Anti-bullying Policy

Staff, parents and pupils want Craigievar Primary to be a safe and enjoyable place to learn. We believe that bullying in any form is intolerable and unacceptable.  Parents/carers, pupils and teachers have a responsibility to work in partnership to maintain a high standard of behaviour and an environment free from bullying behaviour.  Craigievar Primary and Aberdeenshire Council believe that everyone should be treated equally and with respect.

Bullying takes place when the actions of an individual or group of people cause harm to someone by taking advantage of an imbalance of power within a relationship (whether perceived or real). Bullying behaviour is abusive. Bullying behaviour is often displayed as a result of past experiences which affect and impact on current actions.  Bullying can be verbal, physical, mental/emotional or cyber. It can be intentional or unintentional, direct or indirect, persistent, or a one-off incident.

People who experience bullying behaviour feel vulnerable and/or socially isolated.

Prevention

At Craigievar we work together to prevent bullying. We do this by:

• Working to raise awareness amongst pupils, staff and parents/carers
• Working to educate pupils, staff and parents/carers about what to do
• when bullying behaviour is displayed, and how to support those involved.
• Providing access to training and key information for staff.

Communication

Communication between school and home is essential to dealing with instances of bullying effectively. If parents or carers believe their child is experiencing bullying they should contact the school as soon as possible.  Likewise, if staff become aware of bullying within the school, they will make parents and carers aware of the situation and the actions taken to resolve it.

Our Response to incidents of bullying

At Craigievar, we deal with instances of bullying in using the following 6-step approach.

1. Record the Incident
2. Speak to the individuals involved – it is important we have as much information as possible from those involved
3. Speak to parents
4. We use a restorative approach to have open and honest conversations and resolve differences
5. Monitor the situation
6. Review whether the situation has been resolved.

Reporting and Monitoring

Incidents of bullying are recorded within each pupils’ confidential file. The school completes an annual return to Aberdeenshire Council on the number of incidents of bullying each year.  Our pupil Citizenship group is responsible for discussing bullying at least once per year and plays an important part in raising awareness of bullying in all its forms.