The Facts           What to do if your child is bullied
Who can help you?         What will happen in the end?

The Facts

Bullying is an issue which affects every school at some time. For this reason, each school must by law have a policy on bullying, which is available to every parent to read. This will tell you exactly how your school will manage a case of bullying.

What to do if you think your child is being bullied

• Keep calm and gently gather the facts from your child
• Stay calm and arrange to talk to your child's teacher
• Work with the teacher to get a clear picture of what is happening
• Depending on the school's policy on bullying, work with them to solve the problem
• Read the school's bullying policy - DON'T MISS THIS STEP
• Act quickly and trust your instincts (see David's Story)- you know your child best
• Try to get plenty of advice and information from experienced organisations

Who can help you?

If you think your child is being bullied, or is a bully themselves, then there are some excellent organisations dedicated to guide you and to give you support.

• Childline has a wealth of information and advice for parents and children. You should visit their website www.childline.org.uk or your child can call them on 0800 1111 (if you live in Scotland call 0800 441111). They have a very helpful information sheet for primary school children which you can download and go through with your child.
• Kidscape is a national charity dedicated to stopping bullying www.kidscape.org.uk
• You can also call Parentline Plus on 0808 800 2222 for advice.
• The Samaritans are also at the end of a phone if things get really bad 08457 909090.
• try www.bullying.co.uk

What will happen in the end?

• Your school may acknowledge the bullying and act upon it.   Your school's policy should outline the actions they will take. Make sure you are happy with the plan and make a date to review it with the Head Teacher.  Your priority must be to keep your child safe, so focus on that rather than punishing the bully.
• Keep talking to your child about the situation and if you don't see an improvement (ie. they are still unhappy) then go back into the school to talk to the Head Teacher.
• Your school may not agree that your child is being bullied, which gives you several options:
• Appeal to the Governing Body and then the LEA
• Remove your child and find another school (actually quite easy to do, but take some time to assess the impact on your child long term)
• Teach your child at home

For a real story of how one family overcame bullying in primary school, see David's Story.