Hilltop House Childcare - Bullying Policy

Bullying Policy

We do not permit any form of bullying in our home.

Bullying can be:

• Physical: pushing, kicking, hitting, biting etc
• Verbal: Name-calling, sarcasm, rumour spreading and teasing
• Emotional: Excluding, ridicule, humiliation, tormenting
• Racist: taunts, graffiti and gestures

Being bullied can result in the victim having depression, low self-esteem, shyness, poor academic achievement, isolation and in extreme cases threatened or attempted suicide.

If a bully is left unchecked they will learn they can get away with violence and aggression. A bully has a higher chance of acquiring a criminal record and not being able to have good relationships when they become an adult.

If we have any concerns that a child in our care is being bullied at (pre-) school or is bullying, we will discuss the matter with you immediately. We will work with you to support your child to resolve the problem.

If your child is being bullied:

• We will reassure them that the bullying is not their fault
• Tell them that we care about them and are 100% on their side
• We will give them lots of praise, encouragement and responsibilities to help them feel valued
• We will work with you to help the child to develop techniques to deal with the bully - assertiveness, walking away etc.

If your child is the bully:

• We will reassure your child that we still care about them but it is their behaviour we don’t like and we will work with them to help change this
• We will work with your child to find ways to make amends for their actions
• We will develop a reward structure for good behaviour
• We will discuss the matter with you, not in front of your child, to see if there are any problems that may have triggered the bullying.

If you have any concerns regarding your child please discuss them with us as soon as possible. It is much better to deal with these problems before they become major issues.

Suggested further reading

• Preventing Bullying A Parents Guide
• You can beat bullying A guide for young people

Both these publications are available from www.kidscape.org.uk