Bullying Boy’s parent says school isn’t doing enough to tackle issue
APARENT of a pupil at John Cabot Academy (JCA) in Kingswood claims that the school is turning a blind eye to bullying.
He alleges that an 18-month campaign of physical bullying recently resulted in him having to take his son to A&E with concussion after his “head was smashed into a steel column”.
This is the second time this year that a parent has come forward to our sister website Bristol Live to complain about what they say is the school’s lack of safeguarding after alleged bullying incidents.
Howver, JCA maintains that it has “a strong anti-bullying culture”.
James Digweed-Brown told Bristol Live that bullies initially began targeting his son because he is smaller than most of those in his year group and has visible scars and hearing loss as a result of being diagnosed with stage 4 neuroblastoma when he was two years old.
Mr Digweed-Brown said that the physical abuse and bullying began around the time his wife was diagnosed with cancer.
He said: “A group of boys in his year would target him and say unpleasant things about his medical history. They would say unpleasant things about his mum.
“It’s been pretty intensely violent. He’s been held down on the ground and repeatedly punched in the face. He’s had his head slammed into pillars.
“It’s fundamentally changed him as a person. We tried to go through all the school’s procedures and channels, but because it was a group of boys who had cottoned on to the way the school deals with these issues, they would rotate who it was that would attack him so that no one individual was caught repeatedly.”
Mr Digweed-Brown believes that because the abuse against his son has been perpetrated by a group of pupils, those responsible can evade JCA’s restorative anti-bullying policy, which focuses on the number of incidents committed by an individual before any escalation to disciplinary proceedings.
He claims that the school has offered little in the way of protection or support to his son and has refused to grant him and his wife a meeting with the Academy Council.
JCA’s anti-bullying policy states that the school will always respond initially to bullying incidents through a “restorative approach”.
It says that research shows this can encourage the reporting of incidents by reducing victims’ anxieties about repercussions and also helps by educating the perpetrators.
In its policy, JCA states that “in cases of repeat bullying incidences, the response is escalated accordingly”, with individuals proceeding through four stages of increasing sanctions depending on the number of incidents that have been recorded. After the fourth incident, a perpetrator will be at risk of losing their place at the school.
Mr Digweed-Brown believes these measures are “not fit for purpose” and claims that the attacks against his son were initially not appropriately flagged.
The headteacher of JCA disputes Mr Digweed-Brown’s criticism of the school’s policy and said in a statement: “Where incidents do occur, they are thoroughly investigated and sanctioned appropriately within our behaviour and anti-bullying policies. Where bullying occurs, either by individuals or groups, we understand the need to both educate and address those involved, as well as support the other students; we always listen to and proactively communicate with all the families involved.”
For a time, Mr Digweed-Brown said that he took his son out of school and alleges that measures taken to protect him by the school were limited to removing him from certain classes and having him leave early to avoid the boys who were targeting him.
He said: “They didn’t suggest anything to actually deal with the problem, just changing my son’s schedule. Marking him out even more as being different was their way of dealing with it.”
After making a formal complaint, Mr Digweed-Brown said that he requested a formal meeting with the school board of governors, which he claims was declined.
Instead, Mr Digweed-Brown said that the school set up a review, chaired by a staff member, which
It’s horrible what he’s been through. You just feel so powerless as a parent
James Digweed-Brown
found that the school was not at fault in its handling of the matter. Mr Digweed-Brown said he was keen to be included but claimed that, despite being asked about it initially, was not contacted to take part.
Mr Digweed-Brown said that after the incident that led to him taking his son to the hospital, the child responsible was eventually excluded.
However, he alleged that shortly after that, that decision was overturned by the Academy Council.
The family has launched a second formal complaint procedure against the school, but Mr Digweed-Brown said he is still being refused a meeting with the Academy Council, leaving them unsure of where to turn.
Mr Digweed-Brown said: “It’s a real strain on the family - we’re trying to hold ourselves together. This [speaking to Bristol Live] is very much a last resort; we don’t feel we have any choice left. It’s really had such an effect on his personality. It’s horrible what he’s been through. You just feel so powerless as a parent. We never ever wanted to end up where we are now, but we [feel] forced into this situation by a lack of action of any kind. We wanted to work with the school from the beginning but they just put up as many roadblocks as possible in the hope parents give up and hopefully everything will just fix itself.”
In May this year, another parent told Bristol Live that her 12-yearold autistic son faced bullying at JCA, which she said saw his “head kicked in” and body bruised. She alleged that her son was bullied within days of starting at the school in Year 7, culminating in him being attacked with a plastic knife at lunchtime before being pushed into a metal fence. Similar to Mr Digweed-Brown’s claims, she also claimed the school advised her son to come to school late and leave early to avoid the bullying but the perpetrators were allowed back into school as normal.
In response to Mr Digweed-Brown’s claims, JCA said: “The safety and welfare of all students is our highest priority. JCA strives to meet the needs of all our students within a supportive and compassionate culture. We have respectful and trusting relationships. Where incidents do occur, they are thoroughly investigated and sanctioned appropriately within our behaviour and anti-bullying policies.
“Where bullying occurs, either by individuals or groups, we understand the need to both educate and address those involved, as well as support the other students; we always listen to and proactively communicate with all the families involved. In all cases, including this case, we act promptly and work closely with all families involved to ensure they are fully informed. Most importantly, students feel safe and well-supported at our Academy. We’ve achieved the Anti-Bullying Alliance’s United Against Bullying award. “