Stress This resource is about stress and coping strategies. Some stress can be good because it can actually encourage and motivate you to work harder. When you get too much stress it can make you feel overwhelmed. Finding a balance is key to managing stress. Stress bucket The bucket is a metaphor for the body and the water is a metaphor for stress and coping strategies. This resource will lead the child through making a stress bucket and learning how to use it. Levels of stress Depending on the person, the level of water in the bucket may already be high due to past experiences. Stress entering the body isn’t necessarily filling up an empty bucket. It is adding to what is already there. Every day stressors can soon overflow the bucket. There are always people and children who blow up over the slightest thing and this is probably because their stress is quite high all of the time. Turning on the tap Turning the tap on is a metaphor for letting out the stress and the best way to do this is through coping strategies. Coping strategies can be anything that the calms the person down from ‘calming breathing’ to ‘having a run’. It might also be things they enjoy doing, something that makes them feel happy. It can be individual to the person on what works for them. What relieves their stress? Included in the pack Stress scales. These could be used as bookmarks and taken away. A4 poster that could be stuck to the wall as a reminder 24 additional supporting worksheets An A4 bucket and pocket – pupils can put their stress INTO the bucket by using the pocket Cloud and water for the craft Different sizes of water droplets Information sheets including examples of stressors, de-stressing ideas, physical body signs, and how it affects emotions and behaviour

This FRIENDSHIP intervention planning resource pack is ready to go. Just print and deliver! This pack is suitable for WHOLE CLASS as well as group work. If there are teachers out there who have children who just don’t get along then try running this as an intervention during PSHE time. Each lesson will take approximately 40 minutes to an hour. It is perfect for an ELSA or teaching assistant who has to work with a group of children with friendship issues. Included in this pack: FRIENDS certificates (children colour in a letter after each lesson and take them away at the end of the intervention). 7 planning sessions which could be done over several weeks. 40 positive friendship cards The Key to deserving good friends worksheet Five posters looking at skills for empathy. Skills for empathy bookmarks for the children to take away A ‘Friend’ venn worksheet. Heart friends template How to apologise bookmark for the children to take away after the lesson.

The intervention Who is if for? This Anxiety and Worries Group intervention is for a group of up to six children and is led by a teaching assistant. The focus age range would be 7 to 11, although older pupils would probably benefit from this intervention. Children who worry a lot would be a good focus group for this intervention. It runs for approximately 40-60 minutes, weekly for six weeks. What does it cover? This Anxiety and Worries Group intervention covers emotions, relaxation, calming down techniques and learning objectives around anxiety and worries. Children will learn about emotions during each session and will also learn relaxation and calming techniques through the ‘relaxation time’. This knowledge and these skills will help them to become more emotionally literate. The warm-up games teach a variety of skills such as co-operation, team work, taking turns, communication skills, friendship, self-esteem and confidence. The coming together of a group fosters a sense of belonging and therefore raises self-esteem. Every opportunity should be taken to promote belonging and friendship. Relaxation exercises will help children to manage their anxiety and these are visited each session. Information on Anxieties and worries It is important to mention that anxiety is such a big problem and affects people in different ways and at different things. Sometimes there appears to be no reason for the anxiety. This intervention is about giving children the knowledge to help themselves and to gain a little understanding about what anxiety is. It is NOT about fixing children’s problems but about supporting them through their problems. Anxiety work needs to be done by professionals who have training in counselling or psychology. An ELSA or TA can offer knowledge and support and it is important that this line is not crossed and boundaries are clear. By giving children the self-awareness, knowledge and some relaxation skills you are empowering them to help themselves cope. If you are ever worried about a child then please do refer them on to professional services so they can get the help they need. What’s included in the pack? A planning booklet with 6 session plans. Circle time rules Warm up games for circle-time Assessments Emotion wheels Emotion wordmat Certificates Five Star Breathing poster NEEDS to know Poster Emotion cards NEEDS to know cards Anxiety physical symptoms cards Where in your body worksheet Anxiety cards Coping strategies poster Worry tree Thought bubbles (ants) Changing those thoughts worksheet Zap anxiety poster My Five a day plan ELSA/Teaching Assistant notes

This intervention is written for a group of four pupils and is led by an ELSA or teaching assistant. It covers emotions, relaxation and lessons around worries. It runs for approximately 40 minutes. This intervention is aimed at 5 to 7 year olds. This intervention follows this structure Welcome and emotional register– welcome the pupils to the group, go over the circle time rules and talk about how they feel today. Activity – this is where the pupils work on the learning objective. Relaxation/Mindfulness – pupils are more ready to go back to class if they are relaxed and calm. This also teaches them valuable coping/relaxation skills. Review of the session – pupils talk about their learning experience. There are lots of resources in this pack and LOTS of visuals to help children to understand. Lesson objectives Lesson 1 – I can tell you what a worried face looks like Lesson 2 – I can understand how worries can make my body feel uncomfortable Lesson 3 – I can tell you if my worry is a BIG or a SMALL worry Lesson 4 – I can understand how my thoughts can make me feel uncomfortable Lesson 5 – I know some ways to calm myself down Lesson 6 – I can park my worries and make a plan

There are 40 brightly coloured cards showing ways to be a good friend. Perfect for KS1 and Lower KS2. Use these as discussion or teaching points on how to be a good friend.

This is a shyness resource pack requested by one of you lovely ELSAs. It is aimed at KS2 upwards. This resource pack is to help children who want to be more confident and brave. They want to overcome their shyness because they are perhaps missing out on things in life. Being braver and less socially awkward may help them have more friends, face their fears and open up new opportunities. There are a whole range of emotions that can come from being shy such as nervousness, anxiety, fear, panic, and embarrassment. Children need to be able to deal with these emotions with coping strategies. Included in the pack: One of our TAB booklets in colour and black and white 3 worksheets in colour and black and white Learning objectives you could use for this pack: To understand what being shy means To identify body signs for feeling shy To understand that other emotions might be triggered by being shy To set a small achievable target for overcoming being shy To be able to scale a situation on the shyness scale To identify thoughts linked to shyness and reframe them To identify and use coping strategies for shyness To understand feelings after overcoming shyness

This is a HUGE ELSA Secondary worksheet bundle with 68 worksheets that will be helpful for secondary pupils. It will also be good for upper KS2 or for those more mature pupils. It will also be helpful for adults too. All the worksheets are black and white for easy and cost effective printing. There is minimal clipart. Areas covered are: Self-esteem Emotions Wellbeing Anxiety They can be used individually with pupils, with groups of pupils and whole classes of pupils. Build your lesson around a worksheet. You could make up a workbook for each child you are working with to help with their specific problems by carefully choosing worksheets that would help them.

This resource will help children understand the basics of CBT. Our thoughts affect our feelings, our feelings affect our behaviour or actions and those behaviours or actions reinforce our thoughts. Included in the pack: A poster to display as a reminder A 24 page workbook Flash cards of thoughts. feelings and actions Credit card sized cards to take way from sessions as a reminder

This bundle of posters and worksheets will help you explore physical signs of 10 different emotions with your pupils. I have included a learning objective to go with each worksheet. The pack contains the following: 10 Posters covering the emotions/feelings of Worried, happy, sad, angry, irritated, surprised, disgusted, embarrassed, tired and scared. 10 Worksheets covering their signs and sensations 10 Worksheets covering their physical appearance when feeling an emotion 10 Worksheets concentrating on different areas of the body for them to colour 8 Worksheets for coping skills.

This Rise and Thrive Teen self-esteem intervention is suitable for pupils in secondary. It may also be useful for mature year 6 pupils. It is a group intervention for approximately 6 pupils. It could be run whole class too. Self-esteem refers to how a person views and values themselves. It involves having a positive opinion about your own worth, abilities, and qualities. When someone has healthy self-esteem, they feel confident, capable, and deserving of love and respect. Self-esteem is important because it influences how you perceive yourself, how you interact with others, how you handle challenges in life and your mental wellbeing. An estimate of timings would be: Review last time and check in 10 minutes Activity 30 minutes Review 5 minutes Next time 5 minutes Make sure you have 50 minutes to an hour to run the intervention. There are six sessions to this intervention which will all help to raise self-esteem. Boosters and drainers – pupils will explore what boosts self-esteem and what drains self-esteem Strengths and talents -pupils will explore their strengths and talents Challenging negative self-talk – pupils will learn how to reframe their negative dialogue Building resilience – pupils will explore how to build their resilience by facing challenges and setbacks Healthy and unhealthy relationships – pupils will explore relationships Impact of self-care – pupils will learn the importance of self-care and the impact that has on self-esteem Included in the Rise and Thrive teen self-esteem intervention: Planning booklet with 6 fully planned sessions Self-esteem scale for scaling at the beginning and end of the intervention Lesson 1 – 36 Booster and drainer cards, Booster and drainer worksheet, emotions and self esteem visual Lesson 2 – 40 strength cards, Building my strengths worksheet Lesson 3 – Inner dialogue list for prompting, Challenging my inner dialogue worksheet Lesson 4 – Resilience diary – front cover and one sheet to be copied multiple times Lesson 5 – 8 prompts cards for relationships, Profile of a healthy relationship worksheet Lesson 6 – Self care plan worksheet

This is a set of emotional development ELSA Session Plans for pupils to learn about new Emotional vocabulary. These plans are useful for KS2 upwards. They could possibly used for Year 2 with extra support. Included in the pack is a 18 page file with 5 sessions, some of them can be repeated with different emotions. All the supporting paper resources are included too. The sessions are split into: Learning objective What you need Activity Challenge and further work I think these plans will be useful for new ELSAs and those who just don’t have time allocated for planning. Pupils being able to identify and say how they are feeling can massively reduce the emotion they are feeling. Pupils emotional development is key to good Emotional literacy.

Suggested benefits include: Concentration and attention span – it is so easy to get completely engrossed in your design Thinking skills – thinking what pattern to do next, what will look good! Mindfulness – a sense of mindfulness and being completed absorbed in the activity Relaxation – a true sense of relaxation as you are only thinking about your patterns Hand eye co-ordination – speaks for itself, try it! Self-esteem – creating something beautiful that looks amazing! Stress relief – if you feel stressed give it a go. You will be amazed Self soothing – it is such a soothing activity and if you feel upset or anxious it will make you feel better Ok to make mistakes – your mistakes can be incorporated into your design Problem solving – how can you incorporate your mistakes into your design? Fine motor skills – making those tiny patterns Nurturing creative abilities – allowing everyone to be creative Expanding your imagination – let your imagination go and just create! Creative expression – allows you to create your own design and express yourself Great fun! Simple to learn – each stroke of the pen or pencil is simple No planned outcome – you don’t know yet how your design will end up. Included in the pack: 35 shapes all sectioned off 32 of those shapes all blank for pupils to section off 26 Letters of the alphabet sectioned off 26 Letters of the alphabet left blank for pupil to section off

This resource is ideal for working one to one with a child. The red light is the negative emotion such as anger, frustration, fear, worry, sad and upset. The green light is the positive emotion such as happy, chilled, content, ok, calm, and confident. The amber/yellow light is all the things the child can do to help get from the red light to the green light. These are the tools. Make sure you go through the resource with the child and decide which ‘tools’ they need to use or try. Print and laminate this resource, Cut out the cards and keep in a little zip folder, Use either velcro or blu tak to stick the cards onto the base board. If you need the cards to be bigger just print all of it onto A3 paper and laminate.

Transition to another school or class – My idea for this is that this can be built with a child, combining lessons and creativity and craft. Each component can be a lesson or part of a lesson. It is something for the child to take away at the end of your sessions. You could easily fill 4 to 6 lessons with what is in this lapbook. There are two versions, one in black and white so the child can colour the lettering etc and one in colour where they can just cut and stick. There are two alternative back covers which you can choose to add to the lapbook. One is a game about ‘Changes’ and the other is a weekly feelings diary. Of course you could add one of those to the back cover and just use the other separately. This resource could be a fantastic end of term project for a Year 6 teacher. The children will love all the little pockets and will be making something to be proud of. Included in the transition lapbook is: Name – child writes their name in a colourful way – they could write in bubble writing or decorate it anyway they wish. Picture– either take a photo of the child to stick here or ask them to draw themselves. Front cover title – Moving on My new school or new class worries – What sort of things are they worried about? Use the little monster writing sheets for children to write down their worries to put in the little pocket. Discuss these at each session and help to reassure the child about the changes that will happen when they move class or school. Questions about my new school or class – This is a perfect opportunity to answer all those questions about the new school or class. My autograph and message book – Let them collect autographs and messages from friends to take on with them to the next school or class. My goals and targets – This is a little layered book. The child has to come up with a target for the rest of the term, a target for the summer holidays and a target for the new school or class. All about me tag book – Lots of questions to answer in this little tag book. Treasure chest – Includes concertina books with some prompts but also includes a blank so you can ask different questions. The treasure box could contain anything that the child wants to keep safe. They could pop some little photos in there too. A letter to my future self – What do they hope for in the future? How can they see themselves when they are in the next class or in their new school. What will they be doing? What will they have achieved? Will they have new friends? A letter could also be written telling their future self of what they are doing now, any of their concerns or worries etc. Friends – The child can write their friend’s name and finish the image to look like their friend. All their friends can fit into the little pocket. Changes game (back cover) Feelings diary (alternative back cover)

A free self esteem poster for teens and young people.

This feel the feels worksheet set contains a worksheet for 20 different feelings/emotions. Suitable for Key stage 2, 3 and 4.

Pupils will learn about what is a kind thing to do and what is an unkind thing to do. Ideas Sort a selection of cards between ‘kind’ or ‘unkind’ (Template 1) ‘The kindest thing I ever did’ – comic strip. Ask the pupils to think about a time when they did something very kind. They can draw a comic strip of what happened. (Template 2) Use the cards as a prompt for circle time. Each child to decide whether they think the statement is kind or unkind. Prompt them to give a reason why. ‘10 kind things I can do’ –Pupils can create a list of 10 things they could do to be kind. (Template 3) ‘Kindness Challenge’ – a simple diary entry each day, listing acts of kindness. (Template 4) Play a simple board game. Stack the cards where indicated. Use a counter to move around the board. Use a die to roll a number. Move that number of places. If they land on a thumbs up (Smiley face) or thumbs down (Sad face) they pick a card. If they land on a thumbs up and pick a card that is kind then they keep the card. If they land on a thumbs down and the card is unkind then they keep the card. If they land on a thumbs up and the card is unkind then it has to go back onto the pile of cards. The person who collects the most cards is the winner. Two boards are included for the game to suit younger and older children.

Included in the Thankful Tree pack is *Giant tree with sky background *72 leaves with vocabulary *Banner *Black and white leaves for writing *Leaves in a variety of shapes and colours for display. The tree is in PDF format and if you use Adobe to open it, then you can choose any size you like and piece together the pieces. I have included one in the Thankful Tree pack that is ready to print on A4 pieces. This will promote a positive attitude and help increase happiness. Gratefulness or thankfulness is a fabulous habit to get into and helps to change that mindset.

This gratitude jar will help children look for the positives in their lives. Gratitude according to Positive psychology is strongly linked to being happy. I have done lots of jar activities but think that gratitude is such an important one so deserves its own post. This resources has a jar with and without lines. It also has a long list of suggestions/prompts to encourage children to reflect on things they are grateful or thankful for. The jar without lines can be decorated with pictures, photographs and words. Make it colourful. It could also be used each day and the child adds just one thing for that day they are grateful or thankful for. Of course you could make an actual jar with a lovely label and ask the child to fill it each day with things they are grateful for.

This is an anger scale poster or visual for display or for showing pupils who struggle with anger. It could also be put up in classrooms or work areas.