What is bullying?
At Carrfield Primary Academy, we do not tolerate bullying of any kind. Bullying can take many forms but includes all three of these characteristics:
- It must be intentional – the behaviour is a deliberate attempt to hurt another person either physically, emotionally or both.
- It must be repeated – these behaviours happen repeatedly over time to the same person or group of people.
- There must be an imbalance of power – the person bullying feels that they have more power than the children being subject to these bullying behaviours.
It is important to remember that there is a clear line between a conflict – a one-off incident such as a fight or a falling out – and bullying. As young people grow up, they can sometimes be unkind to each other as they refine their social skills. Whilst these can be unpleasant, they cannot always be defined as bullying.
Bullying can take different forms and may include one, some or all of the following things:
- Physical bullying, e.g kicking, punching.
- Verbal bullying, e.g. name calling or yelling at each other.
- Relational bullying, e.g. excluding others, rumour-spreading.
- Cyberbullying, e.g. sending hurtful messages over digital devices.
For more information about the definition of bullying, please refer to the following websites: NSPCC | Anti-Bullying Alliance | Childline | GOV.uk
For more information about e-safety, including links to sites with more information on cyberbullying, please refer to our e-safety page.
What should you do if you feel your child is being bullied at school?
If you are concerned that your child may be being bullied, please contact school immediately to
inform us of the situation. We will involve parents as appropriate and ensure all incidents are
recorded so that the bullying behaviours stop. As a school, an important belief of ours is that
we can work with children who display bullying behaviours to educate them as to the emotional
damage that their actions have caused and ensure that they do not bully again. Whilst it is
difficult to completely eradicate bullying, we do everything in our power to ensure that all
children feel safe attending school.