Targeted Provision - Anti-Bullying and Harassment

By Josh Nieboer (Unlicensed)

Policy Owner	Head of Education
Last updated	1 September 2026
Next update due	1 March 2027

1. Purpose and scope

Targeted Provision is not a school, so the statutory anti-bullying duties on schools do not apply to us directly. But the children and young people we support come into contact with adults, and sometimes with other children, through our services, and bullying is a safeguarding matter. This policy sets out how we:

help prevent bullying of the children and young people we support;
recognise the signs that a child may be being bullied, wherever it happens; and
respond when bullying is suspected or reported.

It also covers bullying between adults who work with us (section 5).

The policy applies to:

employees: people employed by Targeted Provision;
workers: people engaged under a worker contract who are not employees; and
contractors: self-employed tutors and other professionals engaged under a contract for services.

In this policy, "everyone who works with us" means all three. For contractors, the requirement to recognise and report bullying arises from our safeguarding duties and forms part of their contract for services. It does not create an employment or worker relationship.

Everyone who works with us receives a copy of this policy before working with any child or young person.

2. What bullying is

The Department for Education defines bullying as behaviour by an individual or group, usually repeated over time, that intentionally hurts another individual or group, either physically or emotionally. It often involves an imbalance of power. It can involve people of any age and can happen anywhere: at home, at school, in the community or online.

Cyberbullying is using any technology, including phones, email, messaging apps, games and social media, to harass, threaten, embarrass, intimidate or target someone. It can happen at any time, and can be hard to trace because the person responsible can stay anonymous, which may make them more aggressive than they would be face to face.

Bullying can be driven by prejudice, including racism, religion or belief, sexual orientation, transphobia, and special educational needs or disability. Its forms include:

Form	What it involves
Verbal	Deliberately hurting feelings, for example through name-calling
Physical	Deliberately and repeatedly hurting someone
Indirect	Spreading nasty stories or malicious rumours, or excluding someone from social groups
Flaming	Online fights where angry and rude comments are exchanged
Denigration	Posting mean messages, or setting up sites or groups to make fun of someone
Online exclusion	Deliberately leaving someone out of group chats, games or other online activities
Outing	Sharing someone's secrets, private information, pictures or videos online
Trickery	Tricking someone into revealing personal information, then sharing it
Impersonation	Pretending to be someone else to send or post mean or false messages
Harassment	Repeatedly sending malicious messages

Some bullying is serious enough to be child-on-child abuse, for example where it involves violence, sexual harassment, or sharing nude or semi-nude images. This must be handled under the Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy (section 4.3).

3. Signs to look out for

Bullying can cause emotional, psychological and physical harm. Children and young people often hide bullying from adults, and no two will react in the same way. Look out for:

loss of interest in activities they used to enjoy, or in schoolwork;
unexplained injuries;
lost or damaged clothing, books, electronics or jewellery;
frequent headaches or stomach aches, feeling sick, or faking illness;
changes in eating habits;
refusing to attend school, despite other signs of motivation to learn; and
self-destructive behaviour, including self-harm, or sharing suicidal thoughts.

If a child self-harms, talks about suicide, or you think they are at immediate risk, treat this as a safeguarding concern and report it to the DSL straight away. Call 999 if they are in immediate danger.

4. What to do if you suspect a child is being bullied

4.1. 1 Be alert

Everyone who works with us should:

stay alert to signs that a child or young person may be being bullied, at school or elsewhere, including online; and
remember that children are often reluctant to talk about bullying.

4.2. 2 Report it

If you suspect a child is being bullied:

Tell the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) as soon as possible, by calling the office or emailing safeguarding@targetedprovision.com.
Give as much detail as you can, including the specifics of any incident or conversation and, where possible, the child's own words.

4.3. 3 What the DSL will do

The DSL is responsible for managing reports of bullying. They will:

keep a detailed record of the report and any action taken;
decide whether the concern is a safeguarding matter, including child-on-child abuse, and if so handle it under the Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy;
where appropriate, and depending on how serious it is, tell the child's school, parents or carers, foster carer, social worker or local authority, promptly; and
consider what support the child needs.

4.4. 4 Behaviour in sessions

Where a child or young person behaves in a way that hurts or excludes another child in a shared session, the person leading the session should address it calmly, keep everyone safe, and report it to the DSL. The DSL will consider what support the child needs to take part without harming others, and whether their school or other agencies should be involved.

5. Bullying between adults

Everyone who works with us has the right to be treated with dignity and respect, free from bullying and harassment, including by colleagues, families, schools and other third parties.

Employees and workers should raise concerns about bullying under the Grievance Procedure and the Anti-Bullying and Harassment Policy.
Contractors should raise concerns with the Head of People under the Complaints Policy.

Bullying or harassment related to a protected characteristic is covered by the Equality and Diversity Policy. Anyone found to have bullied someone will face action under the Disciplinary Procedure (employees and workers) or their contract for services (contractors).