Fun 4 Sports anti bullying and safe guarding policy
Safeguarding & Child Protection
Fun 4 Sports is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expects all staff and volunteers to share this responsibility. We ensure that consistent and effective safeguarding procedures are in place to protect children and staff at school and support families out of school.
What is Safeguarding?
Safeguarding is the action that is taken to promote the welfare of children and protect them from harm.
Safeguarding means:
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Protecting children from abuse and maltreatment
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Preventing harm to children's health or development
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Ensuring children grow up with the provision of safe and effective care
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Taking action to enable all children and young people to have the best outcomes.
Safeguarding children and child protection guidance and legislation applies to all children up to the age of 18.
Please click on this link below to view our safe guarding policy
Fun 4 sports safe guarding policy
BULLYING POLICY
“Bullying is a behaviour that can be defined as the repeated attack, physical, social or verbal in nature, by those in a position of power which is formally or situational defined, with the intention of causing distress for their own gain or gratification”.
Valerie Besag 1989.
Fun 4 Sports Response to Bullying
Children have a right to learn in an atmosphere free from fear and intimidation. Fun 4 Sports does not permit bullying of any kind. The coaches at Fun 4 Sports will not tolerate bullying in any form and will deal with it firmly according to the procedures laid down. As part of the ethos of our program, all efforts are made to enhance the self-esteem, confidence and social functioning of every child, using a variety of techniques, strategies, teaching and learning styles. The staff will endeavour to offer respect and recognition to each individual child. Children need to be treated with consideration and respect if they are to respect and be considerate towards others.
Fun 4 Sports believes that prevention is better than a cure and this is especially the case with bullying. We help the children get to grips with a variety of social problems by having an open interactive environment where the children feel comfortable to discuss any issues they may have. Every effort is made to ensure that our environment is as stimulating as possible, offering a variety of play opportunities. Supervision of high-risk areas, such as the toilets or playground.
Children are actively encouraged to talk about bullying, and before every session in our camps we remind the children of our rules and our zero tolerance on bullying. They are told that it is okay to tell someone they trust. This doesn’t have to be somebody necessarily in Fun 4 Sports but someone who the child feels he or she trusts, e.g. Parents. It is the coaches job to listen to and believe victims and/or their parents in
confidence.
Harassment, Victimisation, Bullying
Staff and pupils must receive the clear and consistent message that any form of harassment, victimisation or bullying will not be tolerated in the Fun 4 Sports community. Staff must never ignore or dismiss as “oversensitive” the victim’s experiences of the above, as to do so, is to fail them educationally and to condone, by implication, their attitudes and behaviour.
What kinds of behaviour count as bullying?
Any targeted, consistent and sustained behaviour by an individual or group which deliberately or thoughtlessly makes another person (or group) feel uncomfortable, inferior or isolated, which includes:
.Physical bullying – pushing, kicking, hitting, pinching or any other form of
violence or threats.
.Verbal bullying – name-calling, sarcasm, spreading rumours and persistent
teasing.
.Derogatory name calling, insults and/or offensive jokes.
.Offensive or derogatory graffiti.
.Provocative behaviour.
.Spreading rumours or malicious gossip to colleagues or parents.
.Emotional bullying – tormenting, threatening ridicule, humiliation and exclusion from groups or activities.
.Racist bullying – racial taunts, graffiti and gestures.
.Cyber bullying – using social networks to spread rumours, tell tales etc.
.Sexual bullying – unwanted physical contact and abusive behaviour.
.Intimidating behaviour towards others including body language, eye
expression, etc.
.Name-calling to others - including racist, sexist or gender remarks, etc. (See
Equal Opportunities Policy)
.Taunting - towards other children.
.Children being deliberately ignored by others.
.Isolated incidents of unkindness or poor behaviour will be dealt with seriously but it is the systematic, consistent targeting of an individual that marks out bullying as being particularly damaging and serious. The effects of harassment, bullying or victimisation upon an individual may include loss of self-esteem and feelings of insecurity and fear. Absences from school or illness are often indicators of trouble or unhappiness.
Bullying - Possible Signs
A child may indicate by signs or behaviour that he or she is being bullied. Children may:
.Be frightened of walking to or from school.
.Be unwilling to go to school.
.Begin doing poorly in their school work.
.Never want to go out at playtime,
.Hang around in the classroom after school, unwilling to go home.
.Go home regularly with clothes torn.
.Become withdrawn.
.Become distressed, stop eating.
.Cry themself to sleep.
.Have nightmares.
.Have unexplained bruises, scratches or cuts.
.Have their possessions go missing.
.Ask for money or begin stealing money (to pay the bully).
.Refuse to say what’s wrong.
.Give improbable excuses to explain any of the above.
What staff, children and parents should do if they see, or are told about bullying:
.Take incidents seriously.
.Each party to be given a fair hearing.
.Offer concrete help, support and feedback to the victims and their families.
.Encourage peer support.
.Encourage the “bully” to see the victim’s point of view.
.Encourage reconciliation if appropriate.
.Keep records
.Cyber bullying – report to parents, staff or mini-mentors
.Reduce the chances of risk: remember all children could be at risk.
.Observe playground behaviour.
.Encourage children to write/draw, or role play bullying incidents in drama and
speaking and listening.
.Encourage children to speak up.
.Discuss events
.Have a particular individual on staff to whom children can talk to in
confidence,
.Eliminate “danger areas”
.Dealing with the Perpetrators
Supporting the Victim
1. In any situation where unpleasantness or bullying has taken place, Fun 4 Sports makes every effort to recognise that both the victim and the bully need help and support.
2. The victim and say one other who witnessed the incident will be interviewed.
3. Staff will reassure the victim of the steps being taken to deal with the incident, be ready to listen to the victim and give him/her the opportunity to express his/her own concern and feelings.
4. The victim must be encouraged to continue attending normal activities
Pupil to Pupil
.The bullies will be interviewed separately and together.
.Talk with victim and bully
.Firmly explain the wrong done.
.In the case of physical assault, report to the manager
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.Disciplinary procedures that stress the gravity of the offence
.In the case of refusal to co-operate with others, explain that pupils should work collaboratively together and that every pupil has the right to be included in school activities.
.In the event of the charge of bullying being upheld, the parents of the bullies
and the victim will be informed by letter and the incident will recorded.
.The bullies will be told to stop bullying in the presence of their parents.
.The situation is monitored and further intervention is taken as needed.
.Take any necessary action to prevent recurrence.
.Track and monitor children. Use rewards and sanctions.
.Ultimately Fun 4 Sports camps reserves the right to exclude pupils if all else fails. However this is only ever used as a last resort where all else has failed.
Staff Member to Pupil
A complaint for which there is prima facie evidence following a thorough
investigation should be pursued in exact accordance with the appropriate agreed.
Pupil to Staff Member
The staff member should be entitled to an interview with the manager. The
Manager, after consultation with the member of staff concerned, will decide on
a course of action to deal with the complaint, and notify the staff member in writing. If the staff member is dissatisfied with the action proposed or taken he/she has the right to raise the matter.
Staff Member to Staff Member
The aggrieved staff member should immediately inform the Manager. The
complaint should be acknowledged in writing and thoroughly investigated to
determine whether or not there is need or grounds for disciplinary procedures to be instigated. If so, these will be in accordance with the agreed Disciplinary Procedure. If the aggrieved member of staff is dissatisfied with the action undertaken by the Manager, that member of staff has a right to invoke the appropriate grievance procedure.