In one sentence
Students who are being bullied need immediate safety, consistent adult protection, and structured restoration of confidence and belonging.
Vulnerability profile
Bullying: Victim of Bullying
Students who are being bullied need immediate safety, consistent adult protection, and structured restoration of confidence and belonging.
Quick view: ~2 min
Full page: ~10-15 min
Last reviewed: 12 February 2026
Owner: Pastoral and Anti-Bullying Team
Quick view
Rapid response mode for today and this week.
What you might notice in school
- Avoidance of specific peers or locations.
- Sudden attendance dips.
- Reluctance to participate publicly.
- Increased anxiety at break and lunchtime.
- Drop in academic performance.
- Emotional distress after online activity.
Do now (today / this lesson)
- Ensure immediate safety and supervision.
- Separate involved students calmly.
- Record facts promptly.
- Reassure without promising specific outcomes prematurely.
- Maintain clear expectations for all parties.
Do next (this week)
- Follow anti-bullying procedures consistently.
- Increase adult visibility at vulnerable times.
- Plan confidence-building participation in lessons.
- Monitor attendance and wellbeing.
- Review peer grouping where necessary.
Avoid
- Do not minimise behaviour as banter.
- Do not mediate prematurely where power imbalance exists.
- Do not promise outcomes before investigation.
- Do not leave the student to resolve it alone.
Who can help
- Pastoral lead
- Anti-bullying lead
- DSL
- Form tutor
- SLT where escalation is required
Go deeper
Deep dive mode for planning, implementation review, and INSET.
- Fear reducing concentration.
- Hypervigilance in shared spaces.
- Shame affecting participation.
- Online spillover extending stress beyond school hours.
- Presentation: avoidance of class. Misread: poor attendance instead of fear.
- Presentation: irritability. Misread: attitude problem rather than distress.
- Presentation: sudden silence. Misread: disengaged rather than intimidated.
- Presentation: retaliation. Misread: mutual conflict instead of victim response.
- Strategic seating.
- Increased supervision at transitions.
- Clear anti-bullying expectations reinforced publicly.
- Structured peer work.
- Planned confidence-building opportunities.
- Escalate promptly where risk of harm increases.
- Track patterns across locations and times.
- Coordinate communication carefully to avoid escalation.
- Keep detailed factual records.
- "You are safe here."
- "This will be taken seriously."
- "You deserve dignity."
- "We will handle this properly."
- "You are not expected to manage this alone."
- Communicate clearly and promptly.
- Avoid inflammatory or speculative language.
- Outline actions being taken and review points.
- Maintain neutrality during investigation.
- Keep focus on safety and resolution.
Start here
Go deeper
Keeping children safe in education
Department for Education | guidance | leader | 60 min
Safeguarding expectations where bullying risk escalates to harm.
Working together to improve school attendance
Department for Education | guidance | pastoral | 15 min
Attendance approach when bullying drives avoidance patterns.
Mental health issues affecting a student's attendance
Department for Education | guidance | pastoral | 15 min
Useful for anxiety-linked attendance drops after peer harm.
Books
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