Primary PSHE programme

Our primary PSHE programmes are fun, interactive and creative. Each session includes a mixture of discussion tasks, practical activities and games, helping students to understand more about their own and others’ mental health. The topics are introduced in a sensitive and age-appropriate manner through the use of fictional characters, while also supporting basic literacy and comprehension skills.

Our PSHE programmes have been designed to support teachers every step of the way. We provide training with every package, as well as intuitive guides and resources that are classroom-ready. But, if you need the programme delivered by us, our expert tutors are available to run the programme on PSHE days.

Aims

Although one of the core aims of this programme is to support children caring for or living with a parent who has a mental health difficulty, the PSHE programme helps all students to build resilience and embeds mental health awareness in the school culture.

“The Our Time project has enabled staff and children to identify how mental health presents itself and how we can support anyone going through difficult times.”

– Barbara Sims, Head Teacher, Kaizen Primary School

The structure

There are two versions of the programme, for Years 1-3 and Years 4-6, both of which cater for a wide range of abilities and needs. Each comprises six sessions (lasting approximately 45 minutes), which can easily be extended to 12 sessions to cover a whole term or alternatively, can be condensed and delivered as part of a dedicated ‘PSHE day’.

Each of the Primary programmes is tailored to meet the specific needs of each age group:

Years 1-3 (Key Stage 1)

Age-appropriate, accessible language
Emphasis on building emotional literacy
Learning through play
Use of stories and animations to communicate complex ideas

Years 4-6 (Key stage 2)

More mature, challenging concepts, introducing students to different aspects of mental health and mental illness
Understanding more about the brain and the mind
More complex literacy tasks (the most challenging of which are suitable for preparing students for SATs)
Adapted story for older age group, with more sophisticated vocabulary and complex thought
More advanced tasks which challenge common myths about mental illness

What's included in the programme?

Training

We provide flexible training for school staff that can be completed online, delivered face-to-face, as a live online workshop or a combination of all three. Our PSHE programmes enable school staff to build confidence in recognising and addressing the impact of parental mental illness on students and support them through a whole school approach. The training has been developed in collaboration with teachers, health professionals and young people, carefully crafted to offer full support to school staff and students.

Teacher’s guide

The PSHE programme includes a comprehensive teacher guide, with detailed guidance for each session, as well as hints and tips to support the delivery of the programme.

Slides

Both PSHE programmes include a selection of colourful, illustrated slides to accompany each session. These provide students with tips, questions and discussion points, which correlate with the teacher’s guide.

‘Zara, Leon and the Grey Cloud’

The beautifully illustrated story ‘Zara, Leon and the Grey Cloud’ is threaded through the whole programme, and sensitively explores the challenges faced by children who live with a parent who has a mental health difficulty. The story also provides a safe way for young people who have direct personal experience of this issue to understand how to build their resilience and access support.

Classroom resources

We know what a difference engaging resources make to students’ learning, so we’ve created a whole range of worksheets, templates and quizzes that are clearly labelled and ready to go.

Animation

What is mental illness? How does it affect people? What can you do to protect your own mental well-being? This fantastic animation, included in the PSHE programme, helps to get a conversation started with a child about what mental illness is, how people are affected by it, and what they can do to look after themselves.

What do students get from the programme?

A greater understanding of how the mind and brain works, with practical advice on how to take care of this, their greatest asset
A deeper understanding of their own thoughts, feelings and emotions and how to express these in a healthy way
Resilience when facing challenging circumstances
The ability to protect their mental health by designing a personal toolkit
Increased compassion and empathy for their peers
An understanding of how best to seek support and offer support to others
An opportunity to create a whole school mental health awareness campaign using their new-found knowledge