Connie Cooper (centre right), Mrs Liz Wombwell and the Year Six Captains with their Gold Anti-bullying awards. Photograph by Neil Hadrill.

On Tuesday 11th February, St. John’s CofE Primary School in Caterham became the first school in Surrey to be awarded a Gold Anti-bullying Award as part of Surrey County Council’s new Anti-bullying Chartermark.

The Chartermark accreditors praised St. John’s for ‘the strength of the school ethos which enables pupils to build and experience positive relationships’. Pupils were praised for being courteous and confident and ‘excellent ambassadors’ for the school. Mrs Connie Cooper, one of the accreditors for the Surrey Anti-bullying Chartermark, presented the award to head teacher Mrs Liz Wombwell at the end of a special assembly celebrating the achievement of the award.

Afterwards Mrs Wombwell said: “All schools experience some incidents of bullying and it is important to have a clear system in place to deal with it. We encourage pupils to tell us about it and we work hard to stop it. We are delighted that our commitment has been recognised and that our work is judged as effective but we are not complacent and will continue to work with the children to stamp out bullying.