Anti-Bullying Strategy

St John Fisher Catholic High School believes that all students, whatever their race, culture, gender, faith, sexual orientation, physical or intellectual abilities have the right to:

• a safe and secure environment at school and on the way to and from school
• concentrate on their educational progress without fearing others

We promote a culture where students are expected to respect all members of the school community and encouraged to contribute to creating a caring Christian environment. 

All students are encouraged to speak to a member of staff if they feel they are being bullied at school or if they witness this happening to others.

We encourage parents and carers to contact the relevant Head of Year if they feel their a child is being bullied at school or if they/their child witness this happening to others.

Bullying cannot be dealt with if the school is unaware of the problem.

The school recognises that bullying can take many different forms, but the three main types are:

• Physical:  hitting, kicking, taking another’s belongings without permission

• Verbal:  name calling, insulting, offensive language, racist, homophobic or sexual remarks

• Psychological:  spreading unkind rumours, inciting others to be cruel or encouraging others to overtly isolate and ignore the individual, sending malicious messages using social media

Racial harassment, homophobia or other contraventions of the Equality Act are treated as very serious incidents of bullying and may be reported as a Hate crime.

Dealing with incidents

All incidents are treated seriously by staff and referred to the Form Tutor/senior member of staff as soon as possible. This can be by you or by your child. Following on from this, the lead member of staff will action the following points.

• Written statements will be taken from all students involved
• Both the ‘victim’ and the ‘bully’ will be made aware that the school views any instance of bullying very seriously
• It is imperative that the victim is supported and is given help
• Every effort will be made to resolve the situation immediately. Where appropriate, ‘victim’ and ‘bully’ may be brought together to discuss the incident
• Follow up procedures will check that the bullying has not resumed
• The lead member of staff will judge the seriousness of the incident. In the case of a minor ‘one off’ incident, in which no physical harm is done, a reprimand may be sufficient. More serious or persistent cases will necessitate the involvement of the Head of Year or a Senior Leader. In these cases, parents must be informed and invited into school
• Sanctions will be clear, consistent, and appropriate to the seriousness of the incident
• Where other strategies do not resolve the problem, fixed term or permanent exclusion may be justified in the most serious and persistent cases, particularly where violence is involved
• When investigating a fight, if a student has been severely provoked, this will be considered when dealing with the incident. If both parties have been provoked by third parties, the provocateur(s) these will also be dealt with appropriately.
• N.B. We never condone retaliation, although incidents of this nature will be dealt with sensitively

You can view the school Anti-Bullying Policy below

Anti Bullying Policy