What to do if you think that your child is being bullied?

Please talk to your child's class teacher who will investigate the allegation. 

If the investigation reveals that bullying is taking place this will be escalated to Mrs G Barlow (Head of School) or Mrs M Neal (Head of School) who will invite parents in to school to discuss the allegations further.

What is bullying?

Bullying is the repetitive, intentional hurting of one person or group by another person or group, where the relationship involves an imbalance of power.

It can be verbal, physical or psychological. It can happen online or face to face.

(Anti-bullying Alliance)

Bullying tends to have FOUR Key elements.

1. Hurtful both physically and emotionally

2. Intentional.

3. Repetitive, over and over and over

4. Power Imbalance.

What do we mean by Power Imbalance?

In simple terms it is when as soon as someone says NO to something there is an imbalance of power. This can be because of a variety of reasons:

Height or weight

A minority group (race, gender etc)

A younger group

A disability

What are the signs that someone may be being bullied?

The signs may be emotional. behavioural or physical.

Here are a few you might notice,

• Change in sleep or eating patterns
• Often upset or angry
• Feels ill in the mornings/Doesn't want to go to school
• Withdrawn
• Aggressive
• Loses money or possessions
• Unexplained cuts, bruises or marks
• Damaged belongings
• May target brothers or sisters
• Changes the way they walk to or from school
• School work affected

It's not always bullying

What is the difference between relational conflict and bullying?

• Relational conflict usually involves individuals and groups who are relatively similar in power and status. It is generally behaviour which happens occasionally, and offence might be accidental.
• In cases of relational conflict, there is also generally a willingness to make things right, to reflect on what went wrong and to try to find a way forward.
• Just because the incident doesn't have all the elements of bullying, doesn't mean it is something to ignore.
•  A relational conflict that goes unresolved can easily turn into bullying so should be monitored.

Is it bullying?

Remember bullying is deliberate, repetative, imbalance of power and the child has no remorse.

What if you think your child might be the bully?

This is a tough one to admit, but remember there are many reasons a child bullies someone else. here are some examples:

• feeling powerless
• low self-esteem
• trying to get attention from friends
• fear of being left out if they don't join in.

On Line Bullying

This type of bullying is moving and developing faster and faster so it is vitally important to understand the nature of online bullying and what to do to prevent it.

It can be via a smartphone, computer, laptop, tablet or online gaming platforms.

It can take place on a range of online or mobile services, such as text, email, social networking sites, video-hosting sites, messenger, photo sharing services, chat, webcams. visual learning environments and online games.

What are the signs that my child is being bullied online?

signs that your child may be getting bullied online might include:

• Suddenly stopping using technology or particular sites, apps or games.
• Being nervous or jumpy around technology, for example, when a message comes through.
• Spending excessive amounts of time on devices connected to the internet.
• Displaying anxiety when kept away from devices connected to the internet.

Schools Response to Bullying

At Langold Dyscarr Community School we take all allegations of bullying very seriously. 

We can guarantee that there will be a full and thorough investigation to all allegations and all the children involved will be listened to and taken seriously, whether they are the bully, the victim or a witness.

We work with the children and parents to resolve situations quickly and give the children ownership of the outcomes by encouraging them to work towards their own personal targets.

We encourage all the children in the school to show respect for each other at all times.