For further information, please see our Safe at School policy which also covers our reporting mechanisms, responding and monitoring

Purpose

At the Warriner School our school values are Responsible, Respectful and Ready. We also value a kind and caring whole-school community shown by making a difference, being respectful and taking pride. We want the school to be a warm, caring place full of humour and love with impeccable behaviour. We live our school values through our commitment to the creation of an inclusive environment where everyone feels safe at school.

Bullying is an aspect of school life that impacts on a student’s social, emotional and educational development.  In recent years there has been an increasing awareness and understanding about issues relating to bullying and promoting an anti-bullying ethos within the school environment. 

Bullying, unfortunately, can occur in all schools and impacts negatively on both students and staff. Bullying is not acceptable under any circumstances, and we believe it is best prevented through the development of an anti-bullying ethos, specifically exercising kindness, respect, being tolerant and embracing diversity based on race, religion, culture, gender, sexual orientation and disability.

Definition

At The Warriner School we have adopted a Safe at School Charter signed by all students.  
We use the Anti-Bullying alliance definition of bullying:

Behaviour by an individual or a group, usually repeated over time, that intentionally hurts another individual either physically or emotionally.

Principles of our Safe at School policy

• The Warriner Safe at School Charter will underpin our work: 
• Everyone has the right to feel safe and everyone has a responsibility for this, bullying behaviour has no place in our school. 
• Prevention work will always be a focus. 
• We will maintain multiple reporting channels for students to communicate with staff in The Warriner Learning Centre to follow up on concerns 
• We will take, record and monitor actions to stop, sort and learn from bullying behaviour. 
• The Warriner Learning Centre team will receive regular, high quality training. 

Procedures

At the Warriner School we are all very aware that the consequences of bullying can be severe in terms of a young person’s mental well-being, attitude towards school, educational attainment and even potential suicide risk. It is for this reason that we treat every incident of bullying extremely seriously.

Our staff at The Warriner are trained to follow the Safe at School procedures. Underpinning this is:

The Victim

• To make the victim feel safe
• Support the needs of the victim
• Listen to the victim and the impact on their lives

The Bullying

• To stop the bullying and change the bully’s behaviour
• To make it clear to every other child that bullying is unacceptable
• To learn lessons from the experience that can be applied in the future

How do we manage the incidents?

We always impose severe sanctions for any form of bullying, and these include (depending upon the severity of the incident):

• Formal lunchtime and/or after school detentions
• Taking the bully out of circulation at break and/or lunchtime for an extended period
• Internal isolation ('Return to Learn') to remove the bully from the school community
• External suspension
• Expulsion (in only the more severe and persistent cases)

(Please note that we cannot make the details of any specific sanction public).

How do we support the victim?

We have a number of ways in which we can support the victim in order to make them safe. The Warriner Learning Centre  is there to deal with the immediacy of the incident. Where appropriate, longer term support is provided by the Tutor, Head of House, Student Support Services and, in extreme cases, we can make use of our Family Support Counsellor.

Next steps

Whilst it is vital that sanctions are imposed it is equally, if not more, important to re-educate the bully and we use a number of strategies to do this including:

• Restorative justice
• Encouraging the bully to reflect upon the consequences of their actions

If your child is experiencing bullying of any form, please report it to the Warriner Learning Centre immediately. Telephone the school on 01295 720777 and ask to speak to the Warriner Learning Centre team or Head of Year.

For further information, please see our Safe at School policy which also covers our reporting mechanisms, responding and monitoring