Member resources

This is a nice idea for primary back to school class bonding,  or any work on identity. It comes from @MissFMackenzie on Twitter. Pupils created their island shaped in the initial of their name.

These fabulous free resources come from the Tower Hamlets Oracy Hub and Tower Hamlets Education Partnership.

Usw these dicebreakers for a fun activity in small groups to bond a new class. Students work in groups, taking turns to roll a dice then answer a question.

This is our collection of top emotion check-ins – thirteen different ways for children to show how they are feeling at points during the day

Twenty simple exercises to help children stay calm – a collection of breathing and relaxation exercises, with instructions and video links

We at the SEAL Community have put together this progression in words for feelings.to teach - from the early years to Year 7. We hope you find it useful!

This is a useful lesson for 4-7 year olds about important relationships in their lives, baed on the lovely book the Invisibe String.

These are resources from Barnardo's ,for 1-1 work with children who have expereinced loss.

This is a self assessment tool for teachers to evaluate how well they are doing in incorporating social and emotional learning into their everyday subject curriculum and classroom environment.

 Here you will find

A booklist from the National Literacy Trust of favourite books about big changes (fiction , graphic novels, non-fiction and poetry)

This is a 45 minute to 1 hour workshop on managing exam stress and anxiety, both in terms of preparation or in the middle of a crisis. Aimed at older students who are capable of self reflection.

This is a booklet of short activities to promote wellbeing, for children (primary and secondary) to use at school or at home-  mindfulness, gratitude etc

This brilliant secondary lesson (badged as for KS4 but could be earlier) helps students explore their sense of identity .

This is a secondary lesson with a useful video on understanding emotions - how the brain works , how to respond to different emotions.

We liked this secondary Place2Be lesson about how we communicate, especially through non-verbal signals and facial expression. It will get students thinking about how they communicate online.

This is a quick, 6-item self-report assessment tool that measures children's belief they can reach their goals. It can be used with children aged 6-16.

This is a short questionnaire for primary and secondary pupils, that yields an empathy score.

Thse poems about the experience of migration and being a refugee are very useful for work on empathy and valuing difference.

This is a nice lesson from the Bounce Forward secondary curriculum.

This provides instructions and readings for a writing exercise that helps pupils see exam stress as a positive that can help them perform at their best. Could be used before GCSEs or SATs.

This is a useful resource, kindly made available by Dr Pooky Knightsmith, to help children who are anxious about school understand their feelings and move forward.

Christmas is a wonderful time for many – but if their family are struggling financially or have experienced loss, children may need some extra help navigating complex feelings about the season.

A simple board game which explores common scenarios that children may encounter in their day-to-day life at home or at school, and the resilience they may need for tackling them.

These secondary resources from Equal Rights, Equal Respect help students understand the experience of others.

These are nice Advent Calendars to use with children and staff in December- created by Young Minds

There are two lovely copiables in this primary resource- a 'hand' for children to record who they can reach out to when they need to talk, and a Reach Out Rainbow for them to colour in segments of,

These nice PowerPoint lessons from Votes for Schools get primary and secondary pupils debating the role of bystanders in bullying- Do bystanders make bullying worse?

A really useful resource for supporting children who have had a bereavement in traumatic circumstances, such as war

Here are some nice ideas based on a link to video clips from the film Turning Red, for primary work on anger and other 'huge emotions'

These are some great slide decks from Pear Deck, covering helping a new class bond and explore personal identities. Suitable for upper primary and secondary

This is a primary getting to know each other resource from the National Literacy Trust

This activity asks children to think about their hopes and dreams for the new school year ahead

This is a great tool for developing progressively more complex vocabulary for emotions, as children move up through the school,

This is an excellent resource pack for non-specialists who are supporting children and young people affected directly by war and conflict. It was created by expert Sarah Johnson

A lesson for upper primary and first year of secondary from Wolverhampton Headstart - looks at what empathy means, how to see others' perspectives, and how to use active listening to resolve confli

Excellent  resources for Y5... Powerpoint, lesson plans, photos, baseline assessment... from Leeds NHS.

Nice new secondary lessons on celebrating differences, and combatting prejudice, stereotypes and racism

We have trawled the very best of the website for the most useful lessons, assemblies and videos on relationships.

A resource pack for schools supporting children like those fleeing Ukraine who have been affected by war and conflict

Great picture books and teaching ideas

Here we have some Twinkl resources for KS1 and for KS2, and a very useful Worrying about War resource from Sarah Johnson at Phoenix Education.

Here we have a list and links for the best of the resources for Good to be me/Learning about me that we have added to the SEALwebsite to complement the original national SEAL resources.

Social Story framework to use with primary children to help them remember what they should do when they are about to ‘lose it’.

This is a nice lesson idea from Voice 21 for primary pupil, combining oracy with work on understanding and managing feelings. Childen can work in pairs on the activities...

Here we have some lovely lessons from Voice 21 to help children learn the skills of listening with empathy.

Three early years sessions based on an online reading of ‘Happy: A Children’s Book of Mindfulness’

Templates using the concept of superheroes to encourage children to explore their own super powers, qualities and talents. There are resources for ages 4-5, 5-7 and 7-11

These Australian resources are packed with 15-30 minute interactive lessons on understanding and managing feelings, valuing personal strengths, coping strategies, seeking help, assertiveness, stres

These Australian resources are packed with 15-30 minute interactive lessons on understanding and managing feelings, valuing personal strengths, coping strategies, seeking help, assertiveness, stres

Really good lesson materials for Y6, from Public Health England on wellbeing (self-care).

This set of mental health resources from the Anna Freud Centre is for  9-11 year olds . There is an animation which you will find here

Here we have:

 a lesson based on the book a Huge Bag of Worries

an anxiety thermometer from the Anna Freud Centre  - useful for 1-1 work with children

This brilliant set of resources from Young Minds gives you all you need to work with a focus group of pupils to explore pupil perceptions of school climate.

Here we have worksheets which help children set a goal, break it down into small steps and overcome obstacles along the way. With thanks to Mentally Healthy Schools.

This is a really engaging primary board game about resilience, created by the Anna Freud Centre.

This is a useful tool to help children make decisions. Teach effective use of the tool :

1. Introduce the tool as a framework for helping them make the best possible decisions – their own decisions.

2. Normalize the use of the tool for all students in your class by introducing it as a universal strategy and not a stigma.

3. Let them know that the decision matrix is versatile and can be applied to many different types of decisions—both at home and in the classroom.

• Here we have  a fantastic KS1 lesson sequence, with resources, based on the picture book Ravi’s Roar, that combines oracy with work on understanding and managing angry feelings.

In this collection we have:

• A primary assembly about connectedness from Place2Be
• A piece-of-the puzzle primary assembly about connectedness and belonging, with jigsaw piece, from Mentally Healthy Schools/Anna Freud Centre
• Two truths and a lie… eight great getting-to-know you activities for secondary and upper primary
• Y7 team building favourites
• Getting to know you activities from the PSHE Association

Here we have:

A nice resource sheet for Reception/KS1 - helping the Colour Monster fill jars by drawing or writing things that make the child feel certain emotions

Some fabulous Colour Monster self regulation tools , for primary children to use to identify how they are feeling

A simple daily emotion tracker for primary, from the Anna Freud Centre. Can be used to help children identify and scale their feelings over the course of a week, at different times of the day and in different situations. .

This is a collection of resources on the theme of confidence.

For primary we have

- A self-belief assembly

- 'Superhero me': a resource that helps children think about their strengths

- A rebuild and recover resource to use with individual children to help them reframe negative thoughts

For primary and secondary there is:

-A 'challenging unhelpful thoughts' resource, again focused on overcoming negativity

-A really useful seven-session plan for 1-1 work with students who lack confidence

Plenty of resources including assemblies, lesson plans and film resources

We absolutely love these free resources from the Tower Hamlets Oracy Hub, as they combine our passions for oracy and social and emotional learning. The lessons help children learn to talk effectively together in groups, at the same time as developing empathy and emotional awareness. There are lesson plans for each of KS1, Lower KS2 and Upper KS2, with pictures, links to videos, discussion prompts and sentence starters.

The KS1 lessons include work on friendships, loneliness and self-identity.

Here we have:

This assembly plan and lesson resources were created as part of the Mentally Healthy Schools World Mental Health Day 2020 resources, but can be used any time for work on diversity and difference. There are lesson plans for three different primary age groups.

From Place2Be we have a series of assembly and lesson resources focusing on community recovery and helping you to bring your school back together. The resources are split into four themes (self-efficacy, hope, gratitude and connectedness), with each drawing upon some of the factors that underpin emotional wellbeing and resilience.

Then there is a  five-step exercise on identity and belonging helps secondary students appreciate differences—in themselves and in their peers. It was developed by Shana White- thank you, Shana

You will really like these! Class DoJo have partnered with Yale, Stanford, and Harvard universities to create some really useful primary videos, discussion guides, and activities where students will:

• Manage powerful emotions through mindfulness

• Tackle self-talk and positive thinking

• Learn how to take on big challenges

• Explore moods and attitudes

• Discover the power of growth mindset

Find them at

https://ideas.classdojo.com/

You just need to create an account first if you haven't got one.

Devised by teachingwithmrso  (thank you!) , these are useful cards to cut out and laminate. Based on self-regulation theory, they are designed to help children identify an activity they can do to help calm themselves. By choosing a card themselves, they take responsibility for their own feelings and develop self-efficacy – the belief they can exercise control over their lives and learning

Also here is a nice template for a calm-dwn plan.

We’ve uploaded a batch of new resources to the SEAL website:

 The pick of the best COVID19 resources form Mentally Healthy Schools: a sentence starters sheet primary children can use to about feelings and hopes, an emotional check-in sheet for older children , an anxiety thermometer for 1-1 or small group work, an emotion wheel for primary children to make and use, a lovely primary Self Care Kit to send home to help children manage stress , a delightful early years/KS1 relax like a cat Relax leaflet relaxation exercise

We loved these Young Minds 'Find your feet' transition resources. They include films of young people discussing  moving on and  some great 'How to make friends hacks' with Beano . Find them here 

There is

- a nice activity for any age group on what can keep us going when things are tough

- a ‘3 good things’ primary and secondary activity on positive thinking

- a nice ’balancing act’ activity and ‘find your balance ‘ image , also focused on staying positive

- a printable worksheet, best used in small groups or 1-1 settings. Pupils must finish the sentences ‘I am, I can, I have’, to help them talk about positive features in themselves

- a secondary lesson about resilience, with film clips and emoticon counters for a snakes and ladders game

This toolkit from Mentally Healthy Schools has primary activities, lesson plans and assembly plans to help children to think about who they are as a person, recognise what they are good at, identify positive things about themselves, learn from their experiences and set goals.

One 20-30 minute activity helps encourage staff and pupils to think about their aspirations for the year ahead, especially in relation to mental health and wellbeing.

Here you will find:

Some classroom ideas for building a sense of community

Lessons in empathy: a nice primary lesson idea about welcoming a newcomer

Space Tortoise- a book to use for primary work on welcoming strangers

The Suitcase - A lovely picture book about kindness to strangers

A great primary/early secondary assembly Stop bullying with a tube of tooothpaste

Here we have uploaded 

- a primary or secondary assembly or lesson  resource (slides with teacher notes)on valuing diversity and difference,  from Tower Hamlets. Includes a fabulous slide picture asking Would you want to live in a world wher everyone looked the same?

- a set of secondary lessons (slides with notes)  to meet the Prevent duty , also from Tower Hamlets. Covers prejudice, empathy with refugees, understanding what is and isn't true.

DfE statutory guidance for relationships and health education (primary) and sex, relationships and health education (secondary) is due to come into force in September 2020. For English members we have mapped SEAL content against the content specified in the guidance.

We came across this Happiness Line Measure (HLM) and really liked it.

It’s easy to use and provides rich quantitative and qualitative information from three marks made on the same pencil-drawn line. Can be used with individuals or groups/classes.

If you are working on the theme of change, why not focus on the experiences of refuges and migrants? We've uploaded a colection of resources here. Also useful for any work on empathy, diversity and belonging.

Secondary colleagues just go here to find a fabulous presentation for parents about exam stress, http://sealcommunity.org/member-resource/fabulous-presentation and here for work with young people themselves http://sealcommunity.org/member-resource/exam-stress-lessons-and-tutor-…

There’s less about for primary children, so we’ve put these ideas together, prompted by a Year 5 grandson who wrote this comment in his maths book about a maths test ‘I crack under pressure during tests’.

Step 1 Start early

Why should adults get all the self-help books? There are also lovely reads and activities for youngsters who need some extra support to feel relaxed, mindful, grateful, inspired and happy. Have a look at this selection of 13 books to children feel more calm and mindful, at https://www.booktrust.org.uk/booklists/c/calming-mindfulness/

For secondary students, follow these links to find a couple of useful True Tube films about stress and feeling down KS3 https://www.truetube.co.uk/film/stress-bag?tab=film KS3 and 4 https://www.truetube.co.uk/film/feeling-down?tab=film

Ideas on helping older primary and secondary pupiils to understand why we sometimes use hate speech-speech which attacks a person or group on the basis of attributes such as race, religion, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, disability, or gender.

Here you'll find a moving video, a secondary PowerPoint resource created by pupils for pupils, and a bunch of nice activity ideas based on children's books.

A pack of teaching resources to support work on the book by R.J. Palacio - Wonder, adapted for younger readers as We’re All Wonders. Recently turned into a film starring Julia Roberts, it tells the story of a boy called Auggie with a facial abnormality who struggles to make friends. The simpler version confine itself to how people stare at him and say unkind things behind his back, and how that makes him feel. In the more complex original, his parents have to shield him from this by educating him at home, but now he is about to start school and dreading it.

Going up in age from early years to secondary....

At https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnrHZ_uvtxk we have Sesame Street songs and film about not giving up – good for early years Going for Goals

At https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCtZVzCT_9X55Nfj3jYEzr1deseyHRpfB is Class Dojo’s nice set of five films about Growth Mindset for primary pupils.

On this link is a fun song to learn as a class - ‘I have a go’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fq1jvIy2AE

You may not have taken part in the summer Great Get Together event to celebrate the life of Jo Cox MP, who was killed because of her beliefs. But you can still use the nice classrooom activities from the resource pack devised by the Jo Cox Foundation, which help childen learn that they have lots in common with others they may feel different from. We've uploaded the primary and secondary packs here.

You'll also like this film 'The DNA journey- we are more alike than we think'- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyaEQEmt5ls.

This lovely resource from BOND and Young Minds was written by Sam Hart, Angie Taylor and staff and pupils at Hove School.  It supports the tutor group structure and helps build relationships between tutors and students.

First watch this fabulous film about a Cambridgeshire school that had a kindness week. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2BRVWDRhdc

Then go to the website of the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation where you will find a whole set of free resources and lesson plans from the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation,  for all ages

https://www.randomactsofkindness.org/for-educators#lesson_plans

You have to register and they ask some tedious questions but it only takes 3 minutes.

If you are working with children on setting and reaching goals, you need to know about ‘mental contrasting’. Here’s how to do it- get children to :

Step 1 Write down or think about several positive aspects associated with completing your goal. For example, if they are trying to eat healthily those positive aspects could be: being able to run faster, getting your mum to stop nagging you, feeling more lively etc

Robins aren't just for Christmas. The Michael Morpurgo Coming Home story, read by the author at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RslbtKSrrns is just brilliant for helping children to explore ways of not giving up in the face of difficulties.

You can find  lesson plans to go with the story at https://www.waitrose.com/content/dam/waitrose/Christmas%202015/Midnight…

There is a nice KS2 literacy lesson plan with a dilemma activity that is perfect for SEAL, plus story mappping and exploring how the robin feels inside.

Here you will find a Reception PowerPoint about perseverance from Floreat's character programme, and then for Key Stage 1 a sheet to use for new year resolutions and wishes for children themselves and the wider community. It can be used to discuss the difference between wishes and resolutions, as well as goal setting to encourage taking responsibility for learning. Uploaded by Ann50- thank you! Also for KS1 there's a Jenga brick assembly on perseverance and resilience based on Incey Wincey Spider,

First, we think you will like Crabs versus ants versus penguins - a fun film about the power of working in a group https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jop2I5u2F3U

For empathy, we love the What is empathy lesson, uploaded below, which helps children understand what empathy means. It includes a brilliant short You Tube film, New Boy, based on a story by Roddy Boyle. Beware though – ne of the children at one point uses the word f—cking so you might need to do some clever editing.

Here we have first some new planning additions to the members’ resources area of the website. We have some Y4 medium term SEAL planning from Jo Taylor, and from Fred Daynes (thank you Fred) PowerPoints of the Y4 and 5 Getting on lessons from the national resources.

For work on friendship, for the Foundation Stage we have a PowerPoint about how to be a SuperFriend, and a set of Reception/KS1 cards for children to fill in after the class have read Tony Ross’ I want a friend (uploaded by Angela Scrivens – thank you!)

Schools in England are required to actively promote fundamental British values to their pupils, both in lessons and in extracurricular activities. The values are defined as democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, mutual respect, and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs. Under the Prevent Duty, schools must also actively protect children from the dangers of extremism.

Here's a collection of nice resources for transition.

Moving Up is a series of art-based activities which support year 6 children in their transition from primary to secondary school. This resource is designed to give teachers the tools to work with children to express and communicate their feelings about this transition through discussion, images, movements and sound. With thanks to the Serpentine Gallleries. There are four files- 0 (Discussion starters, 1 (My Alter Ego), 2 (Special skills and Super Powers) and 3 (New Beginnings).

I'm posting these resources for a very personal reason. My twin grandchildren lost their mother to cancer when they were five. They were in their first year at school. Every year issues crop up - this year around mothers' day. So this is a plea for all of you to include work on bereavement and loss in your everyday SEAL/PSHE work, even though it feels difficult.

First we have a great Science lesson on resilience and depression. The lesson, from the MindFull organisation, opens with Matthew Johnstone’s moving animation I had a black dog, his name is depression, before exploring the genetic forces at work in those who suffer from it. The lesson tackles the stigma of mental health by presenting a series of true or false statements (“Stress is a normal physical response to events that make you feel threatened” and “The only things you can be addicted to are drugs and alcohol”),followed by a class discussion.

First we've some great assemblies - one on reaching your goals, with accompanying Trip of a Lifetime slideshow , one from TrueTube for Key Stages 3 and 4 about New Year's Resolutions and making a difference through random acts of kindness, and one on achievement.

For assemblies or lessons you'll like the film playlist about dealing with failure we've found  and uploaded. 

For primary we have first an interesting powerpoint from Studenth (thank you) introducing pupils to the concept of reflective practice, through writing a review of the year and New Year's resolutions. It takes them through four common steps of reflective practice - recall, evaluation, analysis and forming an action plan. Aimed at upper KS2, this could be adapted for younger KS2 pupils. Plus there's another New Year resolution slideshow,with VCOP!

There are some great ideas for kinder classroooms in the blog we've uploaded below. Try the 'Secret Supporter' idea too - there are lesson plans  for each age group. Finally, why not hold a 'random acts of kindness' day or week in school?  To get you going, at

http://www.itv.com/news/wales/2015-05-01/meet-the-boy-making-barry-a-ha…; you'll find a nice news article and film about a boy who decided to make the world a better place through random acts of kindness.

For primary we have the Value of Friendship lesson with activities including friendship bingo and giving compliments, from avatarcrossy70 - big thanks. It comes with a WORD resource for the bingo game.

Here we have a fantastic collection of slideshows and scripts for assemblies which support the SEAL themes Getting on and falling out, and Learning to be together.  There's:

- a secondary slideshow of great quotes on friendship, with transitions designed so that it runs about the same time as Lloyd Cole and the Commotions Brand New Friend. This can be easily changed to fit other songs, such as Rembrandts theme from Friends or James Taylor’s You Gotta Friend. Uploaded by Ozsubrosa- thank you!

Here we have a nice new idea for creating a classroom charter, and a variation on the charter - a class manifesto, with a teacher's example to help children get the idea.

Here we have a great icebreaker , designed to get new groups of children to interact with one another. Additionally the icebreaker should challenge stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination amongst the class. The resource was created by Jarosik- thank you.

Then from 'oops vip' there is a truly fabulous and funny slide show for tutor time or assemblies, on how to be successful in the new school year. And a fun Room 101 getting to know you activity Powerpoint from inara14

Here is a link an animated song about changes -  about growing from a baby to a school pupil, created by Pauline Willoughby for early years

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MD8bSxZBa1o&feature=youtu.be

These lessons from The Ophelia Project in US help girls learn about 'relational aggression' -  the subtle tactics of social exclusion, spreading rumours and threats to withdraw friendship that are so common amongst girls. There are 6 lessons for each age group.

In this selection we have first Massonet's meditation - a brilliant set of slides with music on a loop, to help children learn to become calm and focus. It could be used in an assembly or lesson starter. The images and music are interspersed with snippets of information.The file must be viewed in slideshow mode to hear the music. It was created by PWilloughby – thank you!

This is a really interesting blog about how to reach goals/keep to new year resolutions. Worth sharing with older primary or secondary students.

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/habits-of-mind-agency-vicki-davis?utm_sour…

In this film actor Robin Williams talks with the two headed monster from Sesame Street about the word conflict.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gl3e-OUnavQ

This document shows how the Ofsted framework relates to PSHE  issues.

These resources help children develop empathy. For primary schools there is a link to a Sesame Street film illustrating what empathy means, a lovely lesson called Empathy in a shoe box, and a Pass the Face circle activity to help children read social cues. There's an Empathy prints cut-out for literacy or history ( contributed to TES website by Temperance - thank you): students explore how a character might be feeling by imagining they are in their shoes and fill in the shoe outlines.