All children and young people have the right to go about their daily lives without the fear of being threatened, abused, assaulted or harassed. Bullying can cause high levels of distress, affecting young people’s well-being, behaviour, academic and social development right through into adulthood.
At Tewkesbury Academy we are committed to creating a safe, purposeful, calm and reflective learning environment in which all students flourish and reach their full potential equipped with skills for life, and so, bullying of any kind is unacceptable.
Bullying is an anti-social behaviour and affects everyone. All types of bullying are unacceptable at our school and will not be tolerated. All pupils should feel able to report unkind behaviour and bullying and to know that when this behaviour is brought to our attention, prompt and effective action will be taken. Anyone who is aware of any type of bullying that is taking place is expected to tell a member of staff immediately.
This policy has been constructed mindful of the following acts:
The Education and Inspections Act 2006
Section 89 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006 provides that maintained schools must have measures to encourage good behaviour and prevent all forms of bullying amongst students. These measures should be part of the school’s behaviour policy which must be communicated to all students, school staff and parent.
The Equality Act 2010
The Equality Act 2010 replaces previous anti-discrimination laws with a single Act. It replaces the three previous public sector equality duties for race, disability and gender, and also covers age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.
The Duty has three aims. It requires public bodies to have due regard to the need to:
2.1 Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct
prohibited by the Act;
2.2 Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it; and
2.3 Foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it.
The Education Act 2011
The Education Act 2011 gives teachers stronger powers to tackle cyber-bullying by providing a specific power to search for and, if necessary, delete inappropriate images (or files) on electronic devices, including mobile phones.
Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSiE) 2024 is statutory guidance from the Department for Education issued under Section 175 of the Education Act 2002. KCSiE 2024 reinforces that all staff should recognise that children are capable of abusing their peers. Schools should ensure their Child Protection Policy includes procedures to minimise the risk of child-on-child abuse and sets out how allegations of child-on-child abuse will be investigated and dealt with. The policy should reflect the different forms child-on-child abuse can take, make clear that abuse is abuse and should never be tolerated or passed off as “banter” or “part of growing up”. It should be clear as to how victims of child-on-child abuse will be supported. Please refer to point 5.4 of our Safeguarding Policy for further information on our response to Child-on-Child Abuse.
Alongside:
• The Children Act, 1989
• Protection from Harassment Act 1997
• The Malicious Communications Act 1988
• Public Order Act, 1986
• The Computer Misuse Act 1990
Objectives of this policy
This policy outlines what Tewkesbury Academy will do to prevent and tackle bullying. The policy has been drawn up through the involvement of the whole school community and we are committed to developing an anti-bullying culture whereby no bullying, including between adults or adults and children and young people will be tolerated.
Our Academy community
• Discusses, monitors and reviews our anti-bullying policy and practice on a regular basis.
• Supports all staff to promote positive relationships to prevent bullying and will intervene by identifying and tackling bullying behaviour appropriately and promptly.
• Ensures that students are aware that all bullying concerns will be dealt with sensitively and effectively; that students feel safe to learn; and that students abide by the anti-bullying policy.
• Reports back to parents/carers regarding their concerns on bullying and deals promptly with complaints. Parents/ carers in turn work with the academy to uphold the anti-bullying policy.
• Seeks to learn from good anti-bullying practice elsewhere and utilises support from the Cabot Learning Federation, the Local Authority and other relevant organisations when appropriate.
Forms of bullying covered by this policy
Bullying can happen to anyone. This policy covers all types of bullying including:
• Bullying related to race, religion or culture.
• Bullying related to SEND (Special Educational Needs or Disability).
• Bullying related to appearance or physical/mental health conditions.
• Bullying of young carers, children in care or otherwise related to home circumstances.
• Bullying via technology “cyberbullying”
• Bullying related to gender or sexuality. Homophobic, Bi-phobic or Transphobic bullying.
• Abuse in intimate personal relationships between children (also known as teenage relationship abuse)
• Sexual violence and sexual harassment.
• Bullying that happens offsite.
• Up-skirting (criminal offence 43) typically involves taking a picture under a person’s clothing without their permission.
• Initiation/hazing type violence and rituals
“Bullying behaviour abuses an imbalance of power to repeatedly and intentionally cause emotional or physical harm to another person or group of people. Isolated instances of hurtful behaviour, teasing or arguments between individuals would not be seen as bullying” (Torfaen definition 2008).
Whilst there is no legal definition of bullying it’s usually defined as behaviour that is:
• repeated
• intended to hurt someone either physically or emotionally.
• often aimed at certain groups, for example because of race, religion, gender, SEND need or sexual
orientation
• often motivated by prejudice
• often motivated by actual differences between children or perceived differences.
Bullying generally takes one of four forms:
• Indirect – being unkind, spreading rumours, excluding from groups, tormenting (e.g. hiding bags or books).
• Physical – pushing, kicking, hitting, punching, slapping or any form of violence.
• Verbal – name-calling, teasing, threats, sarcasm, etc.
And
• Online – online threats by text messaging, phone calls and all areas of internet misuse such as nasty and/or threatening emails, social media, gaming websites and instant messaging.
Please see Section 7.0 of the Academy’s Online Safety Policy for further information on our approach to Online Bullying.
Online Bullying Advice for Students
• Always respect others – be careful what you say online and what images you send to others and publish on websites.
• Think before you send or publish – whatever you send can be made public very quickly and could stay online forever.
• Keep your password to yourself – Only give your mobile number or personal website address to trusted friends.
• Block the bully – learn how to block or report someone who is behaving badly.
• Don’t retaliate or reply!
• Save the evidence – learn how to keep records of offending messages, pictures, video/films or online conversations.
• Make sure you tell an adult you trust, or call a helpline like ChildLine on 0800 1111 in confidence. You could also speak to the provider of the service to see where to report incidents;
• Speak to any member of staff. Your tutor will usually be the best person to start with.
• Finally, don’t just stand there – if you see online bullying going on, support the victim by reporting the bullying. How would you feel if no one stood up for you?
This advice is based on information from the Government’s Department for Education.
Tackling the causes of bullying
The school sees the issue of unkindness and bullying as an extremely serious matter. The school operates a continuous ‘anti-bullying’ campaign through its PSHE programme, tutor time programme, information in classrooms and assemblies. All students are thus clearly aware that such anti-social behaviour must not be instigated or tolerated. If incidents do occur they must be reported; they will be investigated thoroughly and dealt with appropriately following the bullying procedures that are set out within this Anti-Bullying policy and Behaviour Policy.
Many children and young people do not speak out when being bullied and may indicate by signs or behaviour that they are being bullied. Adults should be aware of these possible signs and should investigate if a child:
• is frightened of walking to or from school
• doesn’t want to go on the bus, begs to be driven to school
• changes their usual routine
• is unwilling to go to school (school phobic)
• begins to truant
• becomes withdrawn anxious, or lacking in confidence
• starts stammering
• attempts or threatens suicide or runs away
• cries themselves to sleep at night or has nightmares
• uses excuses to miss school (headache, stomach ache etc.)
• begins to suffer academically
• comes home with clothes torn or books damaged
• has possessions which are damaged or “go missing”
• asks for money or starts stealing money (to pay bully)
• has dinner or other monies continually “lost”
• has unexplained cuts or bruises or shows signs of being in a fight
• comes home starving (money / lunch has been stolen)
• becomes aggressive, disruptive or unreasonable
• is bullying other children or siblings
• changes their eating habits (stops eating or over eats)
• goes to bed earlier than usual
• is unable to sleep
• wets the bed
• is frightened to say what’s wrong
• gives unlikely excuses for any of the above
• is afraid to use the internet or mobile phone
• is nervous and jumpy when a text message or email is received
These signs and behaviours could indicate other problems, but bullying should be considered a possibility and should always be investigated.
Any incident of bullying should be reported to a member of staff or reported through the online ‘Red Hand’ reporting system. This member of staff will then inform a member of the Pastoral Team who will investigate. The Pastoral Team comprises of the Assistant Principal responsible for Behaviour and Safeguarding, the Associate Assistant Principal responsible for Pastoral, The Associate Assistant principal responsible for SEND, the DSL, the Heads of Year and the pastoral/behaviour intervention staff.
The school has updated our ways of reporting incidents as we want to make it easier for students and parents to report incidents. After submitting the incident report using the ‘Red Hand’ the incident will be reviewed by a member of the pastoral team and assigned to a member of staff. The incident will be swiftly investigated by the assigned person, outcomes recorded and the student who reported the incident and their parent informed of the outcome.
Guidelines for Students
You have a right to feel comfortable and safe at school, as well as on your way to and from school. If you feel you are being bullied YOU MUST TELL.
Who should you tell?
Your tutor, a subject teacher, a member of the welfare team or any other member of staff with whom you feel comfortable- you can choose.
What should you do if you are frightened to tell a teacher?
Tell a friend or tell your parents, they can tell the teacher for you.
What should you do if the bully or bullies threaten they will hurt you more if you tell?
Still tell – AND tell the teacher about these threats.
If you don’t tell, the bullying will most likely continue; you must TELL EVERY TIME
Tewkesbury Academy adopts a three-stage approach to dealing with bullying:
Stage 1:
Creating a safe learning environment and anti-bullying culture
The first stage is on-going, and involves measures designed to encourage students to behave positively towards one another, thereby discouraging bullying.
These measures include:
• Signing a Home School Agreement at the transition stage (for Year 7s and new arrivals to the Academy from September 2024)
• Student supervision at non-lesson times by academy staff.
• Providing safe places for vulnerable students to go before and after school, at break times and lunchtimes e.g. Learning Support Room
• Supervision of corridors between lessons
• Opportunities for students to discuss bullying issues such as in tutor period or a PSHE lesson
• Assemblies
Stage 2:
If bullying occurs: The Restorative Approach
This approach encourages the reporting of incidents by reducing the victims’ anxieties about repercussions and educates the perpetrators, by increasing their understanding of the difficulties caused by bullying, and encouraging perpetrators to take responsibility for their actions. It may be appropriate to monitor the situation in the first instance, and work closely with parents and the victim to discuss if any action should be taken. It may be appropriate to adopt a Restorative Justice approach with all those involved. This might mean asking students and staff to share their views within a meeting with a facilitator who would ensure that all participants were able to say how they had been affected by the bullying behaviour and what needed to change. Parents/carers will also be asked for the views and this will inform the meeting. As a way forward, if thought appropriate and agreed upon, a contract would be written between the students. There would then be a series of meetings to ensure that the contract was working and that problems had not re-emerged.
A key focus of the restorative approach is to ensure victims of bullying incidents are thoroughly supported, signposted to the correct support, and in cases of repeat bullying incidences the response is escalated accordingly (See Appendix 1).
Stage 3:
If those involved in bullying do not respond to the restorative approach If those involved do not keep to the agreements made at Restorative Approach Meetings, or repeat bullying behaviour towards other individuals, the matter will be treated as defiance.
The school would then use an increasing range of sanctions, including loss of break time/lunchtime, time in the Inclusion Area, after school detentions, SLT inclusion or temporary placement to another local academy, or in extreme cases, fixed term suspension or permanent exclusion. Based upon legislation in the Children Act (1989), in serious cases, it may also be appropriate to consider the bullying as a child protection concern if ‘there is reasonable cause to suspect that a child is suffering, or is likely to suffer, significant harm’. Where this is the case, the school must report their concerns to the Local Authority’s safeguarding services and may draw on external professionals to support the victim or to tackle issues which have contributed to a child becoming a perpetrator of bullying. As a last resort, the school may report a bullying issue to the police; particularly if staff feel that the nature of the bullying contravenes the law and other measures have been unsuccessful in preventing its recurrence.
Recording bullying and evaluating the policy
When bullying of a student has been reported, statements will be taken from all relevant parties and stored on file. When it is believed that bullying has occurred, the incident will be recorded on CPOMS. From there, a number of actions will take place, including informing parents, a restorative approach towards mediation, and/or a sanction. The situation will then be closely monitored by the Year Team. See Appendix 1 for a clear outline of the actions to be taken. The measures taken and sanctions imposed will be recorded and used to inform pastoral staff of trends, or to indicate which measures are most successful in ensuring that further bullying is prevented. This anti-bullying policy will be reviewed and updated annually.
Any incidents of unkindness or proven incidents of bullying are logged as such on the CPOMS safeguarding management system in line with guidance from the DFE; specific types of bullying such as prejudicial language, racism, homophobic and SEND bullying are recorded as such. After the incident has been investigated and dealt with, each case will be monitored by the Pastoral Team to ensure the bullying does not continue.
The Pastoral Team will also keep an overview of bullying incidents and use this to monitor the effectiveness of this policy and our anti-bullying practice and review if necessary.
Under the Children Act 1989 a bullying incident should be addressed as a child protection concern when there is ‘reasonable cause to suspect that a child is suffering, or is likely to suffer, significant harm’. Where this is the case, the incident should be referred to the Senior Designated Person for Child Protection (Inclusion Leader).
Although bullying in itself is not a specific criminal offence in the UK, it is important to bear in mind that some types of harassment, threatening behaviour or some communications could be considered a criminal offence or hate crime.
If it is felt that an offence may have been committed, the incident WILL be reported to the Police by a member of the Safeguarding Team
Prevention
We have put in place a number of practices and systems to help to minimise incidences of bullying. We are working with the students and staff to identify and intervene with the early signs of bullying.
These include:
• Non-teaching Pastoral managers who are able to respond in a timely way to any unkindness or bullying incidents
• Restorative approaches to conflict
• A bullying intervention pack completed by the perpetrator.
• Kindness contracts signed by all parties involved in unkindness incidents (and their parents when necessary) to minimise the chances of this escalating into bullying
• Tutor Time and PSHE lessons designed to address aspects of bullying in Years 7 to 11
At Tewkesbury Academy we:
• Openly discuss differences between people that could motivate bullying, such as: religion, ethnicity, disability, gender, sexuality or appearance related difference. Also, children with different family situations, such as children in care or those with caring responsibilities.
• Challenge practice and language which does not uphold the values of tolerance, non-discrimination and respect towards others.
• Be encouraged to use technology, especially mobile phones and social media positively and responsibly.
• Work with staff, the wider community and outside agencies to prevent and tackle concerns including all forms of prejudice-driven bullying.
• Actively create “safe spaces” for vulnerable children and young people.
• Celebrate success and achievements to promote and build a positive academy ethos.
Student Led Approaches to Anti-Bullying include;
Student council, anti-bullying ambassadors and PRIDE (LGBTQ+) Student Groups
Tewkesbury Academy is committed to promoting equality, tolerance and harmony amongst its students and prepare them for life in a diverse society. Student Led groups hold events, create tutor resources, and lead assemblies to promote good relations and understanding in the school between a diverse range of people from different identities and backgrounds.
Regular student voice is sought to identify the extent to which students feel safe and as to the effectiveness of our anti-bullying procedures.
Students who have been bullied will be supported by:
• Reassuring the student and providing continuous support.
• Offering an immediate opportunity to discuss the experience with a member of staff
• Being advised to keep a record of the bullying as evidence and discuss how respond to concerns and build resilience as appropriate.
• Working towards restoring self-esteem and confidence.
• Providing ongoing support; this may include: working and speaking regularly with support staff, offering formal counselling, engaging with parents and carers.
• Where necessary, working with the wider community and local/national organisations to provide further or specialist advice and guidance; this could include support through Early Help or Specialist Children’s Services, SARI or support through Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).
Students who have perpetrated the bullying will be helped by:
• Discussing what happened, why it happened, establishing the concern and establishing the need to change including completing an intervention pack to support their understanding.
• Informing parents/carers to help support to change the attitude and behaviour of the child.
• Providing appropriate education and support regarding their behaviour or actions.
• If online, requesting that content be removed and reporting accounts/content to service provider. • Sanctioning, in line with academy behaviour policy
• Offered re-education sessions with experts (including the Police) or Pastoral Staff
• Where necessary, working with the wider community and local/national organisations to provide further or specialist advice and guidance; this may include involvement from the Police or referrals to Early Help, Specialist Children’s Services, or Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) as appropriate.
When the process of reporting is complete, and the interventions are in place a resolution message is sent to the relevant people. This message serves to outline that a satisfactory conclusion has been reached and the negative behaviours should end. The message may not outline the exact actions taken because of the sensitive nature of the situation.
• Anti-Bullying Alliance: www.anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk
• Beat Bullying: www.beatbullying.org
• Childline: www.childline.org.uk
• DfE: “No health without mental health”:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/no-healthwithout-mentalhealth-across-government-outcomes-strategy
• Family Lives: www.familylives.org.uk
• Kidscape: www.kidscape.org.uk
• MindEd: www.minded.org.uk
• NSPCC: www.nspcc.org.uk
• PSHE Association: www.pshe-association.org.uk
• Restorative Justice Council: www.restorativejustice.org.uk
• The Diana Award: www.diana-award.org.uk
• Victim Support: www.victimsupport.org.uk
• Young Minds: www.youngminds.org.uk
• Young Carers: www.youngcarers.net
Cyberbullying
• Childnet International: www.childnet.com
• Internet Watch Foundation: www.iwf.org.uk
• Think U Know: www.thinkuknow.co.uk
• UK Safer Internet Centre: www.saferinternet.org.uk
LGBTQ+
• EACH: www.eachaction.org.uk
• Pace: www.pacehealth.org.uk
• Schools Out: www.schools-out.org.uk
• Stonewall: www.stonewall.org.uk
Racism and Hate
• Anne Frank Trust: www.annefrak.org.uk
• Kick it Out: www.kickitout.org
• Report it: www.report-it.org.uk
• Stop Hate: www.stophateuk.org
• Show Racism the Red Card: www.srtrc.org/educational
Appendix 1
Appendix 2
Graduated response to bullying
