Mental Wellbeing (Secondary)

Curriculum content:

1. How to talk about their emotions accurately and sensitively, using appropriate
vocabulary.
2. The benefits and importance of physical activity, sleep, time outdoors, community
participation and volunteering or acts of kindness for mental wellbeing and happiness.
3. That happiness is linked to being connected to others. Pupils should be supported to
understand what makes them feel happy and what makes them feel unhappy, while
recognising that loneliness can be for most people an inevitable part of life at times
and is not something of which to be ashamed.
4. That worrying and feeling down are normal, can affect everyone at different times and
are not in themselves a sign of a mental health condition, and that managing those
feelings can be helped by seeing them as normal.
5. Characteristics of common types of mental ill health (e.g. anxiety and depression),
including carefully-presented factual information about the prevalence and
characteristics of more serious mental health conditions. This should not be discussed
in a way that encourages normal feelings to be labelled as mental health conditions.
6. How to critically evaluate which activities will contribute to their overall wellbeing.
7. Understanding how to overcome anxiety or other barriers to participating in fun,
enjoyable or rewarding activities – that it’s possible to overcome those barriers using
coping strategies, and that finding the courage to participate in activities which initially
feel challenging may decrease anxiety over time rather than increasing it.
8. That gambling can lead to serious mental health harms, including anxiety, depression,
and suicide, and that some gambling products are more likely to cause these harms
than others.
9. That the co-occurrence of alcohol/drug use and poor mental health is common and
that the relationship is bi-directional: mental health problems can increase the risk of
alcohol/drug use, and alcohol/drug use can trigger mental health problems or
exacerbate existing ones. That stopping smoking can improve people’s mental health
and decrease anxiety.

• Wellbeing for Life A complete mental health curriculum for secondary schools from the PSHE Association (membership required)
• Change, loss and grief PSHE Association KS3-4 lessons on managing feelings and supporting others who are grieving (membership required)
• The sleep factor (KS1-5) PSHE Association lessons for KS3-5 on the impact of good quality sleep (membership required)
• BReal: Building stress resilience in early adolescents’ lives Three free lessons for Y7-9: Born to be brave; Learning from mistakes; Changing our stress response.
• Key Stage Four RSHE Resource – Emotional wellbeing and the media | BBFC These PSHE education lessons use the context of films and the BBFC’s film classification to explore decision-making, the affects of film on wellbeing and representation of mental health in film. They have been designed to help students to acquire the knowledge, understanding and skills they need to manage their viewing, and equip them to choose what is right for them and avoid what is not.
• Physical and mental wellbeing – KS3 and KS4 lesson plan | Physical and mental wellbeing | Campaign Resource Centre Focused on the link between physical and mental wellbeing, describing strategies and supporting others with their physical and mental wellbeing.
• Unhelpful thoughts – School Zone | Mental wellbeing | Campaign Resource Centre Focused on identifying unhelpful thoughts and exploring different ways of challenging unhelpful thoughts and where to seek support.
• Building connections – KS3 and KS4 lesson plan – School Zone | Building connections | Campaign Resource Centre Focused on what loneliness and connection mean, giving advice to a lonely person and evaluating different actions that can build connections.
• The worry tree – KS3 and KS4 activities – School Zone | Worry | Campaign Resource Centre Focused on identifying the signs of worry, ways of managing worry and where to seek support.
• Social media – KS3 and KS4 lesson plan – School Zone | Social media | Campaign Resource Centre Focused on exploring strategies to improve wellbeing (including how to use social media responsibly) and the importance of balance in online/offline activities.
• Sleep – KS3 and KS4 lesson plan – School Zone | Sleep | Campaign Resource Centre Focused on what happens when we sleep, the benefits of good sleep and strategies to promote good quality sleep and where to seek support.
• Dealing with change lesson plan pack – School Zone | Dealing with change | Campaign Resource Centre Focused on identifying expected and unexpected changes, the impact that change can have, managing change and seeking support.
• Exam stress lesson plan pack – School Zone | Exam stress | Campaign Resource Centre Focused on identifying signs of exam stress in themselves and others, who to ask for advice and where to look for guidance, selecting and using strategies to manage stress.
• Every Mind Matters top tips – School Zone | Mental wellbeing | Campaign Resource Centre