POSITIVE NOTICING DAY 2025

We are very much looking forward to this year’s Positive Noticing Day, which will be taking place on Wednesday 12th November. You can of course mark it on another date that week, that month, or whenever best suits you. Whatever works best for your setting is completely fine.

Importantly, positive noticing is a year-round approach. It’s simple to do and, importantly, it works. You will see more of the behaviours that you want to see and will build deeper relations with your learners. Why stop with your learners? Your colleagues (and those in your home life) will also benefit from being noticed for the right reasons!

positive noticing in action

For the last few years, Positive Noticing Day has been celebrated by hundreds of schools, colleges and other educational settings. It has helped to bring about improvements in their learning culture, their peer-to-peer relationships and the sense of community throughout the year. Many have made positive noticing a regular thing and have embedded it within their setting.

Last year, we had a big push towards our communities and getting our home adults involved too. We saw positive noticing go beyond learners, to staff, home adults and even pets! Please share your Positive Noticing with us online by tagging @PaulDixTweets

the power of the positive

Positive noticing is simple, practical and highly effective. It is an everyday relational strategy, any time, any place.

Catching children doing the right thing and marking it with positive acknowledgement is not just kindness, it teaches behaviour. You get more of the behaviour that you notice most.

The impact of positive noticing is both immediate and long-lasting. It helps build self-esteem and confidence in children and shifts the culture in the classroom so that the right behaviour is always the most sought-after behaviour.

HOW CAN MY Setting GET INVOLVED?

The idea is that every learner leaves school/college on Positive Noticing Day with a positive label tied to their bag/wrist/blazer/hair (they can of course choose to keep the positive label private and not display it).
You can make labels using our templates or buy them at a Post Office/ stationary shop or by searching ‘brown luggage labels’ on Amazon.
Talk to learners about positive noticing - what it is and why it matters. You can watch the briefing on the resources page for some ideas. It is really important that you set them up properly so that it is a serious reflective moment in the day. We don’t want positive labels being used for negative comments.
Make sure that every learner has a label. Ask every learner to positively notice the person next to them/their partner. Ask learners to share their labels once they have been written. You could do this in tutor/form/pastoral time, as a large group in assembly or as a 10-minute break in teaching.
Make sure every learner leaves with a label.

Would you like to get involved this year? Register for Positive Noticing Day 2025 by emailing Tania@WhenTheAdultsChange.com Nearer the time we will send you more information and details of our virtual briefings and events.