Exploring Friendship with Poetry: Using ‘If’ for Anti-Bullying Week 2025🤝✨

Book your school on today- we are going to be writing and performing our very own anti-bullying poetry!

Anti-Bullying Week happens in schools across England and Wales each November. This year’s theme is Power for Good, taking place from 10th – 14th November 2025.

Poetry is a brilliant way to tackle this delicate subject in a way that children can understand, enjoy and take ownership of. For this reason, I’ve chosen one of my poems called If to share with your class.

The poem (inspired by Rudyard Kipling’s classic If) is a light-hearted yet thoughtful look at friendship in school and provides an excellent scaffold for children to create their own versions. For further inspiration, you might also want to dip into Best of Enemies, Best of Friends, a collection compiled by Brian Moses (Wayland), which includes many poems that KS2 pupils will find relevant and relatable.

👉 In my Poetry Days in primary schools across the UK I work hard to get the children excited about writing and performing their own poems. I visit over 100 schools every year and I’d love to work with your children and teachers.

📅 You can book me for:

In-person Poetry Days across the UK
Online Poetry Workshops (affordable and flexible)

➡ Secure your date here: Poets in Schools – Ian Bland

Step 1 – Read and Explore the Poem 📖

Read If aloud to your class once or twice and then discuss how it works. Some guiding questions might be:

Where does the poem rhyme?
How does the rhythm keep the poem moving?
What effect does the repetition of “If” have on the reader?
What sort of tone do you think the poem has — playful, serious, or both?

👉 For tips on teaching rhythm and rhyme, see my blog Teaching Rhyme and Rhythm in KS2 Made Easy.

👉 Kindness Poems

Step 2 – Writing a Class Version ✍️

Once the children have explored the structure, they can start to create their own versions using the If/When pattern.

Class brainstorm: Discuss together what it means to be a good friend. Make a list of ideas — listening, sharing, sticking up for others, including people, cheering someone up.
Model writing: As a class, write a couple of lines together in the same style, showing how the If/When frame works.

👉 Download: ‘If’ Poem Writing Framework

👉 Download: ‘If’ Poem For Anti Bullying Week

Independent writing: Challenge each child (or pair) to create their own friendship poem. They can choose whether to keep it humorous or give it a more serious, heartfelt tone.

Remind them that rhyme can be used, but it isn’t compulsory — the most important thing is to get the message across clearly.

👉 Need more ideas for structured starters? Try my Quick & Easy Poetry Starters for KS2.

👉 Friendship Acrostic Poem Writing Framework

👉 Friendship Cinquain Poem Writing Framework

👉Friendship Haiku Poem Writing Framework

👉 Friendship Mesostic Poem Writing Framework

👉 FriendshipTelestich Poem Writing Framework

Step 3 – Fun Extension Activities 🎭🎨

Friendship Freeze Frames: In groups, children create freeze-frame drama scenes based on one of their lines (e.g. standing up to a bully, inviting someone to join in). Other groups can guess the friendship value being shown.
Friendship Posters: Ask children to illustrate their favourite If line and turn it into a poster for Anti-Bullying Week displays.
Poetry X Factor: Host a performance session where children read their poems aloud — with props, instruments, or costumes to add flair!
Class Anthology: Collect the children’s poems into a “Friendship Book of If” to display in the classroom or library.
Group Poem: Give each group a different “If” starter line to finish. When put together, these create a collaborative class poem about friendship.
Music & ICT: Record children performing their poems with background music or sound effects. Share the finished piece in assembly or with parents.
Letter to a Friend: Turn the poem into a short letter or pledge children could give to a friend during Anti-Bullying Week.

👉 For more collaborative performance ideas, see Performance Poetry in Primary Schools.

🤝 Friendship Poems KS2

Valentine’s Poems KS2

Sharing and Celebrating 🌟

If your children create interesting versions of my poem If, I’d love to see them! Please send them to me at ianbland@ianbland.com, and I’ll share some of the best examples on my website and social media.

👉 You can also explore more poems perfect for performance in my blog Poems for KS2 Children to Learn and Perform.

Final Thought 💡

Anti-Bullying Week is about celebrating kindness, respect and the power we all have to make a difference. Writing friendship poems using If allows children to think deeply about what it means to be a good friend — and to express those ideas in a fun, creative and memorable way.

Happy poetry writing, and have a great Anti-Bullying Week!

👉 In my Poetry Days in primary schools across the UK I work hard to get the children excited about writing and performing their own poems. I visit over 100 schools every year and I’d love to work with your children and teachers.

📅 You can book me for: