Tapora School
Anti-Bullying Policy
Rationale
As part of its overall Safe School Policy, Tapora School seeks to provide an environment that is safe from all forms of intimidation.
Purpose
To provide a comprehensive, universally understood definition of bullying behaviour and to outline strategies for all members of the school community to combat social, emotional, physical and all other forms of intimidation.
Definition
The following definition of bullying has been adopted:
Bullying usually has four common features:
- it is deliberate
- it is repeated over a period of time
- it is difficult for those being bullied to defend themselves
- it is difficult for those who bully to learn new social behaviours
There are three main types of bullying:
- Physical: Hitting, kicking, taking belongings
- Verbal: Name calling, insulting and racist remarks
- Indirect: Spreading nasty stories, excluding from groups
Procedures:
• All members of the school community have responsibility to recognise bullying and to take action when they see it happening.
• The Kia Kaha programme will be run at all levels of the school each second year with communication with parents/community.
• A staff meeting will be held bi annually to discuss the issue and review strategies and remedial approaches.
• All staff should treat any report of bullying seriously and take action.
• Staff should first listen to the student or students, and make enquiries as may be necessary to clarify exactly what has happened.
• The student(s) should be assured that they have acted correctly in reporting the bullying.
• The staff member should make a written account (use the incident report found in Etap) or an oral summary of the information and pass it on to the classroom teacher/Assistant Principal/ Deputy Principal/Principal as appropriate.
• The emphasis must be on changing the behaviour of the bullying student(s), while providing support for the student who has been bullied.
• The staff member should attempt to give advice on how to deal with any repeat incidents that may happen before the intimidation can be dealt with.
• Follow-up should be discussed with student. It is important that the staff member checks each week or until no longer an issue, with both the student and the person to whom the information is passed.

• Parents, of all involved students, in more serious cases must be contacted.

Bridget Rika
Principal