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The history of bullying research is summarised and the KiVa bullying prevention programme described. KiVa is a whole-school programme with universal and indicated actions for children aged 7 to 15 years in the Finnish comprehensive school system. It was developed at Turku University, Finland, by social psychologist Christina Salmivalli and colleagues. It has demonstrated significant benefits in a large-scale randomised controlled trial and a subsequent roll-out of the programme to 90 per cent of schools in the Finnish comprehensive system (www.kivakoulu.fi/). KiVa is based on research showing the important role played by bystanders in the bullying process. The universal and indicated actions within the programme are described. The universal actions consist of class lessons, whole school actions and a parent website. Evidence from the Finnish trials is summarised. The paper describes the introduction of the programme to the UK in 2012 and the results from the first, psychologist led, UK pilot trial of the programme are reported. Seventeen schools participated in the trial of Unit 2, at the time the only material available in English (for children aged 9 to 11 years), and delivered KiVa lessons to year 5 and/or year 6 pupils. Children completed the online KiVa survey prior to programme commencement and at the end of the school year. Significant reductions were reported in bullying and victimisation. Teachers reported high levels of pupil acceptance and engagement with lessons. The paper concludes with reflections on the role that educational and other applied psychologists can play in further disseminating this programme.
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