We love to look after each other at St. Bede Primary School.

During the week of November 16^th 2020 we marked Anti-Bullying Week by watching age appropriate videos from the anti-bullying alliance to highlight what bullying is, and what we can do about it together. The anti-bullying alliance aims to raise awareness that ‘by channelling our collective power, through shared efforts and shared ambitions, we can reduce bullying together’. The children were also engaged in taught sessions to highlight how important kindness to everyone is. We made sure that children knew who to talk to if they were ever affected by bullying or unkindness (in and out of school) as well as teaching children the understanding that standing by and watching unkind behaviour happen is also not acceptable – they need to use their voice.   We are all a piece of this puzzle, and this week serves as a strong reminder that we are united against bullying. 

The children have enjoyed watching a music video ‘The Kids United’ from Andy and the Odd Socks (from CBBC) and they have even created their own song/rap about anti-bullying – either as a whole class or in groups.  Children proudly displayed their songs around the school so that their message could be shared by others.  

We even had a socially distanced performance! Children in Year Three from Swithun class performed their anti-bullying song outside on the playground to the Year R children who enjoyed dancing along!

On Friday, we invited children to wear odd socks to school for a day of fun learning.  This was to celebrate our differences, highlighting that we are all unique and that any differences between us should be not only tolerated, but celebrated!  Things would be a little boring if we were all the same! The children embraced this and we saw some excellent combinations of odd socks!

We believe placing a high importance on physical and mental well-being is essential for children to thrive.  In addition to this, there is a proven link between pupils’ health and well-being and their academic progress.  We teach PSHE (Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education) at St. Bede using a scheme called SCARF (Safety, Caring, Achievement, Resilience, Friendship) from Coram Life Education Wessex. It was developed by teachers and is centred on a values-based and ‘growth mindset’ approach to learning. The scheme builds from Year R all the way to Year 6 and teaches children a range of vital life skills, promoting positive behaviour, mental health, well-being, resilience and achievement. 

We are thrilled that so many children enjoyed celebrating being united against bullying this week in our successful and fun anti-bullying week.