Anti-Bullying

As a school we are committed to promoting harmony and providing a caring, friendly and safe environment for all of our students so that they can learn in a relaxed and secure atmosphere. At Mill Hill County High School, we value and celebrate diversity and expect all sections of our school community to demonstrate respect towards others and together make our school “safe for everyone”.

The Anti-Bullying Alliance describes bullying as:

‘The repetitive, intentional hurting of one person or group by another person or group, where the relationship involves an imbalance of power. Bullying can be physical, verbal or psychological. It can happen face-to-face or online’.

The simpler definition that will be presented to students, is taken from The Diana Award’s Anti-Bullying behaviour programme. ‘Bullying behaviour is the repeated, negative behaviour, that is intended to make others feel upset, uncomfortable or unsafe.’

 

Bullying Behaviour can be

classified as:

Verbal

The repeated negative use of speech, sign language or verbal gestures to intentionally hurt others

 

 

Indirect

The repeated negative use of actions, that are neither physical or verbal, to intentionally hurt others

 

 

Physical

The repeated negative use of body contact with to intentionally hurt others

 

Examples

Swearing

Discriminatory language

Offensive language (concerning personal choice)

Hurtful comments

 

Examples

Cyber bullying*

Rumours

Isolating someone

Damaging/taking property, secret sharing

Physical intimidation

 

Examples

Punching

Kicking

Slapping

Pinching

Tripping

Pushing


Bullying has no place in our school community and any instances of bullying will be sanctioned accordingly. You can read a full copy of our Anti-Bullying policy here.

Further Guidance and Support

There are a range of specialist organisations who offers support and guidance to young people and parents who are experiencing, or have experienced, bullying. Please see the links below for more information:

- the Anti-Bullying Alliance bring together over 100 organisations into one network to develop and share good practice across a whole range of bullying issues;

- Kidscape provides advice for young people and parents about different types of bullying and how to prevent it;

- the Diana Award’s antibullying campaign engages young people, parents and teachers to change the attitudes, behaviour and culture of bullying by building skills and confidence to address different situations, both online and offline.

We also know that bullying can also occur online and there are range of organisations that advise and support young people about staying safe online and addressing any harmful online behaviour they encounter. These can be found on the ‘Safeguarding and Online Safety’ section of our website.