Using an external provider
You do not have to bring someone into your school or organisation to run a successful Anti-Bullying Week.
Many schools have experienced staff, enthusiastic young people and existing resources that allow them to create an excellent programme themselves.
For others, an external provider can bring additional experience, creative approaches, specialist knowledge or simply the extra capacity needed to make something happen.
The important question is not whether outside support is better.
It is whether it is useful for what you are trying to achieve.
Our creative provider
AntiBullyingWeek.co.uk is an independent Anti-Bullying Week website.
For our own creative provision we work with Actionwork, which has extensive experience of creative anti-bullying work with schools and young people.
Actionwork provides workshops, performances, training, peer support work and other creative anti-bullying programmes. It can also work with schools to review and update their anti-bullying policy documents.
Actionwork is our creative provider, but it is not the only organisation doing this work.
There are many groups, theatre companies, charities, educators, facilitators and other organisations offering workshops, performances and creative activities around bullying and related issues.
We encourage schools to look at what is available, ask questions and choose the provider that best fits their young people, aims and circumstances.
What might an external provider bring?
A good external provider may bring:
A different voice Young people sometimes respond differently to someone who is not part of their everyday school environment. Specialist experience A provider may have worked with bullying, relationships, peer support, theatre, film, creative education or other relevant areas over many years. Creative approaches Workshops, performances and participatory activities can allow young people to explore difficult issues in ways that are very different from ordinary classroom work.
Extra capacity Anti-Bullying Week often arrives during an already busy school term. An external provider can take responsibility for delivering particular parts of the programme. A fresh perspective Someone from outside the organisation may notice questions or possibilities that people working within it have not considered. Support beyond the event Some providers can also offer staff training, peer support development, policy review, resources or longer term anti-bullying work.
What should you consider?
Bringing in an external provider also requires thought. There will usually be a financial cost. Quality and experience vary considerably. An activity that works brilliantly in one school may not suit another. A one off workshop or performance should not be expected to solve bullying.
Outside providers also need to understand your setting, your young people and what you hope to achieve. Most importantly, bringing in someone from outside does not transfer responsibility for safeguarding or responding to bullying away from the school or organisation.
Before you book
It can be useful to ask:
- What experience do you have of working with bullying and young people?
- Who will actually deliver the activity?
- What will young people do, rather than simply watch or listen to?
- Can the activity be adapted for our age group and setting?
- How will you include young people with different needs and abilities?
- How do you deal with sensitive material and possible disclosures?
- What do you expect school staff to do during the activity?
- How does the work connect with what happens before and afterwards?
- Can you provide references, examples of previous work or independent feedback?
- What exactly is included in the cost?
You may also want to check relevant safeguarding arrangements, insurance, professional experience and any appropriate checks for the people who will be working with your students. Discuss accessibility and additional needs before the visit rather than assuming that an activity will work equally well for everyone without adaptation. Make sure you understand practical arrangements, costs and cancellation terms before confirming a booking.
Tell them what you need
Do not be afraid to talk to a provider before booking. Tell them about your school or organisation. Explain what you have already been doing. Share what you hope Anti-Bullying Week will achieve. Ask whether their programme can respond to your priorities rather than simply delivering the same activity everywhere. A good provider should be willing to have that conversation.
How does the activity fit into the week?
Try not to think of an external workshop or performance as the Anti-Bullying Week programme. It is one part of it.
Think about what students know before the activity. How will you prepare them? What will happen immediately afterwards? Will teachers continue the discussion? Can ideas raised in a workshop feed into lessons, assemblies, creative work or changes within the school? And what might still be happening several months later?
The value of an outside provider can be much greater when their contribution connects with the wider work of the school.
The question to keep asking
Whether you organise everything yourselves or bring in outside help:
What will this add to the anti-bullying work we are already doing?
That may be a more useful question than simply asking what you can book for Anti-Bullying Week.