Dear Parent/Carer
Many of you may be aware of a very unpleasant event that took place in Carlisle late last week, it involved the racially motivated bullying of a young man and has since made its way into the national press.
This kind of conduct is unforgivable and I am writing to once more reinforce that such behaviour will not be tolerated at UCC. Any student found to be involved in incidents of this nature risks suspension and permanent exclusion from the school.
We have a comprehensive pastoral and curriculum programme to help educate all our students in the correct way to conduct themselves inside and outside school. The ‘Not in our School’ campaign continues to highlight our approach and our UCC Reset programme helps to further educate those who fail to meet the high standards of the school.
UCC RESET Programme
The UCC RESET Programme addresses behaviours which specifically relate to students’ treatment of, and attitudes towards, each other. Issues such as bullying, including identity-based prejudice such as ableism, racism, sexism and homophobia are tackled. The Programme is also appropriate for instances of inappropriate sexualised behaviour such as the sharing of nudes using smartphones, and sexting.
Where any incidents happen which involve these kind of behaviours, including incidents which may happen outside school, or online, students are referred to UCC RESET and complete up to a three part programme which includes several sessions exploring the issues which underpin the behaviour and a meeting with our Sixth Form Peer Inclusion Group. For some students, there may also be a third phase of RESET involving a meeting with our PCSO in school.
Further details of the Programme, and how we use RESET, can be found in our Behaviour and Anti-Bullying Policy, which is available on our website; https://ullswatercc.co.uk/policies/
Since we introduced the UCC RESET programme last year, incidents of identity-based prejudice and bullying have been significantly reduced and our programme has been praised by the local police for its impact. Whilst such issues are very rare at UCC we take a very serious view of this kind of behaviour and UCC RESET has been an effective way to re-educate our students about these issues and to make our school expectations clear.
If you have any questions or feedback about UCC RESET, or any of the issues raised, please do not hesitate to get in touch.
Yours faithfully
Mr Gilby
Headteacher
