Start and Ready Talks

This session focuses on breaking down potential barriers with the class and introduce the trainer and class to one another. This is an important session as due to the topic area of mental health being sensitive and stigmatising, the aim of this session is to open up a constructive and non-judgemental dialogue and create a foundation for the programme to facilitate a rapport and destigmatise this topic.

The pupils will also be introduced to the “Start Talks Journal”, this journal will be utilised throughout the programme. Pupils will be asked to complete activities in this journal in each session, the idea here is that after the programme has ended pupils will still have access to resources and can reference this in the future for help. The activities include: a stress bucket poster and coping strategies bingo.

The topic of emotions comprises of 6 sessions, the aims of these sessions is to teach children a variety of emotions and how to recognise these in themselves and also have an awareness of others. These sessions have been created due to the feedback received from carers, parents and teachers who have recognised a limitation in the recognition of emotions in the younger years.

The sessions include:

• Happy
• Sad
• Angry
• Worry
• Embarrassed
• Activity Session (This is an overview of the topic)

The topic of the brain comprises of six sessions, the aims of these sessions is to teach children a basic understanding of our thinking brain and our feeling brain and how this can effect ourselves, others and how we communicate with one another. These sessions have been created due to the feedback received from carers, parents and teachers who have recognised a limitation of communication skills in the younger years.

The sessions include:

• The Brain House. The Brain House has an upstairs and a downstairs, some stairs to connect them and a roof on the top. Different people live on different floors because they have different jobs. This is a very simplified way to introduce the functions of the neocortex (our thinking brain – the upstairs), and the limbic system (our feeling brain – the downstairs).
• Let’s meet upstairs. This is a very simplified way to introduce the functions of the neocortex (our thinking brain – the upstairs).
• Let’s meet downstairs. This is a very simplified way to introduce the functions of the limbic system (our feeling brain – the downstairs) and what effects this can have on us.
• Flipping the lid. Our brains work best when the upstairs and the downstairs work together. This sessions explains what happens when we get overwhelmed with the use of characters.
• Looking after the brain
• Activity session (this is an overview of the topic)

The last two sessions of the programme will be delivered in the summer term at the end of the academic year. These sessions will be created in response to the feedback received from teachers throughout the year in the evaluation process, due to this being a pilot there is an element of flexibility at this stage and it is important that we get the programme right. These last two sessions will cover areas that teachers would like more focus on or will be a session that will comprise of elements off all the sessions together.

This session focuses on breaking down potential barriers with the class and introduce the trainer and class to one another. This is an important session as due to the topic area of mental health being sensitive and stigmatising, the aim of this session is to open up a constructive and non-judgemental dialogue and create a foundation for the programme to facilitate a rapport and destigmatise this topic.

The pupils will also be introduced to the “Ready Talks Journal”, this journal will be utilised throughout the programme. Pupils will be asked to complete activities in this journal in each session, the idea here is that after the programme has ended pupils will still have access to resources and can reference this in the future for help.

At the end of each session throughout the programme the children will be introduced to a concept called the “Magic box”. This is a mechanism to introduce a number of practical skills of coping and resilience throughout the programme. The aim here is that although some methods of coping may be suitable for some children such as mindfulness, it may not be as effective for others. By introducing a different methods at the end of each session which will be placed in the magic box, there will be something appropriate for each child. The magic box will remain in the classroom throughout the duration of the programme, teachers are encouraged to allow pupils to look in the magic box and use a skill of coping and resilience if they are having difficulty throughout the year. Again normalising these skills aims to destigmatise mental health and also have a positive impact on it, which will assist in the aims of this programme.

The topic of emotions comprises of three sessions, the aims of these sessions is to teach children a variety of emotions, how to recognise these in themselves, have an awareness of others and also to understand the difference between emotions and mental health conditions. These sessions have been created due to the feedback received from carers, parents and teachers who have recognised a limitation in the understanding of the difference between mental health and emotions in the older year group.

The sessions include:

• Worry and Anxiety
• Sadness and Depression
• Anger and frustration 

The topic of The Brain introduces pupils to a very basic understanding of the functions of the brain and how what we do in our day to day life can affect the way it functions. The aim is to educate children to make a conscious decision that can positively affect the brain and to understand how to look after it and the importance of doing so. We want pupils to understand how to help brain health similarly to how we would our body with a good diet and exercise.

The sessions include:

• That Brain – what is it?
• Stress and the brain
• Looking after our brain

The topic of awareness and communication looks at the fundamentals of cognitive behavioural therapy and aims to give pupils an insight into what they think, feel and the actions that they take and how this can impact their communications skills and awareness of others. We understand from speaking with parents, carers and teachers that following on from the pandemic pupil’s skills of awareness and communication is not as developed as would be typically seen in previous years.     

The sessions include:

• What we and others think
• What we and others feel
• How we and others act

The topic of risk taking behaviour explores issues that have been raised by schools, parents and carers. Typically there is a trend emerging of risk taking behaviours taking place, occurring in year 5 and 6 which traditionally would have been observed in high school aged children. This is an area of concern for many and from a prevention point of view it is important to discuss these topics at an early age to stop progression of these behaviours further.

The sessions include:

• Social media
• Gaming and screen use
• Drugs

The last 3 sessions of the programme will be delivered in the summer term at the end of the academic year. These sessions will be created in response to the feedback received from teachers throughout the year in the evaluation process, due to this being a pilot there is an element of flexibility at this stage and it is important that we get the programme right. These last three sessions will cover areas that teachers would like more focus on or will be a session that will comprise of elements off all the sessions together.