All students at Wallington County Grammar School have an equal right to participate in and enjoy their education, and to have the opportunity to fulfil their potential. Any action which hinders the educational and/or social development of any student will not be tolerated.

At WCGS we aim to create an environment where students are free from any kind of bullying by other members of the school community. We want to ensure that students feel a strong sense of wellbeing both inside and outside the school and ensure that there are clear channels of communication between students and staff in the event of a problem occurring.

What is bullying?

Bullying may be defined as a conscious desire to hurt, threaten or frighten someone, either physically or verbally. It is not a one-off incident and can differ depending on the reaction of the victim, and how personally they take the comments.          

Bullying can be:

Type of Bullying	Examples
Emotional	Being unfriendly, excluding, tormenting (e.g. hiding books, threatening gestures).
Physical	Pushing, kicking, hitting, punching or any case of violence.
Racist	Racial taunts, graffiti, gestures.
Sexual	Unwanted physical contact or sexually abusive comments.
Homophobic	Because of, or focussing on the issue of sexuality, using verbal abuse, including spreading rumours that someone is gay or suggesting that someone is inferior, and so they are 'gay', for example, 'That is so gay!' or 'Those trainers are so gay!'.
Verbal	Name-calling, sarcasm, spreading rumours, teasing.
Indirect 'cyber bullying'	Sending malicious emails or text messages, setting up websites to invite abuse of students, 'happy slapping'.

At WCGS we aim to:

• Promote positive attitudes towards all members of the school community
• Encourage an atmosphere and ethos where bullying does not occur
• Ensure that staff, students and parents are all aware of what constitutes bullying
• Encourage students to report incidents of bullying, by educating them on why it is wrong and who to tell
• Ensure that bullying incidents are taken seriously, followed up and dealt with appropriately
• Encourage everyone to actively challenge bullying whenever and wherever it occurs
• Ensure that all students are aware that all forms of bullying are not tolerated.

Guidelines for students who are being bullied

If you are being bullied, try to stay calm and ask the bully politely and assertively to stop acting in the way that is upsetting you. Get away from the situation as quickly as possible and tell an adult what has happened straight away. If you are concerned about telling a teacher or an adult on your own, ask a friend to go with you. Speak to a member of the Anti-Bullying Working Group, a Sixth Form House Captain, school prefect or anyone else mentioned on the page in your contact book on ‘who to talk to’. If you experience bullying by mobile phone, text message or email, do not delete this but keep it as evidence. Do not try to buy off the bully with presents, sweets or money.

Above all, please talk to someone. Don’t keep it a secret and don’t let the bullies get away with it.

Who can I talk to at WCGS?

If you have any concerns, you might like to consider talking to one or more of the following people who will be able to help you:

• A friend
• Student Services
• A teacher
• A year leader
• An anti-bullying ambassador
• A prefect