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20 September 2017
By Rebecca Avery

Rise Above: Resources for School from Public Health England #esafety

Today's young people are facing increasingly complex lives, and are experiencing many pressures that can harm their physical and mental wellbeing and affect their educational attainment. Access to social media and the internet is now a part of young people's everyday lives; it can improve communication and allow children and young people to express themselves. However living life through the prism of social media, can distort perceptions of personal appearance and social acceptance, and for some, can pose risks to health and wellbeing.

It's vital that young people learn how to confront these challenges and feel supported in doing so. Public Health England (PHE), the Government's national public health agency, have created a new set of resources, the Rise Above programme, to help young people build resilience and cope with the challenges life throws at them.

PHE recognises the important role that schools play in supporting and guiding young people to make positive choices around challenging issues. They've developed a set of lesson plans to support teachers of 11-16 year olds in delivering PSHE classes. The lesson plans have been developed in conjunction with the PSHE Association and are designed to help teachers engage young people on a variety of key issues, including: cyberbullying, body image in the digital world, online stress and fear of missing out (FOMO). Further lesson plans will become available later this academic year. Each lesson plan includes:

  • learning objectives, outcomes, and key vocabulary
  • links to the PSHE Association Programme of Study
  • a resource list and preparation tips
  • a selection of starter activities to help teachers carry out an initial baseline assessment of students' prior knowledge, skills, and understanding to track and evaluate their progress during the lesson
  • interactive main and plenary activities, featuring:
    • Rise Above's interactive and role-play videos
    • many opportunities for peer-to-peer work
    • suggested key questions to ask students
  • time allocated to enable students to use the Rise Above website independently, allowing them to explore issues they may not feel comfortable discussing with the whole class
  • extension activity ideas

To download the resources, access the Rise Above campaign here.