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ANTI-BULLYING

Report A Bullying Incident

If you or someone you know is being bullied, get confidential support and advice by simply emailing: antibullying@theacademy.me

Anti-Bullying Information

Everyone has the right to learn and work in a school community free from discrimination or harassment and where, fundamentally, they feel safe.  The Aylesbury Vale Academy prides itself on having low annual levels of reported incidents that might be classified as ‘bullying’; and most of these appear to start as problems outside the school gate or online at home or in the community.  However, we recognise that the stresses placed on those that are bullied can have a detrimental effect on making progress.  All of this can have far reaching effects on their emotional health, well-being, attendance, educational successes and subsequent life chances.

The Aylesbury Vale Academy works with staff, students and parents to create an inclusive learning community and it is one where any form of bullying is not tolerated.  We have a number of strategies to encourage others to tell us about incidents of bullying so we are able to effectively offer support to those experiencing the bullying and to ensure those carrying out the bullying stop.

Types of bullying:

  • Verbal abuse – name calling and gossiping
  • Non-verbal abuse – hand signs or text messages, emails, messaging
  • Emotional abuse – threatening or intimidating someone
  • Exclusion – deliberately ignoring or isolating someone
  • Undermining – constantly criticising or spreading rumours
  • Physical assaults – hitting and pushing, punching or having aggressive contact
  • Cyber-bullying – this form of bullying is becoming much more prevalent with the rise of social networking and use of mobile internet devices such as phones and tablets. 

In order for the Academy to take action, we need to know.  We recognise not every student feels comfortable speaking to their tutor, Achievement Director or any other member of staff, or that every parent would want to ring the Academy or email a concern.  In order to overcome that potential barrier to communication and ultimately offering support to a young person, we have set up the following email address to enable students or parents/carers to report their concerns directly to us.

The email address for reporting incidents of bullying is: antibullying@theacademy.me

Cyberbullying

Cyber-bullying can be defined as “the use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT), particularly mobile phones and the internet, deliberately to upset someone else‟.  More specifically, it can be defined as:

  • Actions that use information and communication technologies to support deliberate, repeated, and hostile behaviour by an individual or group that is intended to harm another 
  • use of communication technologies for the intention of harming another person
  • use of internet service and mobile technologies such as web pages and discussion groups as well as instant messaging, SMS text messaging or apps such as Snapchat with the intention of harming another person.

It can be an extension of face-to-face bullying, with technology providing the bully with another route to harass their target. However, it differs in several significant ways from other kinds of bullying: the invasion of home and personal space; the difficulty in controlling electronically circulated messages; the size of the audience; perceived anonymity; the profile of the person doing the bullying and their target.

It is important to state that cyber bullying can very easily fall into criminal behaviour under the Communications Act 2003, Section 127 which states that electronic communications which are grossly offensive or indecent, obscene or menacing, or false, used again for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety to another could be deemed to be criminal behaviour. Section 127 can be used as an alternative offence to such crimes for example as hate crime (including race, religion, disability, homophobic, sexual orientation, and transphobic crime), hacking offences, cyber bullying, cyber stalking, amongst others.

If the behaviour involves the use of taking or distributing indecent images of young people under the age of 18 then this is also a criminal offence under the Sexual Offences Act 2003. Outside of the immediate support young people may require in these instances, the Academy will have no choice but to involve the police.

AVA Anti-Bullying Policy

Please find AVA's anti-bullying policy here.

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