Secondary PSHE programme

Our secondary PSHE programme is fun, interactive and creative. 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 programme has 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. But, if you would like 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

The structure

The PSHE programme 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 programme explores:

Mental health and mental illness, including understanding how the brain functions
Case studies
Stigma and how to support others
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
Quizzes challenging common myths 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 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 programme enables school staff to build confidence in recognising and addressing the impact of parental mental illness on students and supports them through a whole school approach. This 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

The programme includes a deck of illustrated PowerPoint slides 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 programme includes a suite of 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 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 to help them
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