school prefects are trained to play a part in the school’s anti-bullying strategy by providing a listening ear and reassurance to younger students. This group is in close contact with the Deputy Head and will always inform staff about serious concerns.

For Parents

For many children, parents are the first people to confide in. Once bullying is mentioned, nothing can be gained by hoping it will go away Unless it is dealt with, bullying will nearly always get worse. Please report your concern to your son or daughter’s Form Tutor or Director of Student Progress.

Some children will not tell their parents but you may notice one or more of the following signs. (Please note, however, that these signs are not always associated with bullying and may be part of the troubles of adolescence):
- Not wanting to got to school, or making excuses to stay at home
- Losing interest in home life, personal appearance or school work
- Crying or difficulty sleeping
- Aggressive behaviour or irritable behaviour towards younger family members or friends
- Unusual friendships with aggressive children
- Not wanting to talk about anything
- Unusual requests for money

Ask your child to talk about what has been happening and note down the names, times and places as far as possible. Sometimes children go ‘half way’ to telling about bullying and will refuse to name names. This does not help. There is only one way to beat bullying and that is to tell everything and to tell teachers.

Some people feel that is natural to tell your child to fight back. Fighting can make the situation worse. Your child may get hurt or be blamed for starting the trouble. It encourages a culture of aggression in which bullying is seen as part of life. It needn’t be and it is not at Willingdon Community College

All forms of bullying are unacceptable

“Its good to talk”

Download Willingdon's Anti Bullying Plan - Word doc or PDF

Are you being Bullied? Maybe this form could help