Anti-Bullying

Welcome to our KiVA (Anti Bullying) page!

In September 2017 Leighton Academy became a KiVa school. KiVa is a valuable aspect of our PD curriculum as it is an innovative school-based anti-bullying program which has been developed using cutting-edge research on bullying and its mechanisms.

Prevention, intervention, and monitoring.

KiVa is an evidence-based program to prevent bullying and to tackle the cases of bullying effectively. The former is crucial but also the latter is important, as no prevention efforts will make bullying disappear once and for all; there need to be tools to be utilized when a case of bullying comes to light. The third aspect of KiVa is constant monitoring of the situation in one’s school and the changes taking place over time; this is enabled by the online tools included in KiVa. These tools produce annual feedback for each school about their implementation of the program as well as the outcomes obtained. 

The main components of KiVa

KiVa includes both universal and indicated actions. The universal actions, such as the KiVa curriculum (student lessons and online games), are directed at all students and focus mainly on preventing bullying. The indicated actions are to be used when a bullying case has emerged. They are targeted specifically to the children and adolescents who have been involved in bullying as perpetrators or victims, as well as to several classmates who are challenged to support the victim; the aim is to put an end to bullying.

KiVa is based on decades of research on bullying and its mechanisms. KiVa was developed at the University of Turku in Finland, with funding from the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture. Its developers are experts who have been studying the phenomenon of bullying and its mechanisms for decades. The team is led by PhD, Professor Christina Salmivalli and PhD, Special Researcher Elisa Poskiparta.

Strong evidence of effectiveness

There are numerous anti-bullying programs on the market but unfortunately, only few of them have been tested in rigorous scientific studies. This means that there is no evidence of whether or not the programs actually help in reducing bullying in schools.

The effects of the KiVa anti-bullying program have been evaluated in numerous studies. In addition to the studies based on the data collect­ed and analysed by our KiVa research group, also independent data collected by National Institute for Health and Welfare indicates that bullying and victimization have decreased in Finland since the broad rollout of the KiVa program. KiVa is now being evaluated in several countries: the first international studies from the Netherlands, Estonia, Italy, and Wales are emerging, showing that KiVa is effective outside of Finland as well.

What does KiVa look like at Leighton Academy?

KiVa is targeted at various age groups, with Unit 1 being taught across Lower Key Stage 2 due to it being designed for 6-9 year old children, with Unit 2 being taught across Upper Key Stage 2 due to it being designed for children of 10-12 years of age.

To promote KiVa outside of the classroom, children in years 5 and 6 are invited to apply to become a KiVa Ambassador. When the ambassadors are selected, they then spend half a day completing training with Mrs Thompson, Miss Frodsham & Mrs Allen. Following this, the KiVa Ambassadors are given specific duties to support other pupils during playtimes and lunchtimes.