Pupils at Lewes Old Grammar Junior School kicked off national anti-bullying week this week with dazzling displays of odd-sockery.

The children were showing their support for a campaign organised by the NSPCC-backed group of charities the Anti Bullying Alliance, which seeks to highlight the dangers that bullying can lead to.

The week has come to be heralded on the first day by schoolchildren across the country wearing odd socks and contributing £1 to support the alliance’s work.

The alliance recently surveyed 2,000 11 to 16-year olds about their experience of bullying in the last six months and discovered that 34% of children in England reported that they had been a victim, with an increase in online bullying. According to the alliance, some 38% of children were also anxious about returning to school in September after lockdown.

Martha Evans, director of the Anti Bullying Alliance, said: “This year anti-bullying week is all about coming together. We wanted to show children and adults alike that we all have a part to play and we can really make a difference if we unite against bullying.”

This year’s theme of uniting against bullying was arrived at after the alliance consulted with 300 children who said they wanted to project a positive message of unity after everything that the country has gone through together in 2020.

Lewes Old Grammar Junior School headteacher Carrie Whyte added: “The odd socks theme works so well because it encourages children to celebrate the fact that we are all different. Our pupils watched a virtual assembly on this and then took a pledge to be united against bullying. Each class created a charter stating the steps they promise to take including looking out for isolated pupils in the playground, never joining in when others are laughing at people and making sure their friends know they can talk to them when unhappy.”