The Friary School take a firm stand against any form of bullying and our full Anti-Bullying Policy is available in the Policies section of our website.

What is Bullying ?

We define bullying “as a deliberate or persistent action leading to physical or emotional upset for another student”.

This definition correlates with that of the Anti-Bullying Alliance’s definition of “the repetitive, intentional hurting of one person by another person or group”.

We recognise that bullying can come in many different forms:

  • Physical; Eg – pushing, shoving, tripping up, kicking, spitting, etc.
  • Emotional; Eg – humiliating someone, isolating someone, name-calling, using insulting names or comments, etc.
  • Prejudice; Eg – homophobic, racism, victimisation for special needs or disabilities, etc.
  • Indirect; Eg – spreading rumours, random vandalism, etc.
  • Cyberbullying Eg – via mobile phone, via internet, etc.

We do not recognise bullying to be a one-off falling out or confrontation.

What Anti-Bullying Strategies Do We Use ?

We foster an anti-bullying climate through a wide range of strategies including:

  • Staff will model respectful behaviour through day-to-day interactions.
  • Maintain an on-going dialogue about acceptable / non-acceptable conduct in relationships; for example, respecting one another, recognising particular individual needs and disabilities, using displayed to communicate key messages, etc.
  • Maintain anti-bullying themes into our pastoral programme; Eg – assemblies, tutor times, etc.
  • Maintain anti-bullying themes in our Focus Week programme; Eg – National Anti-Bullying Week, Holocaust Memorial Week, Internet Safety Day, etc.
  • Maintain anti-bullying themes in our PSHEE programme.
  • Systemically publicise reporting options for bullying – with whole-day support available via our Student Supports facility.
  • Liaise with national organisations to develop and improve anti-bullying practice; Eg – Kidscape, etc.
  • Apply restorative justice interventions to anti-bullying (where appropriate) to better secure accountability and closure in any incidents.

What Should You Do If You / Your Child is Being Bullied ?

We would encourage all students / parents to speak up about any problems they are facing by either:

  • Speaking to your Tutor.
  • Speaking to Student Support.
  • Speaking to your Head of House.
  • Speaking to any member of staff who you feel comfortable with.
  • Emailing stopbullying@friaryschool.co.uk.

How Will Bullying Be Dealt With ?

Most bullying will be dealt with by the Student Support Team – although pastoral and senior leaders will always be made aware of any serious concerns – and their work will usually follow these steps:

  • Interview the students involved and take statements if necessary.
  • Log the ‘bullying’ in order to record the incident.
  • Contact the parents of both parties and involve outside agencies if required.
  • Decide on a suitable sanction for the perpetrator.
  • Determine if and when on-going support will be required for the victim.
  • Monitor the children involved and review in a specified time-frame to make sure there are no repercussions.

Further Information:

Further information about bullying can be accessed via:

Further information about E-Safety can be accessed via:

If you have further concerns about on-going bullying then please contact Mr Luke Baker, Assistant Headteacher, via office@friaryschool.co.uk.