ANTI-BULLYING POLICY
Owner: Heads of School & President
Reviewers: School Senior Leadership Team
Approved by: Heads of School, President
Approved by President: Yes
Date approved: June 2024
Next review due by: June 2025
1.
PURPOSE
Introduction
British School of Bucharest prides itself on its inclusive and positive ethos. This policy recognises the commitment to providing and maintaining a caring, friendly and secure environment for all students, so that they can learn in a safe atmosphere. Bullying of any kind is unacceptable in our school and it is our aim that all our students feel that they belong to a caring and open community. We will take firm and rapid steps to address any bullying as soon as it is brought to our attention. We consider that bullying of all types, including physical, emotional and online (sometimes referred to as cyberbullying), is extremely serious and may lead to significant psychological damage.
This policy is compliant with Romanian Decision No 1065/2024 which is against psychological violence and bullying in spaces intended for education.
The provisions of this policy also take into account the provisions of the Procedure on the management of cases of violence in school and other related situations in the school environment and of suspected violence against children outside the school environment approved by Order no. 6235/2023.
Aims and Objectives
Our aims are that:
• bullying of any kind is not tolerated;
• all members of the community are encouraged to work against bullying by attempting to prevent it and by raising concerns;
• all children are cared for by their teachers in ‘loco parentis’;
• all children feel safe and happy at school;
• all children are actively encouraged to form friendships and to welcome new children into their community;
• communication is made between school and home informing of any issues relating to a child’s wellbeing;
• children are monitored by all staff for social happiness in line with the BSB Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy;
• children are monitored for wellbeing in terms of their social, emotional and health needs;
• all teachers are actively looking for occasions to promote social harmony;
• all children are taught how to build harmonious relationships with each other through PSHE.
2. DEFINITIONS
What is Bullying?
Bullying occurs when a person’s repeated and targeted behaviour intentionally or thoughtlessly causes distress to another. Bullying may by physical, verbal or emotional and may be direct or indirect. The intensity of bullying can vary: bullying may take place over long periods of time or consist of isolated incidents. Bullying may involve individuals or groups. It may happen when the bullied person is present or take place via text, e-mail, in chatrooms, or on other social networking groups online.
What is bullying to one person may be intended as a joke to another. It is possible for a group or individual to bully another by thoughtlessness or lack of consideration.
Bullying can be:
• emotional e.g. being unfriendly, excluding, tormenting (e.g. hiding books, bags, school equipment, threatening gestures etc.);
• physical e.g. pushing, kicking, hitting, punching or any use of violence;
• racist e.g. racial taunts, graffiti, gestures;
• sexual/sexist e.g. unwanted physical contact or sexually abusive comments;
• homophobic - because of, or focusing on the issue of sexuality;
• verbal e.g. name-calling, sarcasm, spreading malicious rumours or gossip, teasing, disability taunts;
• subjected through the misuse of technology e.g. social media;
• religious e.g. abusive or derogatory comments of a religious nature;
• cultural e.g. abusive or derogatory comments or inflammatory acts of a cultural nature;
• disability e.g. abusive or derogatory comments or acts about a person’s disability;
• gender e.g. derogatory or abusive comments about a person’s gender or gender orientation.
How can bullying be recognised?
Victims of bullying may:
• be new to the class or school;
• be adopted or be looked after by a carer;
• appear to differ in speech, cultural, religious or racial background or have a different social status from other students;
• have been identified with special educational needs;
• suffer from low self-esteem;
• demonstrate ‘entertaining’ reactions when bullied, e.g. tantrums, loss of control;
• be more nervous or anxious than their peers;
• be envied for their success in academic or other areas;
• have a specified or non-specified learning difficulty or special need.
• exhibit a protected characteristic
Signs that a student is being bullied may include:
• a fear of going to school;
• a request to change their route/mode of travel (e.g. asking not to travel on public transport);
• beginning to do badly in school work and experience academic decline;
• arriving home regularly with books/clothes damaged or destroyed;
• having possessions ‘go missing’;
• have unexplained bruises, scratches or cuts;
• becoming withdrawn, starting to stammer;
• refusing to say what is wrong;
• becoming emotional, tearful or moody;
• demonstrate a change in diet or sleep patterns;
• exhibit an unwillingness to talk about any problems at school.
Bullies may have some of the following characteristics:
• a tendency to be impulsive and have assertive, aggressive attitudes over which they exert little control;
• a need to dominate others, especially those who are younger or perceived as weaker;
• behaviour which is anti-social or rule-breaking;
• they are often aggressive leaders;
• can be at any level of social status, from low to high popularity
• can have complicated needs themselves, such as learning difficulties etc.;
• a lack of empathy – they do not seem to know what it is like to be a victim and are intolerant of anything that appears weak;
• absence of guilt; they usually feel that the victim in some way ‘deserves’ the treatment and may be experiencing or have experienced bullying of some form themselves.
3. POLICY
Achieving Our Aims
Prevention of Bullying
Students, parents and staff are asked to take an active role in its prevention. Everyone in the school community has a responsibility to report any incidents of bullying.
At British School of Bucharest we aim to prevent bullying by:
• encouraging positive behaviour towards other members of the community (see Behaviour Policy);
• raising awareness of bullying issues;
• enabling easy communication of concerns regarding bullying;
• taking action when incidents arise;
• asking staff to be vigilant in lessons and when on duty outside of lessons or when they are generally around the school;
• discussing incidents at tutor and leadership meetings;
• ensuring that parents know who they can contact at school if they suspect bullying is taking place;
• ensuring that students know how to deal with bullying if it occurs and are clear about the part they can play to prevent bullying, including when they find themselves as bystanders.
• holding regular meetings and consultation with key staff members, such as the Nurse and Counsellors.
• ensuring the pastoral leadership remain focused on the Prevention and Elimination of Violence, Corruption and Discrimination in the School Environment and the Promotion of Interculturality to coordinate, develop, revise and implement the Plan for the Prevention and Reduction of Violence in the School Environment; in line with local legislation.
• implementing a mechanism for anonymous reporting of suspicions and acts of violence, including any behavior prohibited by this policy.
The School has the obligation to report cases of violence against children to the national number 119 and to collaborate with the general directorates of social assistance and child protection for their management, in the best interest of the child. If there is a suspicion that a crime has been committed, the school management has the obligation to notify the police and cooperate with the investigation.
Raising Awareness
Bullying issues can be referred to in:
• Assemblies
• Tutor group meetings
• Staff meetings
• PSHE lessons
• Letters and notices to parents.
There are also opportunities to raise bullying issues in awareness days, through drama, stories and literature, history, tutor time and other curriculum areas. Opportunities are offered for the discussion of differences between people and the importance of avoiding prejudice-based language. Students are educated in the responsibilities involved in communicating electronically, either directly to individuals, in group chats or public forums.
Students are taught to:
• accept that they will not always get along with every other student but that they should always treat others with respect;
• use fair methods to settle disputes and seeking advice and support from teachers to sort disagreements amicably;
• tell, or find a way of telling, if they are being bullied or if someone is acting in a way that stops them feeling safe and happy;
• work cooperatively with all parties involved;
• welcome new students to the school and make an effort to help them settle in;
• be positive role models to the younger students in the school.
Form Tutors‘ and Class Teachers’ Roles and Responsibilities
• groups and pairs are chosen with care ensuring that no individuals ever feel ‘left out’ or ‘second class’;
• teachers and other adults in the school encourage children to socialise with others if they see anyone ‘left out’;
• all issues of bullying behaviour are challenged and students are encouraged to tell a teacher if a situation occurs. Every reported incident is followed up and recorded on CPOMS. A central record of reported bullying incidents is maintained by the Directors of Pastoral Care & Inclusion and Heads of School; for each situation of violence, a case management form is filled in (Appendix 2).
• in a bullying situation, warnings will be given and all students involved, including bystanders, will be included in discussion. Sanctions may be used as specified in the Behaviour Policy;
• teachers and adults in the school are to ‘dampen down’ conflict issues with expedience that arise between individuals and try to resolve these quickly and fairly so that they do not develop into larger issues;
• where individuals are known to ‘not get along’ teachers are mindful of potential conflicts and use strategies to avoid these where possible;
• when violence is reported by pupils, school staff shall listen to them patiently, calmly and protect them against any form of discrimination or retaliation by other pupils or adults. School staff use language appropriate to the maturity and vulnerability of the individuals involved.
school staff are prohibited from using language/tones that are accusatory, interrogatory, intimidating, humiliating, blaming. No action will be taken by school staff that undermines the dignity of the persons involved;
• school staff at the place of the incident should eliminate the risks, call the single emergency number 112 if necessary, refer to the school medical staff, where available, if necessary, and restore pupils’ sense of physical and emotional safety;
• to prevent re-victimization, repeated interviewing of the victim(s) is prohibited. Depending on the seriousness of the case, the persons involved are interviewed by representatives of the competent authorities (police, DGASPC, etc.) as well as by designated representatives of the educational establishment;
• school staff shall be required to communicate with the parents/guardians about the situation of violence/correlated violence in the absence of the pre-nursery/nursery/student, in the presence of the school counselor and/or school mediator (if applicable), in a space that ensures the confidentiality of those involved;
• school staff shall be committed to maintain confidentiality regarding the identity of the persons involved in the situation of violence - perpetrators and victims, respectively those involved in related situations, from all members of the school community, except for persons who have responsibilities or are resource persons in case management;
Further support and training
Further support and training will be provided for staff if required, either relating to general bullying prevention (e.g. Educare: Preventing Bullying for International Schools), or to understand the specific needs of certain students, including those with special educational needs or disabilities, or students whom identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBTQ+).
At school level, support measures can be established, such as:
− group and/or individual counseling;
− organising and recommending participation in thematic support group meetings;
− organising and recommending the participation of children involved in aggressive situations in activities to develop socio-emotional skills and emotional self-regulation strategies in times of stress;
− referring/referring for psychological and psychotherapeutic intervention;
− identifying resources for engaging a therapist to assist the child victim or perpetrator over a period of time - shadow type services;
− activities to combat hate speech, discrimination, marginalization, social norms that promote violence;
− conflict mediation activities, through restorative approaches - exception victims of gender-based violence;
− transfer to another class/study program for pupils who are victims of violence, at the request of their parents/guardians.
Retaliation
Retaliation in any form is deemed as unacceptable behaviour and will be dealt with on an individual basis according to the Behaviour Policy.
Cyberbullying
Cyberbullying can be defined as the use of technology, particularly mobile phones and the Internet, deliberately to upset someone else. Within school, the Internet is used primarily for research and for approved educational programmes. All rules and expectations are aimed at encouraging a student to be sensible, considerate and legal. Acceptable use policies are introduced in class in Primary and on MySchoolPortal in Secondary. These are acknowledged and agreed in September and are also read and signed by all parents.
Teachers provide guidance to clarify these objectives. We are aware that students may use home computers in ways that may upset others (through chat rooms, e-mail, web pages etc.). This gives cyberbullying a ‘24/7 ’and ‘any place ’nature. Parents have a role to play in monitoring the way in which their children use computers and mobile phones and receive guidance from the School in the form of information evenings and workshops on internet abuse. Any concerns should be reported as with any other bullying. Further details can be found in the Online Safety Policy.
Where indecent images of young people are distributed either among students of BSB or to people outside of the school by electronic devices or on paper copy, this will be treated as a Child Protection incident and may involve the police.
Reporting
Students are regularly reminded that they should report any incidents of bullying to an adult at school they trust. Students are encouraged to contact their Class Teacher/ Form Tutor initially, however, depending upon the circumstance, they may prefer to report the matter to a different member of staff, such as their Head of Year or Key Stage or a member of the Safeguarding Team.
The member of staff who is reported to must add a record of what is reported on CPOMS, under the ‘Bullying’ category (there will be an option to select ‘physical’, ‘non-physical’ and/or ‘cyber’ bullying if necessary). The report should be under the name of the victim of bullying, with the perpetrators (if BSB students) ‘linked’ to the report. All bullying incidents reported on CPOMS automatically notify the student’s:
• Class Teacher/ Form Tutor,
• Year Group Leader/ Head of Year,
• Director of Key Stage and Director of Pastoral Care and Inclusion, and
• Relevant members of the Safeguarding Team (Primary or Secondary) and Heads of School
If the Safeguarding Team deem that there is reasonable cause to believe that a child is suffering or likely to suffer significant harm as a result of the bullying incident reported, the matter will be dealt with as a safeguarding incident.
On receipt of the bullying incident report, a member of staff will be identified to lead any actions regarding the matter. This will often be the Director of Pastoral Care, unless it is considered a safeguarding matter, in which case the Designated Safeguarding Lead or Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead will adopt that responsibility. The assigned lead will then meet with the victim/s and any alleged perpetrator/s separately to investigate. Parents will be contacted and kept informed. Any actions and sanctions as a result of the investigation will be in line with the Behaviour Policy and the ‘STINT” process. Strong sanctions, such as permanent exclusion, may be necessary in cases of severe and persistent bullying.
Support measures and sanctions provided for by law for those involved are established at school level. School staff shall ensure that:
− support measures and sanctions are established in relation to the seriousness of the case in order to remove the causes and effects;
− support measures and sanctions are appropriate to the development and social integration needs of the persons involved;
− support measures and sanctions are appropriate to the social reintegration and/or rehabilitation needs of the persons involved.
However, school staff and pupils are reminded to include an anonymous procedure to report any cases of bullying, cyber-bullying or other forms of violence.
Reporting to External Agencies
Through PSHE lessons, student will be informed about the emergency services and emergency contact details. Students are taught that if they ever feel that they or somebody else is in danger, they must contact the emergency services (112 for Police and Ambulance, or 119 for any form of violence against children, under the Romanian government’s Caring for Children program).
Reviewing
At the end of each term, bullying records are reviewed and scrutinized for trends during the Termly Safeguarding Review meetings with the Safeguarding Team and an advisor to the Board.
Health & Safety
Mental and social health is considered an important factor at British School of Bucharest and all students should feel happy and secure. Any students who cause damage to another student’s mental or physical health are dealt with swiftly. Details can be found in the Behaviour Policy.
4. RELATED POLICIES & PROCEDURES
Behaviour Policy
Online Safety Policy
Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy
APPENDIX 1
Teachers’ intervention in bullying situations in educational units