Ballymena Primary School

Bullying Policy

Definition

The Northern Ireland Anti-Bullying Forum (NIABF) defines bullying as “the repeated use of power by one or more persons intentionally to harm, hurt or adversely affect the rights and needs of another or others.”

Rationale

At Ballymena Primary School we believe that our pupils have the right to learn in a supportive, caring and safe environment without the fear of being bullied.

We realise that, if unchecked, bullying can be profoundly damaging to the victim in both the short and longer term, emotionally, physically or both, and can seriously disrupt or impair the capacity to learn and develop.

Bullying is a form of anti-social behaviour. It is WRONG and will not be tolerated.

Bullying complaints will be dealt with firmly, fairly and promptly.

B.P.S. is a UNICEF Rights Respecting School and as such recognises the rights of the school community regarding safety. (UNCRC Articles 19, 34 and 37)

We want every child and young person to:

Be healthy
Stay safe
Enjoy and achieve
Make a positive contribution
Achieve economic well-being

Physical Bullying

Hitting
Taking or deliberately damaging people’s things
Kicking

Verbal bullying

Name calling
Making insulting or offensive remarks
Making threats

Emotional or indirect bullying

Spreading malicious rumours or nasty stories
Leaving people out of social groups
Sending nasty text messages and e-mails (cyberbullying)

For each of these, the bullying can also be driven by prejudice based on:

Race
Gender
Religion
Special Educational Needs and Disability

Don’t put up with it – tell someone now!

Watch out for the signs of bullying:

A child might:

Not want to go to school
Begin truanting or go missing from home
Often feel ill
Suddenly become ill when it’s time for school
Be frightened to walk to & from school
Begin to lag in their schoolwork

More signs to watch for:

‘Lose’ possessions at school
Cease to communicate with their parents (particularly after school)
Change their behaviour, eg. become aggressive, withdrawn, anxious
Lose their appetite
Have regular nightmares, trouble sleeping and / or begin bed-wetting
Ask for money or begin to steal money
Bully younger brothers / sisters
Self harm or attempt suicide

If you see these signs – tell someone.

Action to be taken when bullying is suspected or reported

Talk to the suspected victim, the suspected bully and any witnesses.
Help, support and counselling will be given as is appropriate to both the victims and the bullies.
If any degree of bullying is identified the following action will be taken:-

We will support the victims in the following ways:

offer them an immediate opportunity to talk about the experience with their class teacher, another teacher, member of Senior Management, VP or Principal if they choose
inform the victim's parents/guardians.
offer continued support if they feel they need it.

We will discipline yet also try to help the bullies in the following ways:

by talking about what happened, to discover why they became involved.
inform the bullies' parents/guardians, where appropriate.
by continuing to work with the bullies in order to get rid of prejudiced attitudes as far as possible.
by taking one or more of the disciplinary steps described below.

Disciplinary steps

1. Bullies will be warned officially to stop offending.

2. Loss of privileges, free time.

3. Parents/Guardians will be informed.

4. If bullying continues, suspension for a fixed time in accordance with school discipline policy.

5 If such behaviour does not end, they will be recommended for permanent exclusion (expulsion) in accordance with NEELB policy.

It is anticipated that steps 4 and 5 will only be carried out in exceptional or persistent cases and will be executed in line with NEELB procedures.

What can you do if you are being bullied?

In class and in assembly children will be encouraged to deal with bullying in the following ways.

Remember that your silence is the bully's greatest weapon!
Don't put up with bullying.
Do
- tell an adult, teacher, supervisor
- tell your parents
- keep away from the source of trouble
- tell yourself that you do not deserve to be bullied - it is WRONG
- be proud of who you are
- try not to show that you are upset. A bully thrives on your fear
- stay with a group of friends/people. There is safety in numbers.
- be assertive - shout "No". Walk confidently away. Go straight to a teacher.
Teachers will take you seriously and will deal with bullies in a way which will end the bullying and will not make things worse for you.

What can you do if you know someone is being bullied?

When someone is being bullied or is distressed - TAKE ACTION. Watching and doing nothing can suggest support for the bullying
Inform an adult e.g. teacher immediately
Be kind and listen to the victim
Do not tolerate bullies in your group of friends
Don't ignore bullying - it won't go away.
Don't be provoked into becoming involved.

As a Parent

Always take an active role in your child's education. Enquire how their day has been, who they have spent their time with etc.
If you feel your child may be a victim of bullying behaviour, inform the school immediately. Your complaint will be taken seriously and appropriate action will follow.
It is important that you advise your child not to fight back. It can make matters worse.
Assure your child that there is nothing wrong with him/her. It is not his/her fault that they are being bullied.
Make sure your child is fully aware of the School's Anti-bullying policy and that they will not be afraid to report any bullying incident and ask for help.

Tackling Bullying through the Curriculum

Activities that are likely to improve relationships and self esteem in the classroom, and hence reduce bullying, are also central to creating a classroom within which effective learning can take place.
Building individual self esteem and positive working relations are central to improving the academic curriculum rather than peripheral to it.
We need to use positive teaching strategies across the curriculum and to reward positive behaviours.
We participate annually, on a whole-school basis, in the niABF (Northern Ireland AntiBullying Forum) Anti-Bullying Week.

Art - Children often find it easier to express their feelings through art and this can often lead to discussions and hopefully resolutions.

R.E. - Look at and discuss the importance of relationships and the importance of tolerance for others and self respect. (We are all individuals).

P.E. - can contribute by helping children to gain physical confidence and greater self-control. It offers opportunities to work together to build team spirit and to support one another.

Drama - offers a wealth of opportunities including role - playing difficult situations, keeping feelings under control, resisting pressure and practising the expression of strong emotions. Situations can be developed with possible alternate strategies or endings. Drama can be used to develop the language of "telling" and feeling confident with this.

English - This allows the development of many skills - listening, speaking, reading and writing, presenting a case, taking part in debate, planning and evaluating a campaign, speaking and writing reports, newspaper articles and stories.

Literature is a core component of the English Curriculum, making it a good vehicle for exploring all kinds of behaviour including bullying.

Broome A. - Willy the Wimp (Methuen)

Bryars B. - The Eighteenth Emergency (Puffin)

Coppart A. - The Bully

Elliot M. - Willow Street Kids (Andre Deutch)

Godden R - The Diddakoi (Puffin)

Heutoff N. - This School is Driving Me Crazy (Pan)

Kemp G. - Gowie Corby Plays Chicken (Puffin)

Walsh J.P. - Gaffer Samson's Luck (Puffin)

Wilson R - Nine O'Clock Bell - Poems about School (Puffin)

PDMU in the New Curriculum provides many opportunities to promote positive relationships, and anti-bullying strategies.

In Ballymena Primary School we promote a caring, co-operative environment as set out in our Pastoral Care Policy and other related policies.

We have a well disciplined, well organised and child-centred school and this minimises the occurrence of bullying.

We have developed our playground into a place that caters for the variety of play needs that children of Primary School age have. We have introduced a Playground Buddy system at senior lunchtimes to support children in the playground.

Our Anti-bullying Policy is made available to everyone in the school community.

We will keep a record of bullying incidents and through careful monitoring will identify problems and pin-point areas in which specific intervention would be useful.

Ballymena Primary School's Anti-Bullying Policy is part of the school's overall concern to promote a healthy environment, good pastoral care and a positive approach to child protection. It will be evaluated and reviewed from time to time as part of the process of school development planning.

The following anti-bullying code was written by pupils:

Be a Buddy - Not a Bully
Consider how your actions and words make other people feel.
Don't kick, punch, nip, push, pull hair, grab or in any way fight with others.
Do not threaten others. This can make your victim very worried and very frightened.
Don't call people names. This can hurt much more than punching.
Treat people the way you want to be treated yourself.
DO TELL someone if you are bullied or if you witness bullying.
Say "SORRY" and really mean it.
Show others that you care.