Break the Silence: Teacher Handbook

Lesson at a glance

Years 7 to 9 | 60 minutes | Resources: slides, one worksheet per pupil, sticky notes, an anonymous question box, scenario cards A to D printed from slide 9.

Before the lesson

• Tell your DSL when you are teaching it, and check for pupils who are currently being bullied or have recently disclosed. Consider speaking to them beforehand and giving them the choice of how they take part.
• Add the names and photos of trusted adults, and your school's anonymous reporting route, to slide 11.
• Know your school's anti-bullying and safeguarding procedures, and how to log a concern.
• Set up the question box and tell pupils you will answer questions next lesson.

Timings

Answers

Four keys: Repeated, Intentional, Hurtful, Power imbalance.

Slide answer order

Bullying or not: 1 not bullying (unless asked to stop), 2 bullying, 3 not bullying, 4 bullying, 5 bullying, 6 bullying (full reasoning on slide 6).

Common barriers pupils raise, with silence breakers to draw out: fear of making it worse (adults agree the plan with the child); being called a grass (anonymous routes, upstander culture); not being believed (staff take every report seriously and record it); thinking it is banter (clear definition); losing their phone (reassure them reporting will not automatically mean losing it); bad experience before (feed back to every child who reports).

Safeguarding

• Use distancing: keep to the fictional scenarios and do not invite personal stories in front of the class.
• If a pupil discloses, listen, do not promise secrecy, record their words and pass it to the DSL the same day, following your school's procedures. See our guide on how to respond when a child discloses abuse.
• Bullying involving significant harm, violence, sexual behaviour, nude or semi-nude images, self-harm or a protected characteristic must go to the DSL. KCSIE 2026 treats bullying as a form of child-on-child abuse.
• End the lesson by reminding everyone where to get help, and make yourself available afterwards.
• Check the question box for anything that suggests a pupil is at risk and pass it to the DSL.

Differentiation and SEND

• Provide the definition with symbols or visual cues for the four keys.
• Offer sentence starters for the barrier wall: "People might stay quiet because..." "It would be easier to speak up if..."
• Allow pupils to complete the speak-up plan with a teaching assistant or as a drawing.
• Pupils with SEND are more likely to be bullied and can find it harder to report. Make sure they know a specific adult and route they can use.
• Stretch: ask pupils to write a short "you said, we did" proposal for the school council on one change that would help pupils speak up.

KS2 adaptation (Years 5 and 6)

• Use slides 1 to 4 with the simpler definition: bullying is when someone hurts you on purpose, again and again, and it is hard to make them stop.
• Use scenarios 2, 3, 4 and 6 only and do the sort as a class.
• Replace the barrier wall with a class discussion: "Why might someone not tell a grown-up?"
• Use scenarios B and D only for the carousel.
• Complete a simplified plan: "Three grown-ups I can tell" and "What I could say".

Curriculum links

• England: statutory Relationships Education, RSE and Health Education (respectful relationships, online relationships, being safe, mental wellbeing). Supports your duty under section 89 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006.
• Wales: Curriculum for Wales Health and Well-being Area, and the RSE Code.
• Northern Ireland: Personal Development and Mutual Understanding. Supports the Addressing Bullying in Schools Act (NI) 2016.

Assessment and follow-up

• Use the quiz as an exit ticket.
• Review the My Break the Silence plans to check every pupil can name at least one trusted adult.
• On Friday 20 November, share a "you said, we did" response to issues raised during the week.
• Consider a short anonymous pupil survey on confidence in reporting, repeated later in the year.
• For online bullying, follow up with the Cyberbullying lesson pack.