Bullying Policy

“You have the right to be protected from being mistreated or harmed, in body or mind”

Article 19, United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

In Garvel Deaf Centre we are committed to providing a safe, supportive environment where children can feel secure. We have produced this anti-bullying policy in line with the Inverclyde policy on bullying.

What is bullying?

 written (e.g. graffiti, writing on jotters, written threats)
 verbal (e.g. name calling, sexist comments, threatening)
 physical (e.g. pushing, fighting, punching, tripping)
 damage to property (e.g. stealing bags or money, ripping books)
 isolation (e.g. encouraging others to bully)
 cyber (e.g. misuse of internet, email, mobile phone. Threats by text messaging, misuse of associated technology i.e. camera and video facilities)
 homophobic (focusing on the issue of sexuality)
 racist (e.g. racial taunts, graffiti, gestures)

Bullying is an abuse of power. A person is bullied when he or she is significantly hurt or upset by the actions of another, feels powerless to prevent this happening and fears it will happen again.

It is NOT BULLYING when two people of about the same strength or power argue or fight or when it is done in a friendly and playful way. Although all acts of bullying are aggressive, not all aggressive acts are bullying.

Bullying of any kind can have serious consequences and will not be tolerated in Garvel. To minimise the effects and the incidence of bullying we will:

 aim to create an ethos where bullying is unacceptable
 give pupils the opportunity to talk about and discuss the issue
 take the appropriate action if bullying is discovered – this can range from giving appropriate counselling to exclusion from school
 follow the authority guidelines at all times.

We will deal with incidents of bullying when they occur by taking the following actions:

 following establishment procedures for managing allegations of bullying incidents
 reporting all incidents or concerns of bullying to designated staff
 listening carefully to all accounts
 completing all appropriate forms
 never ignoring suspected bullying
 not making premature assumptions
 adopting a problem-solving approach which moves pupils on from justifying themselves
 following up repeatedly, checking that bullying has not resumed
 giving appropriate support to everyone involved in the bullying incident