Girls from Year 8 and 9 launched the WGS programme for Anti-bullying Week activities in Assembly on Tuesday. Through roleplay, they enacted scenarios around different kinds of bullying and the meaning of friendship. The actors wore odd socks to promote Odd Socks Day later in the week, explaining that the idea is to celebrate that every individual is unique, yet we are also all humans. Similarly, the socks look different – but they are all socks.

The Assembly also focused on the theme ‘Change Starts with Us’ and explored techniques to avoid conflict and confrontation as well as strategies to change behaviours to improve relationships and promote wellbeing in our school and wider communities.

All through this week and for the remainder of this term, girls in Years 7 to 11 will be considering issues such as prejudice, racism and age-discrimination in their PSHCE lessons. Pupils in Years 7 and 8 have undertaken an Anti-Bullying ‘escape room’ task, solving six anti-bullying puzzles requiring them to develop their understanding of verbal, physical, mental, social and cyber-bullying.

Head of PSHCE Mrs Johnston said: “I have been delighted with the positivity and enthusiasm shown for this year’s Anti-Bullying Week and the girls came up with some truly individual and original odd-sock combinations today.”

In the Junior School, Odd Socks and Children in Need fundraising were combined! The girls held a bake sale and made Pudsey headbands for Children in Need, but also wore odd socks to fundraise for the Anti-Bullying Alliance. Everyone had a lot of fun but didn’t forget the importance of the causes of helping others less fortunate than themselves and – for anti-bullying –  the power of kindness.

In addition, Julie in the Catering Department made 260 Pudsey cookies, which sold out in very short order!