Bullying & Child-on-Child Abuse

At Kingswood Secondary Academy we aim to create a calm, caring and safe environment in which all students and staff feel able to thrive, make excellent progress and succeed in achieving their full potential. At Kingswood we believe that everyone learns by example and that teachers, parents and students have a shared responsibility in setting a good example as well as ensuring that the rules are followed.

At Kingswood Secondary Academy we aim to ensure the school is a safe, calm and productive environment, where staff and students feel supported, and that their work is valued.

We also appreciate that at times, children can and do make mistakes. To this end, we also seek to:

· Make clear to Students what constitutes bullying, what can be done to prevent it and how incidents should be dealt with; including the support for victims of bullying and the support we provide for perpetrators of bullying

· Create a safe, inclusive and calm environment where all staff, students, parents and visitors are able to thrive free from any harassment or bullying

· Create an environment where students can grow and become mature, self-disciplined, hardworking and able to accept responsibility for their own actions.

Bullying and Child-on-Child abuse

We deal with bullying immediately and we operate a zero tolerance of it. Where bullying has been found to take place, we will suspend the perpetrator and provide support to the victim through counselling. Where appropriate, we implement restorative approaches to rebuild positive relationships and at all times, keep the families of the victim and perpetrator informed of our actions and next steps. Although there is no legal definition of bullying, but we have adopted Bullying UK’s definition:

“Bullying is repeated behaviour which is intended to hurt someone either emotionally or physically.” We are also clear that bullying is not:

• One-off occasions of being left out, people not getting along, meanness or nastiness

• A random act that made you scared or hurt

• Falling out, arguing or fighting with people, when both sides are to blame

Even though these are not bullying, these are still not acceptable behaviour and will still be dealt with. They may still constitute child-on-child abuse.

If bullying does occur, all students should be able to inform and understand that incidents will be dealt with promptly and effectively. We aim to be the type of school where anyone who knows that bullying is happening is expected to speak out and tell the staff.

Definitions

Bullying is 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, and can happen face-to-face or online.

Bullying is, therefore:

· Deliberately hurtful

· Repeated, often over a long period of time.

We use the acronym STOP when investigating allegations of bullying. This means Several Times On Purpose with the intention of causing physical or emotional distress.

It is recognised that bullying, if left unaddressed, can have a devastating impact on individuals; it can create a barrier to learning and have detrimental consequences for mental wellbeing. All students are provided with a variety of opportunities to be educated on anti-bullying through assemblies, tutor time projects and sections of the curriculum.

Procedures for Reporting Bullying

See Appendix 2 of the Anti-Bullying Policy for detailed process of how we challenge allegations of bullying and our anti-bullying procedural flowchart.

To be able to effectively tackle and prevent bullying, it is imperative that students report incidents of bullying straight away. Students should report incidents of bullying by informing any adult within the Academy.

If a student feels like bullying or child-on-child abuse is taking place, they should tell a member of staff as soon as possible. If a student feels that they are the victim of bullying, then they should report this immediately to their Head or Deputy Head of Year, or to a member of staff that they trust. Alternatively, they can report it at the following email address: KSA_anti-bullying@kingswoodsecondaryacademy.org

Students are reminded not to be tempted to respond to any bullying or hit back because they could get hurt or get into trouble.

Sexual Abuse within Schools: Child on Child Abuse, Sexual Violence and Harassment and Harmful Sexual Behaviour:

Our position as a trust and within all our academies is clear: sexual violence and sexual harassment are never acceptable, will never be tolerated and are not an inevitable part of growing up. Such behaviour will never go unchallenged or become accepted, and we remain committed to working openly and transparently to promote mutual respect. We will always act on concerns raised

Our Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy has guidance within it around the indicators of child-on-child abuse and harmful sexual behaviour along with our response procedures. All relevant Safeguarding Policies are available on individual academy websites.

All pupils are taught the Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) curriculum.