Anti-Bullying Workshop
Key Stage 2

This 90 minute interactive Anti-Bullying theatre workshop for Key Stage 2 explores the issue of bullying in school and helps pupils to:

• Develop effective responses to bullying
• Practice peer support; and
• Explore their behaviour in the context of a safe, entertaining drama session.

We focus on the many different forms bullying can take, including cyberbullying, and look at how bullying can sometimes be quite subtle. We explore the myth of 'The Bully', showing how we might all have behaved inappropriately at times and consider the reasons why people might bully others. We also highlight the role of the bystander in bullying incidents. Whilst the emphasis is on pupils changing their own behaviour and the behaviour of their peers, we also stress the importance of telling an adult about bullying, underlining how seriously such incidents are treated by schools and their staff. The project takes into account the guidance outlined in Safe to Learn: embedding anti-bullying work in schools, developed by the Department for Children Schools and Families.

Session Details

The project takes the form of an exciting, amusing, age appropriate play that contains sections of 'hot seating', where pupils can question the characters on their choices and behaviour. We also use 'forum theatre' where we replay certain scenes so that pupils can suggest alternatives and change the behaviour of the characters in that scene. In this way, the pupils engage in active learning and we provide a memorable reference point for the school's work on anti-bullying.

A Teacher's Pack is provided with suggestions for follow up work related to the session, as well as tips on how to raise awareness of the school's anti-bullying policy.

The 90 minute project takes place in the school hall and we can work with up to two classes per session, with a maximum of two 90 minute sessions per school day.