Bullying & Equalities

UN Convention Rights of a Child – Article 29
(goals of education and aspiration)

“Education must develop every child’s personality, talents and abilities to the full. It must encourage the child’s respect for human rights, as well as respect for their parents, their own and other cultures, and the environment.”

Dalkeith High School Bullying and Equalities Policy – October 2024

Bullying is never acceptable, in any form.  The impact of bullying can be significant, and can resonate for many years after the event.

 

The Scottish Government vision for children and young people states that:

  • Every child and young person in Scotland will grow up free from bullying and will develop respectful, responsible and confident relationships with other children, young people and adults;
  • Children and young people and their parent(s), will have the skills and resilience to prevent and/or respond to bullying appropriately;
  • Every child and young person who requires help will know who can help them and what support is available; and
  • Adults working with children and young people will follow a consistent and coherent approach in dealing with and preventing bullying from Early Learning and Childcare onwards.

 

OUR SCHOOL VISION

#DeterminedHappySuccessful

Dalkeith High School: Enabling all young people to succeed in an inclusive, respectful and stimulating environment

 

Children’s rights and the UNCRC were created to ensure that all children can thrive and achieve in life.  Many of the articles of the UNCRC link closely to equalities and anti-bullying but some of the key articles are:

  • Article 2 – You have the right to protection against discrimination.
  • Article 12 – You have the right to give your opinion on issues that affect you.
  • Article 19 – You have the right to be protected from being hurt or badly treated.
  • Article 29 – You have the right to an education which develops your personality and your respect for other’s rights and the environment.

Articles 2, 12 and 29 feature in the school charter created by our student rights representatives.

 

DEFINITIONS

Bullying  
Bullying is the repetitive, intentional hurting of one person or group by another person or group where the relationship involves an imbalance of power.  It can happen face-to-face or online.

(Anti-Bullying Alliance)

Bullying is an abuse of power that is defined by its effects. People who are bullied are upset by something that someone else has done or said to them or about them. They are likely to fear that this will happen and feel powerless to stop it. Bullying is also a breach of children’s rights under several articles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Equalities 
We use the legal definition of equalities which refers to all protected characteristics – for example being gay, lesbian or bisexual or from a minority ethnic group or disable or elderly. It includes anyone undergoing gender change, as well as those of particular faith groups. The Equality Act 2010 defines protected groups. Care Experienced children, Young Carers and children and young people from deprived backgrounds are also included as equalities groups.

Bullying behaviour includes:

  • Name-calling, teasing, threatening, or putting someone down, either in person or online;
  • Physical bullying such as hitting, pushing, kicking and tripping;
  • Taking someone else’s belongings or damaging them;
  • Spreading rumours about someone, purposefully ignoring them or deliberately leaving them out;
  • Sending images which are unkind or abusive via social media, phone or gaming consoles;
  • Behaving in ways which intentionally reduce another person’s agency or control of what is happening to them.

 

POSITIVE EXPECTATIONS

Tackling bullying behaviour begins with creating a school ethos with positive relationships at the centre, where bullying is not tolerated, and all bullying behaviours are challenged. At Dalkeith High school, we have high expectations of conduct from all members of our school community in line with our vision and ethos, and we encourage trusting, supportive relationships between all members of our school community.

We promote a whole school anti-bullying ethos by:

  • Developing and embedding a supportive and open culture where all stakeholders feel safe to express their concerns and their views without fear of reprisal;
  • Ensuring that all members of our school community know what to do if they are concerned about an incident of bullying;
  • Providing curricular input about managing conflict and developing resilience;
  • Working collegiately with all members of the school community to embed a zero-tolerance approach to incidents of bullying;
  • Creating safe spaces, and easily accessed procedures which prevent bullying from happening.

 

RESPONSIBILITY

All staff, pupils and their parents/carers have an active part to play in the development and maintenance of this policy and its success.

Pupils are expected to: 

  • Treat everyone with respect and dignity by not engaging in bullying behaviour.
  • Report to any member of staff incidents of bullying behaviours that other children may feel afraid to report.
  • Support each other and seek help to ensure that everyone feels safe, and nobody feels excluded or afraid in school.

All teachers are expected to: 

  • Be proactive, to treat all allegations seriously and respond appropriately and timeously to pupil concerns.
  • Incident forms are passed on and records held centrally.

Management Teams are expected to: 

  • Follow the reporting procedures set out by this policy and review findings and actions on a monthly basis.
  • Monitor and report annually on the implementation of this policy.
  • Supervise the review and updating of this policy at least every four years.

Parents/Carers can help by: 

  • Supporting our Anti Bullying and Equalities policy and procedures.
  • Encouraging their children to be positive members of the school and the wider community.
  • Sharing concerns about their child as quickly as possible.

 

PREVENTION PROCEDURES 

  • Posters on school notice boards and classrooms are updated regularly and used to remind pupils that bullying and discrimination are not acceptable, and inform them what to do if they are bullied.
  • We use discussions and evaluation in class lessons and include the pupil council as appropriate.
  • Senior pupils will be encouraged to actively contribute to our supportive ethos by being buddies to our younger pupils. These positions of responsibility strengthen relationship building and provide opportunities for mediation.
  • The PSE curriculum offers learners opportunities to explore relationship issues.
  • We involve other agencies as appropriate.
  • Challenge inappropriate behaviour.
  • Our staff are supported in accessing professional development opportunities that increase their awareness and understanding of bullying, prejudice and discrimination.
  • Annually, we participate in National Anti-Bullying week. Assemblies allow an opportunity to raise issues around bullying behaviour which are then explored further in PSE and through whole-school activities across the week.

 

WHEN BULLYING OCCURS

During their time at school, young people often fall out with friends and social groups shift and change. They can be impulsive and unpredictable in their behaviour, and this can result in tensions and difficulties. The pupils involved are not necessarily regarded as either bullies or victims.

We aim to: 

  • Acknowledge that bullying behaviour happens in our community.
  • Be careful to establish the facts in an open-minded manner before making judgements about whether bullying has taken place or if a child is being victimised.
  • Give assurance to pupils, parents and carers that reports of bullying incidents will be taken seriously, investigated promptly and dealt with appropriately. Feedback will be given to all involved as required and support offered, where appropriate.
  • Advise how pupils who have been involved in bullying behaviour will be supported.

Our support to pupils who are bullied or discriminated against:

  • Reassure that it is not their fault nor do they deserve it.
  • Assure them it was right to report the incident.
  • Encourage them to talk about how they feel and try to ascertain the extent of the problem.
  • Engage them in making choices about how the matter may be resolved.
  • Discuss strategies for being safe and staying safe.
  • Ask them to report immediately any further incidents to us.
  • We will endeavour to ensure it is stopped and will pursue all available avenues.

Our work with pupils who bully others:

It is important that those demonstrating bullying behaviour are also supported to understand the impact of their behaviour on others and to avoid any future behaviour.

  • We will interview the pupil (or pupils) involved in bullying/discriminatory behaviour separately, and work to ascertain the sort of support they will need.
  • We will listen to their version of events and talk to anyone who may have witnessed the bullying.
  • We will reinforce the message that bullying is not acceptable, and that we expect it to stop.
  • We will affirm that it is right for pupils to let us know when they are being bullied.
  • We will advise pupils responsible, that we will check to ensure the bullying stops.
  • When bullying occurs, we will contact the parents of pupils involved at an early stage.

Strategies we may use:

  • Restorative practices, including acknowledging grievances.
  • Involvement of parent/carer where appropriate.
  • Mediation
  • Counselling
  • Involvement of other agencies and partners in health, police and voluntary sector.
  • De-escalation strategies.
  • Physical separation of person/people bullying, where necessary and possible.
  • Safe room where feasible.
  • Sanctions, including loss of privileges/detention.
  • Assessment of additional support needs for person being bullied or person bullying.
  • In extreme cases, Child Protection procedures will be considered.
  • Exclusion from school is not itself a sanction or punishment for bullying behaviour and will only be used as a last resort.

 

REPORTING AND RECORDING INCIDENTS

Once a bullying allegation has been reported, investigated, monitored and reviewed, it must be:

  • Recorded on an Alleged Bullying Incident Form.
  • Investigated by the appropriate member of staff.
  • Recorded on Seemis.
  • Filed in a bullying log and folder.

It is important to note that we cannot always act on reports of bullying behaviour that has taken place outwith the school day (other than travelling to/from school by bus). We can, and will, offer support for an individual if wellbeing is affected, and will become involved if the bullying behaviour affects how pupils are engaging academically and socially at school. However, in some cases it may be more appropriate for parents/carers or pupils, to approach the police or social work to report bullying behaviour.

 

 

GATHERING AND MONITORING INFORMATION:

COMMUNICATING THE POLICY

  • We advertise our anti-bullying and equalities policy on our school website.
  • We provide ‘information sharing’ access points throughout the school for our pupils, to explain what they should do if they are being bullied, or if they see another pupil being bullied.

 

EVALUATING AND REVIEWING OUR POLICY

We evaluate this policy using the following measures:

  • The number of incidents that are reported by staff over a given period.
  • Pupils’ perceptions and experiences of bullying in secondary school through periodic questionnaires.
  • The number of complaints and compliments that we receive from parents.
  • From the comments made by visitors and other people connected with the school.

The policy and procedures will be reviewed every 4 years.

 

CONCERNS, COMPLAINTS AND COMPLIMENTS

We recognise that there may be times when parents feel that we have not dealt with an incident of bullying and we ask that this be brought to the Head Teacher’s notice. If the Head Teacher cannot resolve these concerns informally, parents can raise their concerns more formally through the school’s Complaints Procedure (see school website for further details). 

We are also pleased to receive compliments – feedback from parents when things have gone well.

APPENDICES:

Appendix 1
Appendix 2
Appendix 3
Appendix 4
Appendix 5

Download the whole document: DHS Bullying and Equalities Policy – October 2024

 

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