The mental health lessons are designed to be delivered to pupils aged 11-14, aiming to improve their mental health literacy and help-seeking.
Each lesson has a pre-prepared lesson plan and PowerPoint slides, with an adaptable structure to meet different timetable schedules.
The Peer Education Project (PEP) was originally designed with five core lessons, with pupils building their mental health understanding each week. The PEP mental health awareness lessons include:
- Mental health and the mental health spectrum
- The risk and protective factors to mental health
- The 5 ways to wellbeing or The 8 tips for good mental health
- Creating a mental health and wellbeing toolkit
- Building a network of support
We would advise lessons to be delivered in this order to best support pupils in their learning.
PEP has since developed additional mental health lessons on the following topics to support pupils in their mental health learning:
- Body Image: How we think and feel about our bodies
- Healthy relationships: Developing healthy relationships with ourselves
- Healthy relationships: Developing healthy relationships with our peers
- Loneliness: Finding our connections to feel less lonely
- Sleep: Finding our confidence with sleep
- Kindness: Why kindness matters
- Nature: Connecting with nature and the world around us
Mental health awareness lessons
Each lesson has a pre-prepared lesson plan and PowerPoint slides, included in the downloads below.
Mental health and the mental health spectrum
This lesson introduces the concept of mental health and the mental health spectrum.
It explores how mental health can change over time, and in response to different factors and experiences.
The risk and protective factors to mental health
This lesson explores the risk and protective factors to mental health, at individual, social, and environmental levels.
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The 5 ways to wellbeing
This lesson uses the 5 ways to wellbeing to explore how to protect and improving mental health and wellbeing.
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The 8 tips for good mental health
This lesson uses the 8 tips for good mental health to explore how to protect and improving mental health and wellbeing.
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Creating a mental health and wellbeing toolkit
This lesson explores how pupils can support themselves when they are not feeling at their best, both in the moment and if they continue to feel not at their best.
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Building a network of support
This lesson explores the importance of relationships to mental health. It highlights how our experiences and the interactions with others, begin to build our support network, which will be individual to each person.
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Additional mental health lessons
Each lesson has a pre-prepared lesson plan and PowerPoint slides, included in the downloads below.
Body image: How we think and feel about our bodies
This lesson explores what body image is, what can affect body image and the ways to develop a good body image to support mental health and wellbeing.
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Developing healthy relationships with ourselves
This lesson highlights the importance of building and maintaining connections with ourselves.
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Developing healthy relationships with our peers
This lesson explores the key factors that make our relationships with our peers healthy.
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Loneliness: Finding our connections to feel less lonely
This lesson explores what loneliness is, and the ways to support ourselves, and others, when feeling lonely.
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Sleep: Finding our confidence with sleep
This lesson explores what sleep is and how to develop good sleep hygiene.
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Kindness: Why kindness matters
This lesson explores what kindness is, the different ways it can be shown, and how kindness can benefit our own and others’ mental health and wellbeing.
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Nature: Connecting with nature and the world around us
This lesson explores how connecting with nature can be good for our mental health and wellbeing.
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Supporting resources
Collection of ice-breaker activities
Each lesson uses an ice-breaker to build connections between the pupils, and to begin introducing the topic of the lesson.
Collection of mindfulness activities
Mindfulness activities are practised at the start and end of each lesson, providing moments of self-reflection, and preparing the mind and body for the lesson content.
How to deliver the lessons
The mental health lessons have been designed to be as flexible as possible to meet the individual needs of each school and differing mental health literacy levels of pupils.
PEP is modelled on older pupils known as Peer Educators, aged 15 and upwards, delivering the lessons to younger pupils, aged 11-14. However, if this is not possible for your school, the lessons can be delivered by staff. Each lesson has a pre-prepared lesson plan and PowerPoint slides, ready for you to pick up and deliver.
Guidance for Peer Educators
The Peer Educator handbook
This handbook provides Peer Educators with an overview of the project and their role and responsibilities.
Lesson delivery reflection sheet
Peer Educators are encouraged to build in time for reflection following each lesson delivered. This reflection sheet is designed to support with this reflection.
Peer Educator - Bingley GrammarDoing PEP in forms was extremely helpful as these people will be in the same form together for the next few years, therefore should feel comfortable enough with discussing mental health and looking out for one another.
Peer Educator - The Douay Martyrs Catholic Secondary SchoolFrom start to finish, I have noticed a dramatic increase in the year 7s' understanding of the topics we covered, and they all admitted they felt more comfortable discussing mental health afterwards.
Peer Educator - St Edmund’s SchoolThe activities and lessons are catered to their age and tastes unlike a usual lesson where it is usually one dimensional. By confronting assumptions and perceptions on mental health, PEP targets the core questions and evolves a lesson plan around them.