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The
first priority of any school anywhere in the world is to create
a safe and secure environment in which its pupils may learn.
For the vast majority of schools, the one thing that undermines
that aim is the presence of bullying behaviour.
The
Sultan’s School is no different in this respect although
the incidences of bullying are less frequent and normally
of a less extreme nature than in some institutions. As Principal
of the school it is one of my objectives in 2005 to harness
the efforts of staff, students and parents to minimize or
even eradicate the presence of bullying behaviour at The Sultan’s
School.
In
order to do this, we need to ‘know the enemy’ so
to speak. Bullying is any kind of behaviour forced upon an
individual against their will. Many people associate bullying
at school with minor acts of physical aggression but it also
includes verbal abuse and situations where individuals are
ostracized as a result of classmates being encouraged to ignore
them.
Bullying
behaviour exists among girls as well as boys. It tends to
differ, however, from one sex to the other. Boys tend to bully
both boys and girls and frequently bully pupils in classes
and grade levels other than their own. They also tend to use
physical aggression more often than girls. Girls on the other
hand, tend to bully other girls especially in their own class
or grade level and do so by more subtle means such as name-calling
and by isolating the victim.
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Dealing
with bullying is a difficult and complex task for any
school. Deterrents need to be combined with counselling
to ensure the offending patterns of behaviour are not
repeated. However, before bullying can be dealt with,
it needs to be exposed. Pupils suffering from bullying
need to know that they should tell an adult. Not all
incidents are serious but if left unchecked they can
develop so.
During
the current school year, the Heads of Year system has
been established whereby each grade level in the secondary
school has an experienced member of staff designated
to deal with social issues involving students. For 2005,
an additional member has been added to the team to cover
grades 4-6. We are also in the process of appointing
an Omani Social Worker to assist the team in dealing
with issues which arise.
Parents
should encourage their children to share concerns with
the Heads of Year or their Homeroom teacher. Parents
equally are asked to direct any concerns they might
have to these sources. It is especially important where
you notice an unusual change of behaviour from your
child without any obvious reason. It may be related
to some stress at school which the child is not divulging.
This
is merely the start of a long process to develop in
the school a more integrated approach to such issues.
Any contributions by parents to this process will be
appreciated.
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John
Birchall
The Principal
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