It is essential that all members of the St. Matthew’s Academy school community feel safe, valued and respected. Therefore it is important that as a school we actively promote positive relationships within our community. Positive relationships are characterised as those which foster mutual respect, co- operation and a sense of personal worth and as such are an expression of Catholic values. By promoting positive relationships, we believe that we increase the pupils’ sense of self-esteem and self-worth and ultimately their success as students.
The most reported cause of unhappiness in any school is bullying. Bullying is the on-going deliberate abuse of power to hurt, frighten or belittle an individual and can take many forms, e.g. name-calling, threats, damage to property or physical abuse. Bullying thrives on the silence of the bullied and the best way to stop it is to report it. Anyone affected by bullying should be confident that they will be listened to and that their concerns will be taken seriously.
Pupils can promote positive relationships by:
- Treating others with respect;
- Including and not isolating others from friendship groups;
- Not ridiculing others;
- Being polite and not abusive to one another;
- Listening to others and not interrupting;
- Encouraging others in positive behaviour;
- Looking after and supporting one another;
- Not ganging up on others;
- Being prepared to support the school’s anti-bullying strategy and not tolerating bullying;
- Participating in P.S.E classes or groups to promote positive relationships.