Anti-bullying statement
Everyone connected with Greenbank High School has a responsibility to create a secure, safe environment for pupils in our care, so that parents may send their children to school in the confident knowledge that they will be protected from bullies. As a school, our anti-bullying policy seeks to ensure that pupils learn in a supportive, caring and safe environment without fear of being bullied. Bullying is anti-social behaviour and affects everyone; it is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.
As a Rights Respecting School we uphold the key principles and provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child:
•The right to a childhood (including protection from harm)
•The right to be educated
•The right to be healthy (including having clean water, nutritious food and medical care)
•The right to be treated fairly (which includes changing laws and practices that discriminate against children)
•The right to be heard (which includes considering children’s views)
Children’s rights are a special case because many of the rights laid down in the Convention on the Rights of the Child have to be provided by adults or the state. However, the Convention also refers to the responsibilities of children, in particular to respect the rights of others. Here are some of the responsibilities that could accompany rights:
•If every child, regardless of their sex, ethnic origin, disability, social status, language, age, nationality or religion has these rights, then they also have a responsibility to respect each other in a humane way.
•If children have a right to be protected from conflict, cruelty, exploitation and neglect, then they also have a responsibility not to bully or harm each other.
•If children have a right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, then they also have the obligation to respect other’s thoughts or religious principles.
Definition of bullying
Bullying is defined as deliberately hurtful behaviour, repeated over a period of time and is not just a one off incident, where it is difficult for those being bullied to defend themselves, will disturb their education and could cause their life to be a misery. (DfES guidance ‘Bullying: Don’t suffer in Silence’ combined with the GHS Article 12 School council, 2017)
Different types of bullying
Electronic / Cyber-bullying – bullying by text message, bullying on the internet (in chat rooms, on bulletin boards and through instant messaging services) hate websites.
Physical – hitting, kicking, spitting, tripping someone up, stealing/damaging someone’s belongings. Verbal – name calling, insulting, racist remarks, threats of physical violence, spreading rumours,constantly putting a person down etc.
Indirect (known as emotional/psychological) – spreading rumours, excluding somebody from
social groups, sending malicious messages
Racist – Racism means you are subjected to abuse and harassment because of your race, colour
or beliefs. (e.g. insulting language/gestures based on a person’s actual perceived ethnic origin or
faith, name calling, graffiti, racially motivated violence. Please see our anti-racism pledge on the
school website.
Sexual – sexually insulting language/gestures, name calling, graffiti, unwanted physical contact.
Homophobic – insulting language/gestures based on a person’s actual or perceived sexuality,name calling, graffiti, homophobic violence.
All of the above are unacceptable and will not be tolerated at Greenbank High School
