What do we do?

Genuine bullying is rare in our school, although it does occasionally happen; when we know about it we are quick to respond. Firstly though, we investigate any claims to determine whether actual bullying is taking place.

In the vast majority of times, this is not the case, although we still work with the children concerned, in order to help them to get over their differences. We use a combination of rewards, encouragement and if needed, consequences in order to teach the pupils how they should behave towards each other.

Being a Catholic school, we also talk to the children about these issues from a Christian perspective and remind them of how God wants them to live their lives. Our Catholic ethos means that we are faithful to Gospel values and strive to live by the teachings of Jesus Christ. We aim to ensure that our children not only succeed academically, but also grow spiritually and morally, developing into fully rounded individuals.

St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School Mission is to educate our children by

Following + Recognising + Nurturing 

Following in Jesus’ footsteps,

Recognising the Holy Spirit in ourselves and in each other

& Nurturing our God given gifts.

What you can do?

If a young person in your family is being bullied it is vital that you work with his or her teachers to find a solution.

If you are not happy with a teacher's response, do not give up. Speak to someone else - perhaps another teacher or the head teacher.

Always discuss things with your child before you take action. If you don't do this you might damage your relationship with your child.

For full details on our school policies please visit our Governors Page.

What is bullying?

Bullying is the intentional, repetitive or persistent hurting of one person by another person, where the relationship  involves an imbalance of power.

It can take physical or verbal forms, be direct (face to face) or indirect (rumour spreading, exclusion, sending of text messages or emails).

In essence that means that bullying involves one child or a group of children deliberately targeting another, over a period of time in order to hurt that child and also to make the child, exhibiting bullying behaviours, feel in control of that person. The control aspect is significant, as children who bully, tend to feel bad about themselves (often deep down) and this is what leads them to pick on others. These children therefore tend to have their own problems and in order to solve bullying, these also need to be addressed.

To be clear what bullying is not; it is not children falling out or even physically hurting each other (friends or otherwise). This, although unacceptable, occurs in all schools, as children learn, over their lives, how to behave and relate to others; this is part of their development.

Prevention and action

If we discover that genuine bullying is taking place, a member of the Senior Leadership Team always becomes involved. Children who bully will receive sanctions for their actions and this will be proportionate to what they have done wrong. However, they will also be helped to see why they act in this way towards other children, so that they can begin to improve their own self-esteem. This does not happen overnight and will often take some time, and also the involvement and support of their own families.

Victims of bullying are well looked after. They are encouraged to come forward and report anything that shows that bullying is continuing. This is really important, as often a victim worries about a bully retaliating, if they should ’tell on them’. Therefore staff go to great lengths to empower the victim so that they feel that they can communicate their concerns. At all times staff will be consistent in their messages and actions towards bullies and victims, so that they both know what will happen should the bullying continue.

The measures described above outline how we react once bullying is confirmed, however we also do an awful lot to prevent bullying in the first place. Our PHSE curriculum covers anti-bullying and most importantly the religious and spiritual element of the school greatly contributes to developing an ethos of love, care and respect within our community.

We hold anti-bullying days and workshops which are often run by outside specialists. All of our children and staff have signed the Power of One oath:

I will not bully others
I will not stand by while others are bullied
I will report and deal with bullying whenever I see it
Because I have the Power of One