Beating bullies with pupil power

The money, however, will not go towards helping teachers tackle the problem, but rather to training senior pupils, who are seen as the key to beating the bullies.

The latest initiative will see respected pupils trained as peer mentors. The idea is that older pupils will be able to offer a friendly ear to their younger counterparts, giving them the opportunity to talk through their problems without having to approach a teacher.

These peer mentors will be trained by experts to resolve conflict as well as offer support and advice. The scheme is designed to complement existing schemes, not act as a substitute.

Ed Balls, Sectretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, said: "Peer mentoring - young people supporting each other - is an exciting scheme that is already having great success in many schools. I want more schools to benefit.

"Research shows that more often than not a child being bullied would rather confide in another pupil than go directly to a teacher, so this scheme helps to catch problems at an early stage and nip them in the bud."

St George's RC High School in Walkden has been running a peer mentoring scheme for the past four academic years.

Headteacher Phil Harte said the benefits of the project were far-reaching - helping to improve the school's examination results, reduce the number of dropouts and increase the confidence of pupils.

The school's most recent Ofsted report said the personal development and wellbeing of pupils at St George's, together with the care, guidance and support they receive, was outstanding. The government inspectors also described the school's peer mentoring programme as "impressive".

Mr Harte said: "The peer mentoring scheme was devised with the school council, not because we had a bullying problem at the school but because we wanted to do what we could to prevent bullying from happening in the first place."

Mr Harte believes that the peer mentoring scheme has played an important part in helping the school to achieve year-on-year improvements in examination results and reduce the number of pupils dropping out. Only two per cent of pupils who have attended St George's have not gone on to further education, employment or training after leaving the school.

"This rate is well below the national average. This school is bucking national trends. Boys at this school are doing as well if not better than the girls."

Mr Harte said pupil support schemes enabled staff and pupils to work as a team to deal with issues in the school.

He said: "Allowing pupils to become peer mentors empowers the young people. It gives them a sense of responsibility.

"Rather than it being teacher led, it is pupil led, which young people can relate to.

"The mentors become role models and set an example to other pupils, which leads to a more supportive learning environment."

Final year students at St George's can apply to become peer mentors. Those chosen are assigned pupils in Year Seven - the school's youngest pupils - who have either asked for a mentor or have been referred by teachers. A drop-in session for all Year Seven pupils is also held regularly.

Steve Greet, the school's guidance and support manager, said: "We are pleased that the Government has recognised the benefits of peer mentoring. It is a scheme that really does work.

"Pupils can talk in confidence to other pupils about issues that affect them inside and outside of school. One of the reasons we set up a breakfast club at the school was so that pupils could discuss anything playing on their mind.

"When young people come into school they cannot just leave their issues at the door. It can affect their learning and behaviour towards other pupils."

The school's peer mentors say they have seen pupils' lives transformed, simply by talking about issues that have been affecting them. Typical issues include bullying - verbal, physical or via the internet - feeling lonely and examination stress.

Rosie Traynor, aged 15, is a peer mentor leader, and provides support for other mentors.

She said: "If pupils feel that they are being bullied then we can tackle it before it escalates by talking about how we can address the pupil's problems.

"Sometimes issues are about young people feeling lonely, so we work on building their confidence.

"I have seen quiet pupils become more outgoing and seen pupils who can be rowdy in lessons become less disruptive.

"If young people can talk about the issues it really helps improve their academic achievement."

Tommy Ramsbottom, aged 14, said establishing a link between the Year Seven pupils and pupils in the final year led to a greater community atmosphere in school.

"Pupils from different years are more likely to talk to each other and are more likely to look out for each other," he said.

"All schools should have a peer mentoring programme in place. It does much more than just preventing bullying in schools.

"We never tell a pupil what to do. We discuss the options with them and let them reach their own decisions. This also makes them feel in control of the situation."