Bullying claim denied (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Bullying claim denied

3:41pm Thursday 29th March 2007 in Chippenham By Benjamin Parkes

PRIMARY school headteacher Bob Buckley this week defended his school against claims they were going easy on bullies.

Mr Buckley spoke out to reassure parents with children at St Paul's School in Chippenham that he took any claims of children being hurt or abused by fellow pupils very seriously.

He was surprised and dismayed that a group of parents had written to the Gazette claiming children were frightened to go to school and Mr Buckley had swept bullying under the carpet.

He admitted there were problems outside the school on nearby estates and parents had worried that these were being carried over into the playground.

He said: "We have been working very closely with families to try and solve these issues.

"To say we go easy on bullies could not be further from the truth. We take any reports of bullying very seriously."

He said the school takes a tough line over exclusions but tried to solve problems rather than passing them on as happens when children are expelled.

But one mother Claire Hanks says bullying has driven her to take her seven-year-old son Liam away from St Paul's.

Mrs Hanks, 32, said: "Liam has been relentlessly bullied both inside and outside of school.

"It started with verbal abuse and taunts and then moved on to physical threats and violence.

"He started at the school when he was five years old and everything was fine for about six months but then two boys started picking on him.

"They started calling him horrible names.

"Then it progressed to physical abuse and he was actually punched across a table in school. He has also been kicked in the privates.

"The last straw came when I found him outside school crying.

"The bullies were abusing him and I challenged them. One of the boys said he does what he likes and then said he knew where I lived. I then decided to take Liam out of school."

Mrs Hanks removed her son from the school in The Oaks last week because she felt that she was not getting any support from staff over the problem.

She had reported the bullying to them as it occurred but she felt unsupported.

She said: "The headmaster told me that they would look after Liam inside of school but they could not be responsible for him outside of the school grounds.

"I was so angry that I took him out of the school and he has now started at Sutton Benger CofE Primary School.

"It has been very stressful for the family and my husband Steve feels the same way. Liam is very distressed by it and his education has been disrupted. I should not have to take my child out of school because of a nasty bully and this is why I am making a stand."

Mr Buckley said: "We have given this family 100 per cent support."

But he said he was not able to comment further on individual cases.

On the wider issue of bullying Mr Buckley said the school had a buddy system which allowed older children to look after younger ones in the playground.

The school is now working closely with the family of one boy who in the past had been excluded from school.

His parents had agreed to collect him at lunchtime so he was no longer in the playground.

In the letter written to the Gazette it was claimed a number of children had been taken away from the school.

But Mr Buckley said: "Our numbers have not changed over the past six months. This is a very popular school."