Anti-Bullying Week 2026: Ideas and Posters for Schools

Quick answer: Anti-Bullying Week 2026 runs from Monday 16 to Friday 20 November 2026, starting with Odd Socks Day on Monday 16 November. This year’s theme is “Break the Silence”. To have posters on the wall for Odd Socks Day, order by Tuesday 10 November for free standard delivery, or before 12PM on Thursday 12 November with Next Day Delivery.

Anti-Bullying Week is organised every November by the Anti-Bullying Alliance, which is coordinated by the National Children’s Bureau. It reaches an estimated 8 million children and young people and over 80% of schools each year, and the Alliance says more than one in five children report being bullied each year (National Children’s Bureau). This guide gives practical ideas for the week and shows how to use posters to keep the message going after it ends.

Anti-Bullying Week 2026 at a glance

What “Break the Silence” means for schools

The theme is about making it easier for children to speak up, whether they are being bullied or they see it happen to someone else. In practice, that means pupils need to know three things: that bullying is never acceptable, who they can tell, and that telling will make a difference. Every idea below supports one of those three messages.

10 ideas for the week

1. Odd Socks Day: invite pupils and staff to wear odd socks on Monday to celebrate what makes everyone different.
2. Launch assembly: introduce the theme and explain clearly how pupils can report bullying in your school.
3. “Who can I tell?” posters: put up posters naming trusted adults and how to reach them, in classrooms, corridors and toilets.
4. Worry box: set up a box where pupils can post notes anonymously, and tell them who reads it.
5. Class charter: ask each class to agree five rules for how they treat each other, then display them.
6. Bystander role play: practise what to say and do when you see someone being left out or picked on.
7. Online kindness lesson: link the week to online behaviour and cyberbullying, especially for older pupils.
8. Pupil poster competition: pupils design a poster on the theme; print the winning designs for the school.
9. Kindness wall: pupils add notes about kind things others have done for them.
10. Parent message: share the theme and your reporting process with families so the message continues at home.

Using posters during and after the week

Posters keep the message visible after the assemblies are over. They work best where pupils are most likely to experience or witness bullying:

• Corridors and entrance halls: A1 or A0, so the message is seen by everyone.
• Classrooms: A3 or A2, near the board or reading corner.
• Toilets and changing rooms: A4 or A3, with clear “who to tell” information.
• Playground entrances and dining halls: A2 or A1.

Our guide on how to display anti-bullying posters covers placement in more detail.

Ready-made designs for the week include our Anti-Bullying Week poster, Stop Bullying poster, Be Kind poster and Kindness Matters poster. See the full anti-bullying posters range, printed in A4 to A0.

Order dates for Odd Socks Day

These dates give you the Friday to put posters up before pupils arrive on Monday.