Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the success of Anti-Bullying Week 2024, and what initiatives they have in place to eradicate bullying.

Schools must take a strong stand against all forms of bullying and should tackle bullying at the earliest opportunity to prevent it from escalating, particularly given the impact it can have on pupils, both emotionally and physically. All schools are required by law to have a behaviour policy which outlines effective strategies that will encourage good behaviour.

Anti-Bullying Week is an annual event, co-ordinated externally by the Anti-Bullying Alliance. As such, the government has not made an assessment of it.

The department has published advice to support schools with addressing incidents of bullying. The guidance is clear that schools should make appropriate provision for a bullied child's social, emotional and mental health needs. The guidance is attached and is also available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/625ee64cd3bf7f6004339db8/Preventing_and_tackling_bullying_advice.pdf.

The department has also published a practical tool to help schools, which can be found on the Educate Against Hate website. It is available here: https://educateagainsthate.com/resources/respectful-school-communities-self-review-signposting-tool-2/.