Secondary PSHE course

Our secondary PSHE course is interactive, creative and fun. Each session includes a mixture of discussion tasks, practical activities and drama, helping students to understand more about their own and others’ mental health.

Our PSHE materials have been designed to support teachers every step of the way. We provide training with the package, as well as intuitive guides and resources that are classroom-ready.

Aims

Although one of the core aims of this course is to support children caring for or living with a parent who has a mental health difficulty, the PSHE lessons help all students to build resilience and embed 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

The structure

Our PSHE lesson suite comprises six sessions, each lasting approximately 45-60 minutes, which can easily be extended to twelve sessions to cover a whole term. Alternatively, they can be condensed and delivered as part of a dedicated ‘PSHE day’. The course is complementary to an existing PSHE curriculum or scheme of work in school, and ensures you are noticing this hidden group of children, without targeting them.

The lessons explore:

Mental health and mental illness, including understanding how the brain functions
Common misconceptions about mental illness
Stigma
What it’s like to have a parent with a mental illness, using case studies
The portrayal of mental illness in the media, including social media
How to build resilience, including a toolkit of strategies to help young people protect their own mental health
Communicating clearly about mental health and mental illness

Cross-curricular opportunities

Our PSHE programmes have been intentionally designed to support cross-curricular and project-based learning, easily slotting into schools’ existing curriculum. This opens up exciting opportunities for staff to collaborate on their delivery of the programme, encouraging a truly ‘whole school’ approach.

The programme makes connections between a wide range of subjects, including:

English: The use of stories and case studies, which can be read individually, in small groups, or as a whole class
Literacy: A range of written activities, differentiated to support and challenge students at different levels. This includes writing for different purposes and audiences, such as to inform, entertain or persuade.
Drama: Practical activities such as freeze frames, role play and improvisation.
Art: Creative activities including drawing and designing materials for different audiences.
Science: An exploration of how the brain functions and how it can inform our thoughts, feelings and emotions.

What's included in the programme?

Training

We provide online training to walk teachers through the PSHE materials before they deliver to classes. This enables them to be confident in recognising and addressing the impact of parental mental illness on students. The training has been developed in collaboration with teachers, health professionals and young people and is carefully crafted to offer full support to school staff and students.

Teacher’s guide

Aligned to the lessons, a comprehensive teacher guide gives detailed guidance for each session, as well as hints and tips to support delivery.

Slides

A deck of illustrated PowerPoint slides is provided to support each session in the classroom. These provide students with tips, questions and discussion points, which correlate with the teacher’s guide.

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.

Animations & videos

The secondary PSHE lesson suite includes video resources that articulate the experiences of young people using a series of films and animations. There are also information videos, which provide students with explanations about mental health and mental illness.

What do students get from the course?

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
Ideas on how to become resilient when facing challenging circumstances
The ability to protect their mental health by designing a personal toolkit to help.
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

Prices

Our charges for the secondary PSHE course are based on the number of children in school.

£150 for 150 pupils or under
£250 for 150-400 pupils
£500 for 400+ pupils

MATs

If your school is part of a multi academy trust (MAT), we would be pleased to offer you a licence fee for one, two or three years for all schools included. Please contact us to discuss.