Critical Incident 1

Just when I was moaning about not being able to think of a critical incident I can discuss…

After speaking to a teacher about the incident, I was told that I have to email their tutor and the head of department:

"Potential Bullying Dear all,

Yesterday a student approached me about an incident.
Student 1 had distanced herself from the class, which gave me the impression that something was wrong. I asked her if something was wrong but she seemed reserved so I did not pursue the matter. 

Later on in the evening student 2 urged student 1 to approach me about what seems to be potential bullying. I was told by student 1, that herself, student 3, student 4 and (possibly) student 5 were discussing the ambiguity of a student’s sexuality (student 6). This seemed to have escalated and according to student 1, student 3 and student 4 in particular ‘ganged up’ on her and told student 7 (friends with student 6) that student 1 was being derrogative towards student 6. Student 1 added that student 7 and student 6 approached her about the matter. Student 1 said she tried to explain herself and apologised. According to student 1, it was during this explanation that she got punched in the face by both student 7 and student 6. I told student 1 to talk to another teacher but she refused. There seems to be tension within the class, which needs to be resolved…"

I learnt from this experience about 'safeguarding' and 'referrals' in more detail. In this instance, I was told that as a teacher, I must be able to record, in detail, and document any situations and problems. The college has something called a 'promonitor', which allows teachers to document anything important about their students. This information is guarded and is only used for teaching purposes. I don't have access to this but in these situations, I must be able to make an objective decision about whether its a safeguarding issue or something for referral.