Catch22 College: Anti-bullying policy

Catch22 reserves the right to amend this policy, following consultation, where appropriate.

Date of last review: October 2025

Date of next review: August 2026

What is the policy about?

This policy outlines Catch22 College’s definition of bullying, its commitment to prevent any form of bullying and the ways in which it will do so. The policy is inclusive of all members of our learning communities and recognises everybody’s rights for safety and protection throughout Catch22 Colleges.

Who does this policy apply to?

All Catch22 College staff, learners, parents/guardians, governing bodies, volunteers and contractors.

Policy requirements

All learners, staff, parents/guardians and governors should understand what bullying is and their responsibilities regarding it. Although there is no legal definition of bullying, we recognise it to be behaviour that is intended to hurt, is repeated, and takes place where there is an imbalance of power. Bullying will often (though not only) be aimed at individuals of vulnerable groups and can include but is not limited to:

• Emotional – being unfriendly, excluding, tormenting.
• Physical – pushing, kicking, hitting, punching or any use of violence.
• Sexual – unwanted physical contact or sexually abusive comments.
• Verbal – name calling, sarcasm, spreading rumours, teasing.
• Cyber – threats and/or sexual imaging/messaging using:
  • Any area of the internet, such as email or chat rooms;
  • Telephone, i.e.. text messaging/calls;
  • Any associated technology, i.e. camera and video facilities.
• Home circumstances – targeting individuals who are looked after children or because of a particular home circumstance.
• Discriminatory towards a protected characteristic – Abuse directed because of or focusing on an individual’s characteristic. This can include but is not limited to:
  • Racism,
  • Sexism,
  • Homophobia and other sexual orientation discrimination,
  • Disability/SEN/Ableism,
  • Transphobia,
  • Ageism,
  • Religious discrimination.

Please see Catch22’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion policy for more information on protected characteristics.

A bully can be defined as:

• An individual who torments others either through verbal harassment or physical assaults, or
• An individual who torments other through subtle methods of coercion that constitute any of the above activities and is deliberate and sustained.
• A bully can operate individually or with other bullies.

Bullying can seriously damage a person’s confidence and sense of self-worth.

A person being bullied will often feel that they are at fault and may show changes in behaviour (see Appendix 1 for possible signs).

Policy objectives

• To stop and prevent any continuation of harmful behaviour.
• To respond to bullying incidents in a reasonable, proportionate, and consistent way.
• To safeguard all involved in bullying and to offer relevant support.
• To apply disciplinary sanctions to the person causing the bullying and facilitate opportunities for them to learn from the experience, possibly through multi-agency support.
• Involve all members of the college, staff, and learners in helping to prevent bullying and to confront it when it occurs.
• Encourage learners to report instances of bullying.
• Inform all learners, parents, and staff of the preventative steps Catch22 Colleges take and how these are implemented.
• Ensure all learners, staff and parents know the procedure to follow when bullying occurs.

Responding to bullying

When bullying is reported or suspected, the matter will be taken seriously and dealt with as quickly as possible. However, incidents of bullying are unique in their effect on the individuals concerned, therefore it is important that staff devise a bespoke set of actions for each incident, or series of incidents, to address the situation and to support all involved.

• All incidents or series of incidents will be investigated sensitively and effectively.
• Each person involved will be asked to give their account of any bullying events.
• Relevant staff will be kept informed of all developments so they can support and monitor the behaviour of the learners concerned.
• Learners being bullied will be offered the opportunity to discuss their experience with a member of staff and will be offered further support to address any harm caused to them.
• Learners who have bullied will be supported though discussion of the events with a member of staff. These discussions will look at what happened, explore their motivation and gains from being involved, finding out other ways to meet their needs, and illustrating clear boundaries of unacceptable behaviour.
• In agreement with all parties involved there will also be the opportunity to repair harm caused and rebuild relationships through a facilitated discussion by a member of staff.
• Parents/carers of all learners involved will be informed and where relevant be included in the response.
• All incidents of bullying will be recorded on PICSweb by the member of staff investigating the incidents. Records will include the actions taken to safeguard, repair harm and strengthen relationships.
• Where appropriate, staff may impose reasonable and proportionate sanctions on bullying learners in accordance with our behaviour policy and the law.

Some forms of bullying are illegal and may be reported to the police. These include but are not limited to:

• Physical violence or assault;
• Sexual assault;
• Theft;
• Repeated harassment or intimidation, for example name calling, threats and abusive phone calls, e-mails, or text messages;
• Hate crimes.

Prevention

Catch22 Colleges apply a range of proactive strategies to prevent bullying.

These include but are not limited to:

• Leadership that promotes safe learning environments with an open and honest anti-bullying ethos.
• Staff embodiment of our vision, with particular emphasis on the ‘People’ aspect of the 3 Ps; always providing role models of ‘good’ people and reinforcing this modelling in our conversations with learners.
• Establishing learner reviews, PSHE classes, common spaces, and group activities to formally and informally, initiate, draw out and discuss relationships, differences, and anti-bullying messages.
• Using opportunities throughout the college calendar to raise awareness of the consequences and effect of bullying, e.g. Antibullying Week.
• Analyse learner surveys and create continuous opportunities for learners’ voices to be heard (e.g. ‘I’d like my teacher to know’ suggestion-style box).
• Antibullying campaigns
• Ensuring staff presence and learners’ engagement in common spaces and unstructured times.
• Include anti-bullying in staff induction and continual professional development.

Related policies

• Catch22 Equality and Diversity Policy
• Catch22 Safeguarding Overarching Policy
• Catch22 College Safeguarding Policy
• Behaviour and Code of Conduct Policy – Catch22 Colleges
• Catch22 Workplace Harassment & Anti-Bullying Policy