Anti-Bullying

Actions not words

St. Mary’s Catholic Academy has signed up to the #BlackpoolBeatingBullying campaign. This campaign was setup by young people, for young people, with the overall aim of reducing bullying that unfortunately may sometimes occur in Blackpool schools.

This page highlights the school’s response in line with the #BlackpoolBeatingBullying campaign.

It outlines the following:

The St. Mary’s Way and our values
Our S.T.O.P acronym and a definition of Bullying
Where to find out Anti Bullying Policy
What can you do if you see bullying taking place?
Information on the Resilience Revolution
The Resilience Framework
Where to go and who to talk to
Our PSHE curriculum which educates students on the issues related to Bullying
The Student Support area of our website
External useful websites.

Our St. Mary's way

Look at the values that form the St. Mary’s Way.

Which values do you think are important to ensure bullying does not take place?

Why are these values important?

Our founder Cornelia Connelly used the phrase ‘Actions, not words’.
Meaning it is all too easy to say you are going to do something positive or make a change, rather than actually do it.
She wanted people to get up and put those positive words into real life action.
Anti Bullying at St. Mary’s needs people to take action. It needs us all to take responsibility for our own behaviour. To ensure that we actively look to behave in the right way and treat all human life with love and respect.

What is bullying?

Behaviour by an individual or group, repeated over time, that intentionally hurts another individual or group either physically or emotionally

The Academy has adopted, in collaboration with the student council, the acronym S.T.O.P.: Several Times On Purpose, to help all members of the community remember our definition of bullying.

Bullying can be:

Emotional – being unfriendly, excluding, tormenting (e.g. hiding books, threatening gestures).
Physical – pushing, kicking, hitting, punching or any use of violence.
Racist – racial taunts, graffiti, gestures.
Sexual – unwanted physical contact, sexually abusive comments, focussing on sexuality.
Verbal – name-calling, sarcasm, spreading rumours, teasing.
Cyber – All areas of internet usage, such as email & internet chat room misuse, mobile threats by text messaging & calls, misuse of associated technology, i.e. camera & video facilities.

what can you do if you see bullying taking place?

we are a telling school

You can click on our ‘Raise a concern’ link at the top of our website (also listed below).
You can speak to any teacher in the Academy.
You can report the incident to your Form Tutor/Pastoral Manager/Head of Year.
Let your parents know, so they can inform the Academy.

What is the resilience revolution?

The Resilience Revolution is a whole town approach to addressing the mental health needs of children and young people in Blackpool. We are doing this by building a social movement; one that supports individuals to overcome challenges and develop their resilience (by taking steps or actions that we call ‘Resilient Moves’), and through tackling structural inequalities that impact on people’s lives (taking action alongside the community to level out the playing field).

We call this;
“Beating the odds whilst also changing the odds”

Where should you go if you are upset or need someone to talk to?

You should find a member of staff in the school to help you.
The main school office is always staffed.
Duty staff are positioned around the Academy before, during and after school.
You have regular daily contact with your Form Tutor during registration time.
You can email your Form Tutor or Head of Year.
Your Pastoral Managers do not teach, so they may be more available than teaching members of staff.

Why is this important?

Resilience is the ability to recover quickly from difficulties.
To develop your resilience it is believed you need key ingredients in your life. These have been listed on the previous slide in the five coloured areas.
The more of these key ingredients you have in your life, the quicker you should be able to recover from any difficulties you face in your life.

Our Anti-bullying events

Year 7 all begin their ICT subject lessons by completing the first module on “Keeping Safe Online”.
PSHE designated lessons:
1. Self Concept – understanding who you are.
2. Healthy lifestyles.
3. Managing risks and safety.
4. Positive relationships.
5. Forming & Maintaining respectful relationships.
6. Bullying, abuse and discrimination.
7. Appreciating differences.

All of the above topics are delivered in an age appropriate way firstly at Key Stage 3 and then re taught in an age appropriate way at Key Stage 4.