We are committed to providing a caring, friendly, kind and safe environment for all our pupils, families and adults. We believe that bullying damages a person’s physical and mental health, including their confidence, self-esteem and ability to develop and sustain future relationships. Furthermore, it can affect concentration, attendance and, as a result prevents a person from reaching their potential. Bullying is unacceptable and will not be tolerated at our school.  

Our school values, which were designed by our School Council along with our motto, lie at the heart of everything we do. Our values are better known as the Hugglescote Way.  

 

Our School Rules also reinforce the importance of respect and safety.

Our most recent Ofsted inspection recognises or commitment to developing a sense of belonging and safety.

Our Anti-Bullying Policy can be found here: Anti-Bullying Policy

Information for parents/carers.

As parents and carers, we know that you want your children to be happy, healthy, and safe, so it's completely natural to worry about bullying - especially if you think your child could be more vulnerable, or if bullying is something you've experienced yourself.

The Anti Bullying Alliance explains that:

Most children will experience or witness bullying at some point during their school years. That may be as a target, as someone who bullies others, as a bystander who watches it happen, or as an upstander who steps in to stop it. To tackle bullying effectively, we all need a shared, clear understanding of exactly what bullying is - and what it isn’t.

WHAT IS BULLYING?

The Anti-Bullying Alliance defines bullying as:

The repetitive, intentional hurting of one person or group by another person or group, where the relationship involves an imbalance of power. Bullying can be physical, verbal or psychological. It can happen face-to-face or online.

Watch the video below with an explanation of the definition of bullying and its 4 key elements:

Anti-Bullying Alliance Definition of Bullying

There are four key elements to this definition:

• hurtful
• repetition
• power imbalance
• intentional

We explain this to the children using the words STOP: Several Times on Purpose.

Bullying tends to be a group behaviour.

The Anti-Bullying Alliance explain that the traditional view of bullying where there is simply a ‘victim’ and a ‘bully’ was in fact more complicated, and that there are others who can have a significant influence on the outcomes of behaviours, intentionally or otherwise.

We use this model and teach our children about these roles and what they can do about it. We teach children to be upstanders, not bystanders and to STOP Start Telling Other People.

These roles can be changed with children taking on different roles at different times.

Anti-Bullying Ambassadors (ABA’s)

We have a group of passionate older pupils who take on this role of anti-bullying ambassadors. They help devise child-friendly policies, lead assemblies and are actively involved in making Hugglescote a Bully Free Zone through peer support.

These are our child friendly policies and charters.

Often, people can speak without thinking about the impact their words have on others.

Our ABAs have introduced THINK to the older children to help them:

Children know they should be kind but often they find it hard to know what words and actions are kind.

Our ABAs have devised age-appropriate Kindness Charters. We are sharing these Kindness Charters with you so you can see what these examples are.

Our PSHE Curriculum along with additional character education across the school helps to develop the children’s emotional resilience and personal development. Any instances of poor behaviour are dealt with in accordance with our behaviour policy. We work closely with the Anti-Bullying Team at Leicestershire County Council. We have attended training for running a successful peer mentoring team as well as using the Everyone’s Welcome approach.

‘Everyone’s Welcome’ is a Leicester/Leicestershire initiative which uses the ‘No Outsiders’ resource and framework to teach the Equality Act (2010) to primary school children.

No Outsiders is a whole school approach which uses assemblies and story books to teach children about all aspects of difference and diversity. These principles are promoted in the Equality Act (2010) and are in line with British Values.

 

In recognition of our commitment against bullying we have been awarded the Beyond Bullying Award at its highest level of gold twice.  An achievement we are proud of.

The Anti-Bullying Rap!

 

 

School Contacts:

• Anti-Bullying Lead- Nicky Walker Deputy Headteacher
• Anti-Bullying Lead Governor- Nick Fordyce Chair of Governors

Useful information links:

• Anti-Bullying Alliance  https://anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk/
• Leicestershire County Council Anti-Bullying Resources:  https://www.beyondbullying.com/
• Information about the No Outsiders:   https://no-outsiders.com/
• Information about The Diana Award: https://diana-award.org.uk/our-programmes-and-initiatives/anti-bullying