Our Policy Is Clear
“We will not tolerate any form of bullying”.
“We aim to ensure that here at Sandbach High School and Sixth Form College all members of our community are safe. We want our school to be a place where Students, Staff, Trustees and Parents/Carers attend feeling that this is a place they feel secure and happy.”
"Leaders have created a community for pupils, students and staff based on kindness and respect. Pupils said that they feel safe." - OFSTED report Dec 22
Signed Agreement
All members of our community including Students, Staff, Trustees and Parents/Carers will sign and return documents stating that they have read and agree to our Anti Bullying Policy.
In 2024 we were delighted to achieve the Gold award through the Anti-Bullying Alliance for our actions to prevent bullying in our school community. This was awarded to 11% of schools across the country and we could not achieve this without the dedication of our young ambassadors. Student voice was a significant part of this process with over 50% of our students wanting Anti-Bullying to be promoted and for our school to have a range of procedures to report bullying. Please see below new and updated ways for how our students can report bullying and how you as parents can be involved too.
Anti-Bullying Charter
At our school, we take bullying very seriously and are committed to creating a safe, inclusive, and respectful environment for all pupils. We carry out extensive work to raise the profile of anti-bullying across the school through assemblies, form-time activities, and ongoing awareness initiatives. These opportunities help pupils to understand the impact of bullying, recognise unacceptable behaviours, and develop the confidence to speak out and seek support when needed. By promoting positive relationships and mutual respect, we strive to ensure that every member of our school community feels valued, supported, and safe.
Ways to report bullying
- Visit Edulink report using the link, this can be done either at school or at home (with parents/carers).
- Speak to an Anti-Bullying Ambassador who are on duty each day.
- Report to a trusted adult.
- Use one of our Anti-Bullying Reporting Boxes that can be found around the school
Anti-Bullying Ambassadors
Our Anti-Bullying Ambassadors have received specialist training from Bright Futures, equipping them with the knowledge, confidence, and practical skills needed to support vulnerable students across the school. Through this training, ambassadors learn how to recognise the signs of bullying, provide peer support, promote positive relationships, and signpost students to appropriate help when needed. The programme empowers students to become positive role models and active advocates for inclusion and respect within the school community. We currently have 36 trained Anti-Bullying Ambassadors across Years 7 to 11, and this number continues to grow each year as more students become involved in leading and promoting anti-bullying initiatives. Their presence throughout the school helps to ensure that students have approachable peers they can turn to for support, contributing to a culture where everyone feels safe, valued, and heard.
Sandbach High School and The Anne Frank Trust
Last academic year, a selected group of our Anti-Bullying Ambassadors had the fantastic opportunity to take part in specialist training delivered by The Anne Frank Trust, focusing on tackling racism, prejudice, and discrimination. This valuable programme encouraged students to explore issues surrounding identity, equality, and respect, while developing the confidence to challenge prejudice in all its forms. As part of the training, our ambassadors worked alongside students from schools across England and Scotland, sharing experiences, discussing different perspectives, and collaborating on ways to promote inclusion within their communities. The experience was both inspiring and empowering, enabling our students to broaden their understanding of diversity and return to school with new ideas and skills to help create a more inclusive and welcoming environment for all.
Girls on Board
Last year, our school launched the Girls on Board initiative to support students in navigating the ever-changing nature of friendships in a high school setting. Girls on Board is an empowering programme that helps students understand the dynamics of friendships, develop resilience, and learn positive strategies for resolving conflict and managing relationship challenges. A key aspect of the initiative is helping students recognise the important difference between a friendship fallout and bullying, ensuring that they are able to identify when support may be needed while also developing the skills to repair and strengthen friendships. Through assemblies, workshops, and ongoing pastoral support, Girls on Board encourages open conversations and promotes healthy relationships built on empathy, respect, and understanding. The programme has had a positive impact on our students, and we are committed to continuing to roll out this initiative throughout the current academic year so that even more students can benefit from its valuable messages and support.
An update from our Anti-bullying Ambassadors
Our current role and what we've achieved:
- Been trained by Bright Futures
- Delivering sessions to form groups as and when the need arises, for example lots of work has been done on group chats
- Hosting assemblies on different types of bullying and how to prevent it and deal with it
- The school has achieved its ‘Gold ward’ - Respecting School as a community where children's rights are learned, taught, practised, respected, protected and promoted.
- Peer mentoring students who have experienced unkindness or bullying
- Running pop-up stalls that raise the profile of bullying
- Completing sessions with the Anne Frank Trust on racism and prejudice
- Patrolling on duty during break and lunch times so that we can speak to students and be a friendly face
What we're going to do:
- Launch Anti-Bullying Mentoring within the Sixth Form this academic year (26/27)
- Train more students who want to become ABAs
Assemblies & PSHCE
Students and staff will be involved in the delivery of assemblies and PSHCE lessons educating students on what bullying is and the harm it causes. These are on-going and delivered to each year group.
Bullying Referrals
Students and Parents/Carers are encouraged to report incidents of bullying in one of the following ways:
- Report to a Member of staff, including Form Tutors, subject teachers, support staff,
- Achievement Coordinator and Senior Leadership Team.
- Use the Comment Box located in The Learning Centre (TLC)
- Speak to a Diana Ambassador
- Speak to your Parent / Carer who can then report by using any of the above.
The Community are aware of all types of bullying, which are as follows;
- Threats
- Homophobic and Racist comments
- Verbal abuse (such as name calling, swearing)
- Physical abuse (such as pushing, hitting, making rude gestures)
- Psychological intimidation (making people feel bad about themselves such as the ‘evil look’)
- Ostracism (leaving people out so that they feel like outsiders)
- Teasing and taunting (such as picking on people, hiding their belongings, making fun of people.)
- Grouping together in a threatening or excluding manner against someone
- Cyberbullying is also unacceptable. We will not tolerate any bullying making use of technology including the Internet, mobile phone messages or text messages
Further information and Support
We have lots of links to sources of support on our Outside School Support page these followings links provide information regarding bullying.
Every year in November, our school actively supports Anti-Bullying Week, which is a significant event in the school calendar and an important opportunity to reinforce our commitment to creating a safe and respectful environment for all students. Throughout the week, a wide range of activities take place to raise awareness of bullying and promote positive relationships. These include dedicated assemblies, engaging form-time activities, informative displays around the school, and pop-up stalls led by staff and students. By providing a variety of opportunities for discussion, education, and reflection, Anti-Bullying Week helps to raise the profile of anti-bullying across the school and empowers students to play an active role in preventing and challenging bullying wherever it occurs.