Child Protection at Stageskool

Stageskool provides a safe and secure environment for its students. The Stageskool Child Protection Policy is available to parents and staff at our schools.

Stageskool requires its Principal, Deputy Principals, teachers and assistants to apply for enhanced clearance via the DBS – Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly CRB) and its structure is often used as an example of Best Practice when Child Protection issues are discussed. 

Staff are required to complete regular courses in child protection, through our head of safeguarding.

Regular risk assessments and First Aid training are carried out.

Stageskool holds a full public liability insurance.

Stageskool Anti Bullying Policy. 

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Stageskool takes bullying very seriously, and all children and parents should be assured that known incidents of bullying will be responded to. All staff actively encourage our classes to be an open and friendly environment in which the young people involved feel safe and valued. Stageskool will not accept behaviour from students that undermines this principle. 

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Objectives of this Policy

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·        All teachers and non-teaching staff, students and parents to have an understanding of what bullying is. 

·        All teachers and non-teaching staff to know what the school policy is on bullying and follow it when bullying is reported.

·        All students and parents to know what the school policy is on bullying, and what they should do if bullying arises.

 

What Is Bullying?

Whilst there is no legal definition of bullying, it is usually defined as repeated behaviour which is intended to hurt someone either emotionally or physically, and can sometimes be aimed at certain people because of their race, religion, gender or sexual orientation or any other aspect such as appearance or disability. This can be over a short period of time, or sometimes over longer periods. 

 

Bullying can take many forms including:

·        physical assault

·        teasing

·        making threats

·        name calling

·        people calling you names

·        making things up to get you into trouble

·        hitting, pinching, biting, pushing and shoving

·        taking things away from you

·        damaging your belongings

·        stealing your money

·        taking your friends away from you

·        threats and intimidation

·        sending you offensive or upsetting texts

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Why is it important to respond to bullying?

Stageskool wants all children that are part of our community to feel safe, happy and valued. Bullying makes these feelings harder to achieve. No one deserves to be a victim of bullying, and everybody has the right to be treated with respect. Students who are also bullying need to be supported to make better decisions with their actions and words. Bullying occurs for a number of reasons and it’s important to highlight this to reduce the risk of the behaviour continuing. 

 

Signs and symptoms of bullying for teachers and parents.

A change in student’s behaviour may suggest that they are being bullied. Adults should be aware of these possible signs and that they should investigate if a child: 

 

·        changes their usual routine 

·        is unwilling to do things they would usually do 

·        stops attending or wanting to attend class 

·        becomes withdrawn anxious, or lacking in confidence 

·        seems low in mood

·        spends free time in class on their own

·        cries themselves to sleep at night or has nightmares 

·        continual complaints of feeling ill in the morning 

·        begins to make less effort then previously 

·        has possessions which are damaged or “go missing” 

·        has unexplained cuts or bruises 

·        becomes aggressive, disruptive or unreasonable

·        is bullying other children or siblings 

·        has changes in appetite 

·        is frightened to say what’s wrong 

 

These signs and behaviours could indicate other social, emotional and/or mental health problems, but bullying should be considered a possibility, be investigated and the young person offered support. 

 

Outcomes

All known/reported incidences of bullying will be investigated by the class teachers or by the Principal. Parents of the student who is showing bullying behaviour will be spoken to about the incident and about any concerns that they may be having. We request that the parents support Stageskool with resolving the situation. The child displaying the bullying behaviour will be asked to apologise. Wherever possible, the students will be reconciled. The student is given an opportunity, if they wish, to meet with the bully face to face in a safe and supervised setting and talk through the impact that the bullying has had, or is having, on them. This is a good opportunity for both parties to gain an understanding of how their behaviour affects others. 

In serious cases where a student shows no change in behaviour and an unwillingness to alter their behaviour or choices, Stageskool will have no alternative but to remove the student from Stageskool’s Registry. 

When an incident of bullying has taken place, teachers and managers will inform the Principal of any incidents or concerns they have about students in their class. 

 

Prevention

At Stageskool, we use a variety of methods to support children in preventing and understanding the consequences of bullying; including promoting teamwork, fair play and a supportive network within the student’s peer groups. Stageskool teachers actively encourage children to have respect for each other. Our ethos has always been to guide and encourage our students, allowing them to express and develop their personality, skills and confidence within a great atmosphere, as this is something we always strive to achieve. Kind and polite behaviour is regularly acknowledged and encouraged. Staff will reinforce expectations of behaviour as a regular theme in line with what they are learning in class. Teachers and Chaperones are vigilant regarding groups of friends together. Friendship groups are important for young people’s social development, and whilst friendship is encouraged, they must also be supported towards welcoming others to join them, and not excluding others from their group. Staff reinforce a general message that children do not have to be best friends with everyone else, but they must be respectful of everyone else’s feelings and be kind to each other. Older students are involved with the prevention of bullying and are encouraged to take on a supportive role to look out for the younger students and to set an example of how to behave both in class and with their peers. Students are also encouraged to have an open dialogue with teachers as this leads to an increased likelihood of a young person talking to a tutor with any concerns they may have.