* Stephen Twigg, the junior education minister, has asked pupils to wear blue wristbands to show their determination to beat bullying and support victims.

* The Government has launched an anti-bullying assemblies pack, compiled from interviews with pupils in London schools.

* Celebrities, including Sharon Osbourne, the X Factor judge, footballer Rio Ferdinand, and singer Natasha Bedingfield are reading lines from a poem written by a bullying victim, in a new video to be screened on national TV.

* Education lawyers based at the Children’s Legal Centre, at Essex university, have published a booklet on the complaints procedures which are open to parents of bullied children, including advice on taking a case to court.

* The charity Mencap has drawn attention to the need to tackle the bullying of children with learning disabilities, who are often seen as “easy targets”.

* Jigsaw, a disability theatre group, has produced a DVD tackling issues around bullying through drama, accompanied by an explanatory teachers’

pack.