| 1 | Understand | Definition, forms, what is not bullying, legal and safeguarding context |
| 2 | Respond | Signs, first response, triage, support and behaviour-change planning |
| 3 | Prevent | Whole-school approach, pupil voice, policy, reporting routes and evaluation |
| 4 | Create | Six Bully Beat lessons, one-day workshop and assembly plan |
| 5 | Use | Printable forms, surveys, plans, logs and policy template |
| 6 | Refer | Support contacts, reading and source guidance |
Use “a pupil experiencing bullying” and “a pupil displaying bullying behaviour” rather than fixing children permanently as “victim” or “bully”. Be clear that the behaviour is unacceptable while preserving the possibility of support, accountability and change.
| Form | Examples |
|---|---|
| Physical | Hitting, kicking, pushing, intimidation, blocking movement, damaging or taking belongings. |
| Verbal | Name-calling, threats, humiliating comments, mocking, repeated put-downs. |
| Relational / Emotional | Exclusion, social manipulation, rumours, controlling friendships, public embarrassment. |
| Prejudice-related | Targeting actual or perceived race, religion, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, age, pregnancy/maternity, culture, language or other identity. |
| Sexual / Sexist | Sexual comments, unwanted touching, coercion, image-based abuse, sexualised rumours, misogyny or harassment. |
| Online | Abusive messages, impersonation, exclusion, shaming, pile-ons, doxxing, manipulated or AI-generated images, malicious sharing or repeated gaming abuse. |
| Property / Economic | Taking, hiding or damaging belongings; pressuring someone to hand over money, food, login details or items. |
| Coercive / Exploitative | Threats or pressure to act, carry items, share images, commit offences or accept harmful “dares”. |
| Situation | Typical Features | Adult Response |
|---|---|---|
| Ordinary disagreement | Similar power; both can express a view; no sustained pattern of intimidation. | Teach repair, communication and problem-solving. |
| Friendship fallout | Relationship strain, exclusion or hurt may be mutual or shifting. | Listen to each pupil; monitor patterns; support boundaries and repair where safe. |
| Bullying pattern | Intentional harm, repetition or continued reach, and power imbalance. | Protect, record, investigate, support, address behaviour and review. |
| Serious one-off harm | Assault, threat, hate incident, sexual harm, extortion, image-based abuse or other significant incident. | Act immediately under safeguarding, behaviour, equality and/or police procedures; do not wait for repetition. |
Preventing bullying: Schools must have measures to encourage good behaviour and prevent all forms of bullying. Measures should be communicated clearly and include online and off-site behaviour where it affects school life.
Safeguarding: Bullying can be child-on-child abuse. Any reasonable cause to suspect significant harm must be treated as a safeguarding concern and passed to the DSL without delay.
Equality: Schools must act on discrimination, harassment and victimisation, and foster good relations under the Equality Act 2010 and Public Sector Equality Duty.
Current KCSIE: Use KCSIE 2025 until 31 August 2026; KCSIE 2026 from 1 September 2026.
Police / crime: Some incidents may be criminal, including violence, threats, harassment, hate crime, sexual offences, extortion or malicious communications.
Statutory anti-bullying guidance: Welsh Government’s revised Rights, Respect, Equality guidance, published 7 May 2026, is statutory for local authorities and schools in Wales.
Rights-based and trauma-informed: Responses should prioritise safety, belonging and support, address prejudice, and understand what may sit behind harmful behaviour without excusing it.
Safeguarding: Bullying that may involve significant harm is a child protection matter. Follow Keeping Learners Safe, Wales Safeguarding Procedures and local referral arrangements.
Online / off-site: Schools can respond to reasonable off-site and online conduct that affects learners or school life, in line with policy and law.
| Step | Practice |
|---|---|
| Prepare | Choose a quiet, observable space. Know how to contact the DSL/DSP. Allow communication aids or a trusted adult where appropriate. |
| Open | “I have noticed you seem worried at break time. I wanted to check how things are for you.” |
| Listen | Use open prompts: “Tell me what happened.” “What happened next?” “How has this affected you?” Avoid leading questions. |
| Clarify safety | Ask whether the child feels safe now, what they fear may happen next, whether there are threats, images, weapons, sexual harm or pressure. |
| Explain sharing | “I will only tell people who need to help keep you safe. I will tell you what I am going to do.” |
| Agree next contact | Name the adult who will update them and a time: later today, tomorrow morning or another appropriate interval. |
| Record and pass on | Write factual notes promptly, distinguishing the child’s words from your observations. Report through school systems without delay. |
| # | Key Question | Action |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Immediate safety — Is anyone in immediate danger or injured? | Call emergency services if required. Contact DSL/DSP immediately. Preserve evidence safely. |
| 2 | Safeguarding threshold — Is there reasonable cause to suspect significant harm? | Follow child protection procedure and local referral route without delay. |
| 3 | Record and classify — What happened, where, when, who, witnesses, online reach? | Make a factual record. Link related incidents. |
| 4 | Protect and support — What will make the pupil safer today, tomorrow and next week? | Create a support/safety plan, named adult, safe spaces, online actions and check-ins. |
| 5 | Address behaviour — What needs to stop? | Use fair, consistent policy. Explore motivation without excusing harm. Set measurable behaviour-change goals. |
| 6 | Inform and coordinate — Who needs to know? | Share proportionately, protect confidentiality and document decisions. |
| 7 | Review — Has the behaviour stopped? Does the child feel safer? | Review at agreed intervals and adjust until safety is sustained. |
| Step | Adult Practice |
|---|---|
| Name the behaviour | Describe facts, not character: “You posted repeated messages that humiliated another pupil.” |
| Set the boundary | “This behaviour is unacceptable and must stop now.” |
| Hear the account | Ask what happened and what the pupil hoped to achieve. Do not accept blame-shifting. |
| Explore motivation | Consider status, belonging, prejudice, retaliation, trauma, unmet need, online influence or their own experience of harm. |
| Apply consequences | Use policy fairly and proportionately. Consequences protect the community and reinforce learning. |
| Teach alternatives | Practise emotional regulation, assertive communication, conflict resolution, online choices and how to leave a group pile-on. |
| Plan repair safely | Restorative action may include replacing property, correcting misinformation, making amends or contributing positively — only when safe and not coerced. |
| Review change | Set observable goals, supervision, family partnership and scheduled reviews. Escalate if behaviour continues. |
Treat deepfakes, altered images, cloned voices and fabricated screenshots as potentially serious harmful content. Assess sexual, discriminatory, reputational and safeguarding risk; preserve only necessary evidence; and seek specialist advice.
| Area | Key Response |
|---|---|
| Prejudice or hate | Record the perceived or actual identity factor, even when the targeted pupil does not share that characteristic. Consider hate incident/crime and equality duties. |
| Sexual harassment | Take every report seriously. Do not dismiss it as flirting, jokes or normal behaviour. |
| Misogyny / sexism | Challenge language and norms, protect targets, address peer audience and curriculum culture, and record patterns. |
| Disability / SEND / ALN | Consider communication access, dependence on peers or adults, sensory spaces, transport and the risk that signs are misread as “behaviour”. |
| Race, religion, culture | Acknowledge the identity-based harm; do not generalise or ask the pupil to educate others. |
| Sexual orientation / gender identity | Support the pupil’s safety and privacy. Do not disclose personal information to peers or families without considering safeguarding. |
| Appearance, poverty, family | Challenge class-based, care-experienced, body-related and family-based humiliation with the same seriousness as other targeted harm. |
| Field | What to Include |
|---|---|
| Date and time | When the incident occurred and when it was reported. |
| Location | Classroom, corridor, playground, transport, online platform, off-site. |
| Pupils involved | Names, year groups, roles. Note if roles are unclear or disputed. |
| Witnesses | Names and brief account of what they saw or heard. |
| Description | What happened, in factual terms. Use the child’s own words in quotation marks where possible. |
| Type of behaviour | Physical, verbal, relational, online, prejudice-related, sexual, coercive, property-related. |
| Prejudice factor | Actual or perceived identity characteristic targeted, if applicable. |
| Online evidence | Screenshots, URLs, platform, usernames, timestamps. Note if illegal content was not copied. |
| Immediate action | What was done on the day: safety steps, conversations, referrals, parent contact. |
| Ongoing plan | Support plan, behaviour plan, review dates, named adults. |
| Review notes | What changed, what continued, what was escalated and when. |
| Review Question | Data to Examine |
|---|---|
| Where is it happening? | Location breakdown: corridors, playgrounds, transport, online, off-site. |
| When is it happening? | Time of day, day of week, term patterns, transitions, unstructured time. |
| Who is most affected? | Year group, class, SEND/ALN, protected characteristics, looked-after status, new arrivals. |
| What types are most common? | Physical, verbal, relational, online, prejudice-related, sexual. |
| Is it being reported? | Compare pupil survey data with formal records. A gap suggests under-reporting. |
| Are responses working? | Repeat incidents involving the same pupils, locations or groups. |
| Are staff consistent? | Variation in recording quality, response time and escalation decisions. |
Bully Beat is The Songwriting Charity’s flagship anti-bullying programme. It brings professional songwriters and music producers into schools to work with pupils on creating original songs that explore themes of identity, belonging, difference, resilience and kindness.
The programme is not a lecture about bullying. It is a creative experience that gives children a voice, builds empathy through shared creative work, and produces something lasting — a song that belongs to the pupils who made it.
| Area | Links |
|---|---|
| PSHE / RSE / Health Education | Relationships, mental health, online safety, identity, belonging, managing conflict, emotional literacy. |
| Music | Composing, performing, recording, appraising, music technology, creative collaboration. |
| English | Creative writing, poetry, narrative, vocabulary, spoken language, listening and responding. |
| SMSC | Social development, moral reasoning, cultural expression, spiritual reflection. |
| Wellbeing and SEMH | Emotional regulation, self-expression, resilience, confidence, belonging. |
| Anti-Bullying Policy | Pupil voice, prevention curriculum, whole-school culture, evidence of impact. |
| Format | Description |
|---|---|
| Single Workshop | A half-day or full-day intensive session with one class or year group. Pupils write, record and produce one original song. |
| Programme of Workshops | A series of sessions across a term or year, building skills, deepening themes and producing multiple songs or a school album. |
| Anti-Bullying Week Special | A focused workshop timed to coincide with Anti-Bullying Week in November, with content aligned to the annual theme. |
| Whole-School Day | Multiple workshops across year groups, culminating in a shared performance or assembly. |
| SEN / ALN Specialist | Adapted delivery for pupils with additional learning needs, communication differences or SEMH requirements. |
To book a Bully Beat workshop or programme, or to find out more about The Songwriting Charity’s work in schools:
We work with schools across England and Wales and can discuss funding, subsidised places and partnership arrangements.
The Songwriting Charity’s Fund a Song campaign enables donors and sponsors to fund a workshop for a school that could not otherwise afford it.
A single donation of £575 sponsors one complete workshop, giving a class of pupils a professional creative experience and a finished song.
Ask us about sponsoring a school in your area.
| Step | Action | Done |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ensure immediate safety. Call emergency services or DSL/DSP if required. | ☐ |
| 2 | Listen to the pupil privately. Use open questions. Do not promise confidentiality. | ☐ |
| 3 | Assess safeguarding threshold. Refer to DSL/DSP without delay if required. | ☐ |
| 4 | Preserve evidence: screenshots, URLs, timestamps, witnesses. | ☐ |
| 5 | Record factually in the school system on the day. | ☐ |
| 6 | Create or update a safety/support plan for the pupil who has been harmed. | ☐ |
| 7 | Speak separately with the pupil displaying harmful behaviour. | ☐ |
| 8 | Contact parents/carers as appropriate, following safeguarding guidance. | ☐ |
| 9 | Set a review date and name the adult responsible for follow-up. | ☐ |
| 10 | Review at the agreed date. Adjust the plan if the behaviour has not stopped. | ☐ |
| Term | Meaning in This Toolkit |
|---|---|
| Bullying behaviour | Intentional harm, usually repeated, with a power imbalance. A pattern, not a single label. |
| DSL / DSP | Designated Safeguarding Lead (England) / Designated Safeguarding Person (Wales). The named lead for child protection in school. |
| KCSIE | Keeping Children Safe in Education. Statutory safeguarding guidance for schools in England. |
| Keeping Learners Safe | Statutory safeguarding guidance for schools in Wales. |
| Child-on-child abuse | Abuse perpetrated by one child against another, including bullying, sexual harm, exploitation and coercion. |
| Hate incident / crime | Behaviour motivated by actual or perceived identity characteristics. May be criminal. |
| SEND / ALN | Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (England) / Additional Learning Needs (Wales). |
| SEMH | Social, Emotional and Mental Health. A category of SEND/ALN and a dimension of pupil wellbeing. |
| Restorative practice | Approaches that focus on repairing harm and rebuilding relationships, used alongside (not instead of) accountability. |
| Bystander | A person who witnesses bullying or harmful behaviour. Bystanders can stop or sustain harm. |