A TEENAGER is hoping her school expands its anti-bullying strategy after a survey found most students had been victimised.

Delilah Bannister, 14, decided to investigate bullying as part of a project for her citizenship GCSE on an issue she wanted to change.

After surveying 35 fellow pupils at both the Cherwell and other schools about their experiences, she tackled headteacher Paul James on the subject.

Delilah, from North Oxford, said: “From my survey the majority of students at the Cherwell have been bullied and the majority of those said they hadn’t received much help when they asked.”

She said the school had a very clear conduct system where different levels of sanctions were imposed after a certain number of rule breaches, but a similar code did not appear to be in place for instances of bullying.

Delilah was concerned children did not know who to go to if they were bullied.

She was keen for an anonymous online system to be set up so children could report their concerns and receive support without fear it would be traced back to them.

Delilah admitted she was unsure who she should go to if she saw or experienced bullying, and suggested an adult who was less directly involved – such as the school nurse – could be a point of contact, or an extension of the existing mentoring system where older pupils are teamed up with the youngest children in the school.

She said: “There’s always going to be bullying, even if you have a really strict or effective policy.

“But it is very important because it can affect people’s concentration and their education.”

Mr James said the school’s anti-bullying policy had recently been updated but he was happy to bring forward a review date.

He said the school survey did not suggest bullying was on the increase, but it was a concern if pupils thought it was.

He said: “We feel there is a clear consequence system for when things don’t go well and there are also clear opportunities for children to talk to staff or peer mentors if they want to raise concerns.

“The systems are in place. We are always happy to review them, but a lot of it is about reinforcing the lines of communication for students and reassuring them we take incidents of bullying extremely seriously and will deal with it seriously and appropriately.

“We are very happy to explore expanding our peer monitoring and explore issues of online support.”

He said since taking up the post as headteacher in September 2010 he had been directly involved in two allegations of bullying, and said the first point of contact for pupils is the form tutor, then deputy head of year, then head of year.