HOLY Rood Junior became the first school in the country outside London to be awarded the Anti-bullying Quality Mark.

The prize recognises the efforts of the school in raising awareness of bullying and taking action to make sure every child knows the impact it can have on other lives.

It is an award which rewards efforts to show bullying is not tolerated and the school achieved the Bronze Level, which took about 18 months to achieve.

Head teacher Tony McAteer said: “Everyone at the school is obviously very proud of this award but it is something we have worked very hard towards.

“There is not a problem with bullying at the school but it is something we take seriously and want to make the children aware of before they move into secondary school.”

Holy Rood has an anti-bullying committee which meets three times a year and is made up of pupils, staff, governors and parents to look at the school’s policy.

“We elected pupils whose job it is to look out for all the other children to make sure everyone has someone to play with and can be a point of contact for the others,” said Tony.

“It is the bronze award which we have achieved so we will now be looking towards the silver and then the gold.”