Anti-Bullying Policy

Anti-Bullying Policy

The aim of this policy is to introduce clearly defined measures to prevent bullying of any sort, and to lay down procedures to deal with reports of such events on the premises of Creative School.

This policy aims to:

  • Encourage openness among students and adults in order to support and encourage discussion and disclosure of bullying behaviour.
  • Create awareness of this policy amongst the entire school community including students, school management, teachers, staff, parents, etc.
  • Establish clear procedures for investigating and dealing with bullying behaviour.
  • Develop a system for supporting those affected by bullying behaviour, as well as gently correcting those involved in bullying behaviour.

Definitions of Bullying:
Bullying refers to a pattern of repeated physical, verbal, psychological and/or social aggression aimed by a student or group of students, usually but not always in a position of greater power towards a specific student or group of students with the intent to create harm, distress and/or fear. Bullying can be in person, by proxy or virtual.

In contrast, single or sporadic incidents, actions taken in response to behaviour by other individuals, social dislike and episodes of conflict between individuals without the intent to create harm or distress are not categorised as bullying.

Forms of Bullying:
Bullying may take one or more of the following forms, including repeated patterns of:

  1. Physical violence including, but not restricted to, kicking, hitting, punching, shoving, pinching, slapping, poking or spitting at another individual
  2. Meddling with the property of another individual by stealing it, hiding, or damaging it
  3. Verbal violence including but not restricted to
    1. verbal abuse
    2. name-calling
    3. using threatening language
    4. writing offensive messages through any medium including paper, digital or other media
    5. spreading of rumours
  4. Emotional bullying including but not restricted to
    1. mocking another individual’s achievements or abilities or special abilities
    2. or excluding an individual from a group activity
    3. ridiculing an individual’s appearance, manner of speaking or patterns of behaviour
  5. Non-verbal behaviour including offensive gestures
  6. Cyber bullying, including using technology to target and harass another individual – this includes, but is not limited to
    1. writing offensive or threatening emails or chats
    2. misuse of media such as blogs, vlogs, social media platforms, internet chat rooms, instant messaging
    3. misuse of gaming platforms
    4. misuse of associated technology such as camera, mic and similar facilities

Prevention of Bullying at Creative School
At Creative School, we aim to foster a clear understanding that bullying is not acceptable in any form. We expect that our students conduct themselves in a manner that is in keeping with their levels of development, maturity and capabilities, and with regard to the feelings and welfare of others including other students, school staff and individuals associated with the school.

In order to create an environment where bullying is discouraged, the school may implement one or more intervention measures as required. As a pre-emptive measure, Creative School has put in place the following measures.

  • A committee to investigate specific complaints of harassment including bullying
  • Awareness sessions for students to educate them regarding the consequences of harassing behaviour
  • Awareness sessions for the staff to educate them regarding the consequences of harassing behaviour
  • Awareness sessions for the staff to educate them regarding the process of handling complaints of harassing behaviour
  • Training of staff to adopt techniques to discourage behaviour that is contrary to the school ethos including
    • moving the students away from the situation to a place of safety
    • deep listening with empathy to all parties involved
    • validate the children’s experience
    • adopt our methods of conflict resolution including using empathy, compassionate communication, taking responsibility and emotional well-being practices to help reflect on and transform behaviour

Complaint Process
Students are encouraged to inform their class teachers or a trusted adult about bullying and harassing behaviour by another student or group of students or by an adult. The complainant is encouraged to provide as much detail as possible, including the names of the individuals who indulged in bullying, dates of the incidents, details of the bullying behaviour including specifics of what was said and/or done.

Parents and/or guardians may raise complaints on behalf of younger children or children who are not able to clearly articulate their grievances.

It is important to note that the investigation will depend largely on details provided, and without these details the investigation may be hampered and therefore the results may be inconclusive.

Those who wish to raise their grievances anonymously may send an email to info@thecreativeschool.in

Remedial Action
Further to the results of the investigation, the committee along with the school management will decide consequences and remedial actions for students who engage in acts of bullying. Consequences may range from behavioural interventions up to and including suspension and expulsion.

False Complaints
Further to the results of the investigation, if the committee finds that the complaints of bullying were false and were made with malicious intent or with an intent to cause harm to the individual against whom the complaint was made, the management may choose to take action against those who made the false complaint.
Consequences may range from behavioural interventions up to and including suspension and expulsion.