We take the act of bullying very seriously and will deal promptly with any incidences.
What is bullying?
Bullying is repeated behavior which is carried out to intentionally hurt/harm another individual, either physically or emotionally. One person or a group can bully others.
There are different types of bullying
These include:
- Physical – Any use of violence
- Emotional – general unkindness, e.g. taunting, exclusion
- Sexual – unwanted touching or sexually abusive comments
- Verbal – e.g. name calling, teasing
- Cyber – misuse of the internet or other technology, e.g. emails, calls, social networking
- Racist – e.g. teasing, physical bullying that focuses on race
- Homophobic - e.g. teasing, physical bullying that focuses on sexuality
We will aim to prevent bullying by:
- Having a clear “No Bullying” policy
- Talking about bullying and why it is unacceptable
- Involving the children in making rules for the setting
- Working in partnership with parents/carers and other settings and professionals, to help children understand the negative effects of bullying, for the victim and the bully
- Encouraging children to accept that it is OK to be different.
If a child is bullied we will:
- Reassure the child it is not their fault
- Talk to the child about their feelings
- Give the child lots of praise and encouragement
- Discuss the incident with the parents/carers
- Jointly decide strategies to support the child in dealing with their feelings and raise self-esteem
- Keep a record of the incident.
If a child has bullied we will:
- Remind the child that bullying is never acceptable
- Reassure the child that we still like them, but not the behaviour they are exhibiting
- Talk to the child about their feelings and try and understand why this behaviour has occurred
- Discuss the matter with the child’s parents/carers and jointly agree support strategies to support the child in changing their behaviour
- Keep a record of the incident.
Exclusion
If we feel there is a need to exclude a child from our setting due to bullying behaviour issues that cannot be resolved, we will refer to our exclusion policy.
Peer on Peer Abuse
See our Safeguarding Children & Child Protection Policy with regard peer on peer abuse which will not be tolerated or passed off as ‘banter’, ‘having a laugh’ or ‘part of growing up’.
If you have any concerns about your child being bullied or bullying others, please do not hesitate to talk to us. We are happy to arrange a convenient time for us to talk about these issues when your child is not present.
