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Anti-bullying Champions

What is Bullying?

Bullying is PURPOSEFULLY hurting someone. It is REPEATED, which means that it happens again and again. It can be physical, verbal, indirect or cyber, so it hurts the victim in different ways.

Physical bullying can mean shoving and pushing or even more seriously hitting and kicking someone.  This kind of contact can leave bruises and other people may see it happening.
Verbal bullying means calling someone names, saying nasty things to them or even threatening another person. This is more likely to be done secretly and there are no visible marks.  It does hurt people’s feelings though and can be very harmful.
Indirect bullying is when people are purposefully left out of games or groups, which hurts their feelings. It can be gossiping and talking about people behind their back. It is also when an individual stands back, watches and allows someone else to be bullied.
Cyber bullying is bullying that occurs using technology.  It can mean that you are receiving nasty or inappropriate emails or text messages; you are receiving prank phone calls or someone is making nasty comments on social media.
Bullying occurs:

Several
Times
On
Purpose

You may not be the one doing the bullying, but if you know it is happening to someone, you should do something to help.

  • Tell a trusted adult, either at home or in school if you have a problem or if you know that someone else is suffering.  In school, any member of staff will do their utmost to help you if you are a victim to any form of bullying.
  • Tell one of our anti-bullying champions who will be able to give you more advise (they are the experts in school) and help you or another individual.

In order to put a stop to bullying, we need to embrace our differences.  We must respect one another for our different qualities and opinions.  We are all unique and we should celebrate our diversity.

Anti-Bullying Champions (ABC’s)

What is the aim of the anti-bullying champion programme?

The aim is build up a team of children from KS2 who are trained to have an awareness of bullying issues and helping their peers to overcome possible problems. It is run on a rolling programme every year so that there are always eighteen children who are trained and become anti-bullying ambassadors for Brandon Primary School in years 4, 5 and 6.

How did it all begin?

This programme commenced in the autumn term of 2014. A group of six year 4 children were chosen to represent KS2. These children, along with Miss Chatterton, met up with children and staff from three other primary schools, Tanfield, Witton Gilbert and Langley Moor.  These inter-school meetings continue to take place each term.
The initial meeting involved an outside agency known as VIVA who travel around schools developing awareness of bullying issues. The training consisted of a presentation and then some role play scenarios which the children participated in and enjoyed.

What happens when the anti-bullying champions meet?

Subsequent meetings were led by Miss Chatterton and the other members of staff involved. These meetings were based around various anti-bullying awareness activities.
In 2017, there was a competition for the children to design a tabard to be worn by them in the playground so as to identify them to children who may need help or support.

What is ABC Training?

ABC training involves workshops on the definitions of bullying, cyber bullying, disability and racial prejudice. These are planned and led by the four teaching assistants involved. School has also been fortunate to work with some outside agencies too who have left resources which have been adapted and then re-used on a yearly basis with each new set of children.

Our Videos

At Brandon we have a team of Y4 children who are committed to ensuring that children are well supported in school. They are our Anti-Bullying Champions.
At break time or lunchtime on our Upper School yard they are easily recognisable by their orange tabards. They support children who have no-one to play with and help resolve any difficulties between children.
Our A.B.C.s volunteer for this role. They take part in regular training with the A.B.C.s from our partner schools, meeting once every half term to share new ideas and learn from each other.
At their December meeting they compiled the following video with the support of Big Foot Arts Education.

In addition to this some of our Y2 and Y5 children worked with Big Foot Arts to compile this video on ‘Acts of Kindness’. We hope you enjoy them both.