Hi and thanks for your message.
People are allowed to have different opinions and oppose other people’s point of view, but when it comes to opposing the way someone is, such as their sexuality, race or gender, then it becomes unacceptable. The group you’ve described should be taken very seriously by your school and you’ve done the right thing by telling them about it.
It sounds as though at the moment your school hasn’t done anything and it might be that they don’t have enough information about what’s happening. It’s important you give the school a chance to put a stop to any hatred or bullying and the best way of doing this is to keep them updated about what you know.
It would be good to keep a diary of everything that happens, a date and description of any bullying, meetings they have and things they say. You should then keep the school informed about what’s happening regularly and make sure you record the dates you do this in the diary too.
Getting the right teacher involved and working with that person is important too. If this involved a number of students throughout the year group, you might want to tell someone like the head of year and explain to them that you are keeping a diary of anything the group does to you or your friends.
If after a while the group is still meeting and bullying people, and you have given the head of year enough time and information to deal with it, then you have the right to keep going higher up until it stops, this includes going to the headteacher, board of governors and finally the Local Education Authority. You should remember though that you must try all options the school gives you before taking it higher up.
It’s also really important to look after yourself and your own feelings whilst this is going on as it sounds like you’ve been really affected by it. You can always talk to a counsellor at ChildLine to get support whilst this is happening and you could give the ChidllIne number (0800 1111) and website address to anyone else who is also affected.
Take care
Sam