Every school is supposed to have a bullying policy and this should be defined.

Yet, the Headteacher, Dr Peter Kent, refused to define bullying when asked. He even told a Court it is not helpful.

Dr Peter Kent even claimed the following were not bullying:

1. On Monday 18^th June, 2012, two boys spreading untrue rumours that  child had received a stage 5 detention.. They were also spreading rumours about their claims and this had spread throughout the school.

2. On Tuesday 19^th June, 2012 a boy another calling him sexual names.

3. At the swimming gala a boy make masturbating gestures at another boy.

4. Tuesday, 26^th June, 2012, a boy verbally abused another and said he should be burnt at the stake.

5. On Tuesday 26^th June, 2012, a boy stated that another should be expelled from school.

6. On Tuesday 3^rd July, 2012 a boy kicked water at another and then squirted water at him from a bottle. Whilst playing football, he pushed the other boy who slipped. He then tripped over and became angry. Later he pushed the boy against a wall.

7. Friday 6^th July, 2012 a boy constantly taunted another with an “Ozzy rules” masturbating hand gesture during school time and attempted to punch him a number of times. Later on in the day, he succeeded in punching the boy once on his left shoulder.. When school ended he attempted to punch him again.

8. Monday 7^th July, 2012, a boy attempted to punch another on the way to school after a masturbating hand gesture. He blocked the punch.

9. Tuesday 10^th July, 2012, one child called another  a paedophile.

10. Thursday 19^th July, 2012 during morning break a by  put his fingers on another’s pressure points near his waist. Outside Physics another pushed another and kicked him on his right thigh. 

11. Tuesday, 11th September, 2012, a a boy assaulted another on the way to Hartfield by hitting his bag on against his head, hitting his ear.

12. September, 13^th a boy hit another on his arm. He required  an ice pack.

13. 17^th September, 2012 a boy assaulted another by hitting a maths book on his head.

14. 17^th September, 2012 a sixth former (year 12) hit a boy on the head with his hand. He also did it to someone else.

15. 17^th September, 2012 a boy in year 11 pressed his fingers on another’s head.

16. 2nd October, 2012 a boy made repeated false allegations to year 7 children who take the train to school. His actions constitute slander and harassment. He is doing this deliberately to tarnish the boy’s reputation, and to ensure doubt in seeded in their minds and that of their parents so they do not walk with him to and from school and to isolate him. He questioned children, why they walk with him.

17. 19^th November, 2012 a boy told another that he would suck a boy’s “balls” when he woke up. There was no consequences.

18. Jan and Feb 2013 two boys were making derogatory remarks and masturbating gestures towards another boy. The boys admitted to a history of harassment and apologised.

19. Feb 2013 abusive and prank calls received on phone.

20. 4^th March 2013 8:22pm  abusive texts received (“Chav language”)

Hu da fuq r u giving prank call u wasemqn jus cuse u go grammar school ur dad don’t on  this bich mis call ur ded.

               Reported to police by parent as school refused.

21. March 13^th 2013 a boy threw broken pens at another and pushed him in to a metal bar in front of 5 witnesses.

22. 16^th April 2013 a boy threw a bottle at another whilst on the train. He took his bag and blocked him. Another threw a bottle lid at another, took his and P.E. bag and kicked it across the carriage.

12^th June, 2013 A year 6 boy called another a paedophile and rapist then punched him in the face causing his mouth to swell. This was reported to Matron, who called the parent to inform me he was “involved in fight” and his mouth was painful. She did not provide any details. He required anti-inflammatory drugs when he returned home. The school refused to call the police so the parent reported this to the police.

23. 5^th July, 2013 a boy wiped bird excrement on another. The boy wiped it back. A boy then pushed him and the boy said “stop” and asked him to go away. He would not stop, but the boy walked away. The boy charged at him who feared for his safety and decided to defend himself and put an end to it, so in self defence, kicked him on the leg. The boy fell down crying and stopped pushing  Mr Oglesby saw and sent them both to see Matron. The school refused to call the police.

24. Oct 2013 a boy had his arm broken by two boys.
     
25. 18^th Nov, 2013  a boy called another homophobic names, paedophile, gay, bellend (A term used to call someone an idiot or retard. This can also be known as the end of a penis, penis looks like the end).
    
    
    Most reasonable people would consider these actions as example of bullying.
    
    One boy left LSS in 2014 due to sustained bullying and opened a police case.
    
    A number of Asian children complain about being bullied and made fun of because of their accents.

BULLYING POLICY  (Last reviewed: June 2014)

A summary of how the school responds to complaints about bullying:
1. Our aspiration is to establish and maintain a community of mutual tolerance and understanding within
which bullying does not occur. However, we recognise that as with any human society, there is a danger
that bullying will take place. Whenever bullying takes place our aim is to correct the offending behaviour
in a swift and lasting manner.
2. We recognise that bullying may be verbal (for example, name calling), physical (for example, one
student hitting another), social (for example, being deliberately ignored to isolate an individual) and
cyber bullying (for example, using technology as a vehicle for undermining individuals – refer to the esafety
policy). We also recognise that there can sometimes be a complex relationship between the four
types of bullying.
3. Incidents will normally be investigated by form tutors in the first instance. If for any reason a parent or
student is unhappy about the way in which a bullying complaint has been responded to, they should
contact the Head of Year, who will investigate.
4. All involved will be asked to provide a written statement.
5. Both sides will be listened to. Hasty judgements not based on clear evidence will be avoided. We will
seek to consider both the actual incident and the context in which it has occurred.
6. We will seek to identify whether bullying has taken place, using the definitions in point two and the
professional judgement and common sense of all involved.
7. More serious incidents will be referred through the school’s five stage pastoral system.
8. All relevant parents will be informed about the incident. At a later stage they will be informed about the
way in which the school has dealt with the incident. DFES guidance recommends that complaints of
bullying should be responded to within two weeks. Where possible we will seek to respond more quickly,
but speed of response must not be allowed to compromise the integrity of the investigation.
9. Sanctions will be imposed as appropriate. These may include community service, detentions, internal
suspension or fixed term exclusions. More serious sanctions can only be imposed by the headmaster.
Disciplinary sanctions will be discussed with the parents of the student concerned. However, we will not
break the rules of confidentiality by discussing the case of other students.
10. If appropriate, external agencies will be involved to support the person being bullied or to offer
corrective counselling to the person who is carrying out the bullying.
11. Form tutors should review student behaviour following the incident. It may be appropriate to speak to
the whole form about lessons that have been learnt.
12. It may be appropriate for the Head of Year or Head of House to speak to the entire year group about a
particular incident.
13. The school has now decided to keep a log of bullying incidents in order to detect patterns of behaviour.
Any member of staff who deals with an incident of bullying will be required to record the incident in the
log book held by the Pastoral Co-ordinator.
14. Bullying is also regularly addressed through RE lessons and assemblies. Our international links also serve
to foster an understanding of different races and communities.
15. The school pastoral coordinator speaks to all students and parents about the subject when they join
Lawrence Sheriff. If appropriate, she provides a point of contact for students who wish to report an
incident of bullying to someone who is not a teacher.
16. Bullying is reviewed on an ongoing basis by the student council.