Bullying and Harassment

We have a zero tolerance policy for behaviour or actions that amount to bullying or harassment with malicious intent.

In cases where we are aware of intentional bullying or harassment, the responsible student(s) will be reported to their departmental tutor and may be excluded from their Change Makers module. These incidents are taken very seriously both by the Change Makers team and at a College level and there will be an investigation and potentially serious consequences.

If you witness undesirable behaviour

Any student that witnesses behaviour that appears to be causing harm or distress to another student, or that amounts to bullying or harassment is encouraged to document what they have seen and report it to their Change Makers teacher. Your report will be treated anonymously and your teacher will investigate and act on your report.

Active bystander intervention

If you feel safe and able to intervene, we would also encourage you to speak up or act in the moment to support the affected student. However, this is a personal choice and it may not feel possible to do this. We completely understand how challenging these situations are.

If you are the victim of undesirable behaviour

If you have been the victim of bullying, harassment, unkindness or exclusionary behaviour, please come and discuss this with your teacher. We will take your experience very seriously and act to stop the harmful behaviour immediately. We will also be able to offer you ongoing support, and where necessary, adjustments in the classroom – such as changing your student team or assigning a student buddy for additional support. We will also be able to direct you to other College services for further support – such as departmental wellbeing support and student counselling.

What if the behaviour wasn’t malicious?

We recognise that sometimes, a student may act in a way that causes harm or distress to another student without realising that their behaviour is problematic.

In these cases we would not report the student to their department in the first instance. Instead we would work with the students involved to understand what has happened, and why the behaviour has caused distress or harm.

It is critical in these situations that the student who has caused distress, even if they didn’t mean to, takes responsibility for their actions and offers a full apology. We would also encourage that student to reflect on what they have learned from the incident and how this will change their behaviour going forwards.

If both parties are willing and comfortable we would address this in a mediated meeting with your class teacher – so that victim of the behaviour can talk about the impact of the incident on them, and the person responsible for the behaviour can hear about this impact and respond.

We do not do this to further distress the victim, and if they are not open to attending the meeting that is fine and they can offer a written statement of the impact on them.

Likewise, we do not do this with the intention of victimising or demonising the student responsible for the behaviour. We all make mistakes, we all speak without thinking or act out of ignorance or lack of awareness on occasion. But it is really important that we also learn from these mistakes and endeavour to do better in the future.

If all parties agree that a suitable resolution has been reached, the matter will be taken no further.

If either party feels that a resolution has not been reached, the matter will be referred to departmental tutors with a record of the investigation and actions undertaken by the class teacher. At this point, the matter will be out of our hands and will be handled at a College level.

What if I’m not sure if the behaviour was malicious, or I’m not sure if it amounts to bullying or harassment?

All reports to your teacher will be treated in confidence in the first incidence.

Your teacher will assess your account and any evidence that you have, and if you are not the victim, will speak to them directly if appropriate. Your teacher will make the decision about whether to act on your report, or to monitor the situation.

If you see any behaviour that you think would have upset you if you were on the receiving end, or if you feel upset by the behaviour of another student, then we encourage you to discuss this with your teacher. This doesn’t automatically mean that an investigation will take place, it will just be an opportunity to think about what happened and for your teacher to be aware. Together, you and your teacher will decide what should happen next.