Anti-bullying

Everyone at Cheltenham Bournside School is fundamentally opposed to all forms of bullying. We are proud to have been the first secondary school in Gloucestershire to be awarded the Bronze Anti-Bullying Quality Mark by ABQM-UK (Anti-Bullying Quality Mark-UK) in 2018. This national scheme shows how good schools are at preventing bullying by challenging them to set up effective and sustainable anti-bullying policies and strategies and to make them part of everyday life.

What is Bullying?

Cheltenham Bournside School students have chosen to adopt the Anti-Bullying Alliance definition of bullying which is: ‘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 through cyberspace.’ A useful mnemonic for identifying bullying is ‘STOP‘– Several Times On Purpose.

Anti-Bullying Ambassadors

Student ambassadors across all year groups are trained to support students who are unfortunate enough to encounter any rare incidents of bullying at Bournside. Our ABAs listen, offer advice, and can even offer a voice for students who may not be confident enough to report a problem. They will always encourage students to tell an adult. We currently have two ABAs in every tutor group equating to 96 students. 

ABAs are available to our student body and work alongside every member of staff at Cheltenham Bournside School. They are always visible, including during social times, via their Anti-Bullying badge. 

Mr Waters and other members of the senior leadership and house teams regularly deliver assemblies to raise awareness of the impact of bullying behaviours and to highlight the support students can access should they need to. We also educate our students using tutor time and within various subjects on how to conduct themselves not only within our school community, but beyond our school gates too.

 

Reporting Bullying

Students are encouraged to report any incidences of bullying either to a member of staff or through the Anti-Bullying Ambassadors. If a student wants to report an incident of bullying, that they have experienced personally or on behalf of another student, as well as via their tutor (or any member of staff in our school), they can also submit an It's OK not to be OK form on the student SharePoint site. Parents/carers can report incidences of bullying directly to their child’s tutor.

Anti-Bullying Week

Each year we participate in National Anti-Bullying Week and run a range of activities to raise awareness and encourage students to think about being kind to each other:

In 2021, we took part again and activities included a 'One Kind Word' photo booth, and students came together to 'stamp out bullying'. 

• Stand-up selfie
• Odd Socks Day
• Ambassadors club
• Parachute club
• ‘Lend a hand for bullying’
• Fancy dress parade
• Anti-bullying pledge wall
• A short story/poem competition with the theme ‘stand up to bullying’.