Anti-Bullying Week – Activities to boost empathy & respect

Anti-Bullying Week is a powerful opportunity to help children understand the impact of their actions, celebrate kindness and learn how to stand up to bullies in a positive, constructive way.

The event is coordinated by the Anti-Bullying Alliance – a coalition of organisations and individuals working together to stop bullying.

It’s about more than one themed week though – it’s a chance to create a lasting culture of respect, empathy and inclusion throughout your school community.

The resources below offer age-appropriate ways for pupils to:

• recognise and challenge unkind behaviour
• build positive friendships
• develop empathy and communication skills
• promote kindness and respect

Many of these activities also support World Kindness Day (13th November) and wider PSHE objectives throughout the year.

When is Anti-Bullying Week?

Anti-Bullying Week 2025 takes place between Monday 10th and Friday 14th November. This year's theme is ‘Power for Good’ – aiming to empower children to safely speak up and raise awareness wherever they see bullying.

Start with our ‘Celebrating Acts of Kindness’ whole-school resource pack. It provides a checklist of kind actions and award certificates to recognise pupils who promote friendship, inclusion and respect. It also supports discussions about the importance of standing up against unkind behaviour.

EYFS Anti-Bullying Week activities

Young learners can begin exploring ideas around friendship, kindness and inclusion through stories, discussion and play-based activities.

Our EYFS Kind Friends activities and worksheets help young learners explore and recognise positive friendships through discussion and sorting activities.

Using photo image cards, pupils will think about sharing, helping and showing kindness. This builds their social skills and empathy while reinforcing the importance of inclusion and respectful behaviour.

Alternatively, this EYFS activities and worksheets pack encourages young learners to recognise and celebrate acts of kindness through discussion, image cards and awarding medals or badges to peers.

KS1 activities

For pupils in Years 1 and 2, Anti-Bullying Week is a chance to talk about what makes a good friend and how to show kindness and respect to others every day.

This KS1 Kind Classmates resource pack encourages pupils to celebrate kindness by writing compliments about their classmates. Using images, vocabulary cards, worksheets and guided activities, pupils will think about recognising positive qualities and developing inclusive, respectful friendships.

Meanwhile, this KS1 ‘What Makes a Good Friend?’ activity pack help pupils explore the qualities of positive friendships. Through sorting cards, discussion and a ‘job advert’ writing activity, they'll learn to recognise kind, respectful behaviours.

KS2 Anti-Bullying Week activities

Older pupils can think more deeply about the reasons behind bullying, explore empathy through reading and writing, and take part in discussions that encourage reflection and understanding.

This KS2 ‘Classmates Who Care’ resource pack helps pupils explore feelings, empathy and positive ways to support others. Through discussion, Agony Aunt letters and writing activities, pupils will practise recognising emotions and showing compassion for others.

This Spreading Kindness pack helps pupils identify positive and negative behaviours, reflect on how their actions affect others, and develop empathy through discussion and guided activities.

Meanwhile, this Year 5 reading comprehension unit uses a carefully structured short story, How the Bully Became Good, to explore themes of identity, change and belonging.

Through reading, discussion, role play and reflection, pupils will develop comprehension skills while considering the impact of bullying.