Anti-Bullying at St Mary's

St Mary’s aims to prevent bullying through:

The school’s ethos and mission of With Christ at the Centre, we show Unity, Respect, Joy, Love and Courage
A curriculum which fosters good relationships with each other.
Every classroom has a ‘worry box’ which teachers will check regularly.
Annual anti-bullying and internet safety days.
The school’s curriculum which encompasses PSHE, RSE, mental health and well-being.
Virtues to Live by Curriculum

Click link to view our: Anti-Bullying Policy 2023-2024

Our Strategy for dealing with Bullying

Wave 1

A member of staff talks with those involved and decides if further action is required.

Reinforces with those involved the school’s stance with regard to bullying. This should be handled quickly and sensitively.

This will involve an appropriate member of staff following the following procedures:

Talk with victim to understand feelings
Talk with bully to give the “evidence” of distress / hurt; to reinforce view that behaviour is unacceptable; to encourage bully to make a response to the victim seeking to improve relationship
In talks with both victim and bully seek to discover whether there are underlying “reasons” for behaviour
Feedback to victim
Monitoring (may involve use of staff or peers)

Possible strategies:

Anti-bullying policy/charter – shared/ understood by all
Whole school awareness raising via assemblies, display, competitions, drama etc
Anti-bullying education via PSHE etc
Appropriate adult supervision during both curriculum and non-curriculum time
Whole staff development including additional adult support if needed– awareness and responding to incidents
Transparent systems for reporting bullying incidents
Clear hierarchy of consequences on our School Behaviour Policy
Increased positive behaviour strategies
TA support listening
Pupil interviews

Wave 2

If a child is being bullied over a period then the Headteacher informs the child’s parents. If a child is repeatedly involved in bullying other children, we inform the Headteacher and the SENCO. We then invite the child’s parents into the school to discuss the situation.

Behaviour needs to be further investigated by the appropriate member of staff
Behaviour investigated to assess nature and severity of the behaviour: all those involved including bystanders talked to: behaviour records checked: parents informed, involved as appropriate and provided with regular feedback
Priority is to protect and provide support for the victim (s) of bullying, and then to seek to resolve the conflict
Provide help to change behaviour of those bullying
Bystander behaviour addressed
Parents informed and involved

Possible strategies:

Headteacher monitoring
Support for targets of bullying via peers or adults
Mediation opportunities
Restorative practices
Groupwork opportunities around self- esteem, anger management strategies etc.
Audit of opinions and experience of bullying within specific vulnerable groups
Meetings with parents/carers

Wave 3

If behaviour is potentially so serious that it has to be referred to a senior member of staff, and if appropriate the Child Protection Designated Person – Mrs Tomlinson or in her absence Mrs Bleasdale or Mr Verhees.

Senior member of staff informs parents immediately and meeting arranged as soon as possible (unless such action could put a child at risk)
Appropriate senior member of staff instigates immediately an investigation and decides whether case needs to be referred to external agency, for example Child Protection and / or Police or Early Help
Where external agencies involved further school action needs to be agreed with involved agencies

Possible Strategies

One to one counselling opportunities
Multi-agency support
One to one learning opportunities around self-esteem, anger management strategies
Early Help Assessment