Anti-Bullying Week is organised by the Anti-Bullying Alliance and took place between Monday 13th – Friday 17th November 2023. This year the theme was ‘Make A Noise About Bullying’ and it kicked off with odd socks day, where adults and children wore odd socks to celebrate what makes us all unique.
Schools across Aspire strive to provide a safe and positive environment for our children, so they can feel happy about coming to school all year round. During Anti-Bullying Week, we reminded the children about what they should do if they are feeling bullied or observe other children being bullied. We also spent time considering why some children bully other children.
Bedmond Academy celebrated Odd Socks Day and World Kindness Day on Monday. Children in the Early Years talked about ways to be kind as they printed their hands to create a heart of kindness. Some of their other children created their ideal best friend and spoke about the characteristics of good friends.
Key Stage 2 pupils at Bovingdon Primary Academy also celebrated World Kindness Day. They took part in a live Zoom assembly with the charity ’52 lives’. They discussed kindness and how it has the power to change not only lives, but the world.
Staff at Broadfield Academy have been talking to children in each class about what bullying is and how to ‘make a noise’ if they see it happening. Children created posters to educate one another about what to do if they suspect bullying has occurred.
Throughout the week at Hammond Academy, the children have focused on kindness and how they can support each other. They designed posters to educate each other of the signs of bullying and used their voices to make others feel appreciated.
Alongside their anti-bullying week activities, children at Knutsford Primary Academy celebrated Positive Noticing Day on Thursday. This was a day for everyone to go out of their way to positively notice the good things children were doing. Being positively noticed by others builds self-esteem, supports positive behaviour choices and promotes good mental health.
At The Grove Academy, the children conducted an experiment to demonstrate how the negative effect of bullying cannot always be seen on the outside, but just how deeply a person can be affected on the inside. When an apple was treated gently it remained in perfect condition, whilst the apple that was treated roughly ended up bruised on the inside.