Setting

Aviation House 125 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE T 0300 123 1231 F 020 7421 6855 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Mrs T Anderson Headteacher St Barnabas CofE VA Primary School Quarry Road Kent TN1 2EY

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bullying practice in schools

Thank you for your hospitality and cooperation, and that of your staff and pupils, during my visit on 4 October 2011 as part of our survey of schools’ work to create a positive school culture and prevent and tackle bullying.

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bullying practice in schools

The visit provided valuable information which will contribute to our national evaluation and reporting. Published reports are likely to list the names of the contributing institutions but individual institutions will not be identified in the main text without their consent.

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bullying practice in schools

This letter briefly summarises our discussion at the end of the visit.

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Strengths of this aspect of the school’s work

 Senior school leaders have an in-depth knowledge of the community and have developed their anti-bullying strategies in the light of this. The written policies are consistent with the school’s values and ethos and they provide a clear link between the emphasis on feeling safe and pupils’ readiness for learning.  Individual incidents of bullying are recorded on a central log. This clearly notes both the actions taken to deal with the bullying and the resulting outcomes. This provides valuable information on the impact of the strategies the school uses to prevent bullying.  The school has a planned and coordinated curriculum that makes provision for the pupils’ moral and social development. It exemplifies the values as set out in the policies and provides opportunities for the pupils to reflect and apply these principles to their own experience. The school consistently emphasises the importance of flexibility, which allows pupils to share

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Strengths of this aspect of the school’s work

present concerns and receive an immediate response from an adult.  Pupils understand what it means to respect one another and can give examples of how this is demonstrated around school. They speak of ‘playing kindly’ and not leaving others out of games and activities. The majority of pupils report that bullying is rare and their perceptions correlate closely to that of senior leaders and to the approaches outlined in the policies. They know what to do if they are bullied and have faith in the school’s ability to deal with bullying.  Teachers show a good level of knowledge about different forms of discrimination and are very focused on the importance of role-modelling. Their perceptions of what constitutes bullying are consistent with those of senior leaders. They are confident to tackle inappropriate behaviour but also know at which point to seek help and support both from each other and from senior leaders.

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Strengths of this aspect of the school’s work

 Pupils know what is expected of them and are clear what they should do if they are bullied. They spoke of being role models and connected a respect for others with how they behave in class. One spoke of ‘learning nicely’. They understand the different forms that bullying can take and are confident that they will get help if they ask for it. Teachers spoke positively about the improvements in the way the school has tackled bullying over the past few years and they clearly understand their role in encouraging positive interactions between all groups in the school.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, include:

 improving the analysis of the school’s central record of bullying incidents so that trends can be reported to governors  developing the evaluation of the personal, social, health and citizenship education (PSHCE) curriculum to inform future planning of anti-bullying approaches.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, include:

I hope that this visit has been useful in the further development of this aspect of the school’s work.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, include:

As explained previously, a copy of this letter will be published on the Ofsted website. It may be used to inform decisions about any future inspection. A copy of this letter is also being sent to your local authority.

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