Welcome to your first Year Council Meeting. Firstly, congratulations on being elected to the Year Council. It is a fantastic achievement and your hard work will really benefit the school. The Sixth Former you have been assigned will help you work on today’s task. Don’t worry if you don’t get it all finished off, you might need some more time on what you’ve been set! This first session gets you to look at one of the most important things a school has to cope with – ‘Bullying.’ As you are the people who have to deal with bullying, we think it is only fitting that you help out in re-writing the school’s anti-bullying policy.

Agenda for today? Today we will be reviewing the anti-bullying policy. This means we can re-draft certain sections of this important document and take our thoughts to the Headteacher and the Assistant Headteachers.

PLTS Today you will be developing your skills of team work (listening to others & formulating your own ideas), reflecting on past experiences and the positives and negatives of the current anti bullying policy and thinking creatively as to how this policy can be improved.

Task 1 What is a policy? A policy is a list of principles or rules to guide decisions and achieve good outcomes. So an anti bullying policy gives the school’s pupils, parents and teachers a list of rules and advice to deal with bullying.

Task 2 Come up with a definition of bullying and think and write down where and how bullying can occur. The School’s definition of bullying at the moment is: “At times we may use the word ‘bullying’ to mean any sort of unpleasant actions. In this policy bullying refers to when a person or group of people do nasty or unkind things to someone on purpose, more than just once, which the victim finds difficult to stop. Government guidance states that bullying is “Behaviour by an individual or group, usually repeated over time, that intentionally hurts another individual or group either physically or emotionally.” (DfES 2007) ”

Task 3 Think about the qualities that make the ideal Kinver High School student & staff member

Task 4 Start of the document Do you think using a definition of bullying is a good way to start the document - is there a better way we could start it? Would it be beneficial to write a statement about how we view bullying: Make this a clear, firm statement on the school’s stance on bullying, harassment and violence. At Kinver High School……..(think about what type of school you are (qualities of the school and staff), what type of students go there (qualities of the students), what you want to be and how you view bullying etc.)

Task 5 It says on the document that…. It is important for everyone involved in the school community to understand the difference between bullying and falling out….. Do we need to explain what this is?

Task 6 Are we happy with what is written here, should anything be added or changed? BEING BULLIED CAN TAKE MANY FORMS PHYSICAL by being punched, pushed or hurt in some other way; made to give up money or belongings; having property, clothes or belongings damaged; being forced to do something they don’t want to do VERBAL by being teased in an unkind way; called gay (whether or not it’s true); insulted about their race; called names in other ways INDIRECT by having nasty stories told about them, being left out or excluded ELECTRONIC – known as ‘cyberbullying’; for example, via mobile phones (text messages, calls) and computers (emails, website, chatroom)

Task 7 These are the current pupil strategies for dealing with bullying (check your planner these are the ones suggested in the policy are they the same in the planner? During an incident try to stay calm and look as confident as you can - get away from the situation as quickly as possible  Keep on speaking until someone listens and does something to stop the bullying Don't blame yourself for what has happened. Talk to someone you trust and get them to help you take the right steps to stop the bullying. This may be your Form Tutor or other trusted adult or a Peer Mentor If you are scared to tell a teacher or an adult on your own, ask a friend to go with you Tell your family Are we happy about these? How could these be improved and made more relevant/up-to-date?

Task 8 Can you come up with a list of advice for students on how to deal with bullies? Who to report to? How to report? When to report? Responsibilities of the Headteacher, staff, students, parents. (see next page for what staff should do….what do you think?)

FOR STAFF What will Kinver High School do? Kinver High School does not tolerate bullying. This is what we do about bullying: Work to make sure that the vulnerable student is safe Investigate the reported behaviour or threats Establish whether the behaviour can be classed as bullying by checking student files for other reported incidents, liaise with other school staff e.g. tutor/HOY, take written statements from appropriate persons Provide support to the person being bullied Work to stop the bullying happening again. School staff involved in any incidents of bullying will be the HOY and Senior Staff Inform the bully/bullies parents by telephone or letter and request them to come in to a meeting to discuss the issues Take actions to ensure that the person doing the bullying learns not to harm others. Provide support to help the bully (bullies) change their behaviour Provide support to the victim including contacting parents and other agencies:  Record incidents in the individual student files (both alleged bully/bullies and victim) and if appropriate in the Discriminatory Incident log which will be reported to the Local Education Authority using the statutory form If necessary invoke the full range of consequences that are detailed in the school’s Behaviour Policy.

Task 8 AOB? There are probably quite a few things you would like to target the school council to work on. What are these, make sure you make a note of these so that your Whole School Council rep can bring these and your anti-bullying policy work to the next meeting!