A Mildenhall primary school is taking an innovative approach to combat bullying by using a digital app where pupils can report concerns.

Great Heath Academy launched the anonymous tootoot app six months ago with the aim of providing pupils with a safe and trusted way to speak up about any concerns.

The school has experienced great success with is implementation so far – more than 100 concerns have been resolved, including cases involving bullying, issues at home and friendship problems.

According to a recent survey by anti-bullying charity Ditch the Label, more than 1.5million children in the UK have experienced bullying in the past year.

Of those bullied, half never told anyone through fear, embarrassment or lack of faith in the support system.

Steven Vincent, Great Heath principal, said the app provides “valuable data” which can be analysed from a whole academy overview.

He said: ““Our vision for Great Heath Academy is that the school gives children a sense of their place in the world.

“We achieve this with fun and engaging lessons, activities and resources, whilst also ensuring that they feel safe and free of worry.

“Tootoot supports this vision by giving us valuable data that we can analyse from a whole-academy overview, right down to a single pupil that we have concerns about. This gives us actionable insights that we can use support any child within our care.”

Naomi Brown, vice principal at Great Heath Academy, said: “Wellbeing and attainment are so closely linked, we want to make sure that our pupils feel that they are within a safe and nurturing environment both in and out of school.

“Tootoot helps us do this by giving pupils a way to talk about their concerns directly with the academy.

“They can do this via tootoot using their phones or computers, technology they are inherently used to communicating with every day.

“This extra channel of communication, directly to the school, is something that is vital to ensure pupils have another way to talk about anything that may be affecting their wellbeing.”

Michael Brennan, tootoot chief executive, said: “Great Heath Academy is a fantastic example of an academy that is putting a focus on the whole pupil.

“They recognise the positive influence giving pupils a voice to speak up about concerns has on their mental health and wellbeing. We’re delighted tootoot is having such a positive impact within the school.”