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7-10 wellbeing sessions

Being active

Overview

  • Suitable for: Years 7-10
  • Session overview: Exploring good posture and stretches students can use when they've had a lot of screen-time.

Steps

  1. Watch Screen time stretches (3:42).
  2. Pause the video when prompted and follow the instructions to do the stretches as shown. These can be done sitting comfortably in a chair or standing.

Overview

  • Suitable for: Years 7-10
  • Session overview: Every day we have a variety of tasks that we must think about, organise and do. The tasks might be things we are familiar with or things that are completely new. At times it can seem like we have so many tasks we have to do we might say “I’m juggling a lot right now”.
  • Materials: Three small balls for example tennis balls or hacky sacks. Even socks would work.  

Steps

When we are trying to juggle a lot of things, and especially if they are important, difficult or time consuming things that feel like they all need to be done at once, we might start feeling some tricky emotions like frustration, pressure and being overwhelmed.  

  1. When this happens, it can help to think about the situation like juggling. You need to start with one ball. Once you’ve got one ball going and you are confident, you can add in a second, or third and so on.  
  2. Sometimes in life you need to juggle less balls so you can focus fully on one particular task. Once you have completed that task, you can add something else back in. 
  3. If someone feels like they are juggling too much or a specific task might seem tricky- it’s the perfect opportunity to reach out and ask for some helpful support.  
  4. In this wellbeing session you’re going to take time to focus on one task; teaching yourself how to juggle!  
  5. Start by watching the video Juggling (7:05) to learn how.  
  6. Once you’ve given it a go, there are some questions to reflect on how you went and how juggling balls can relate to juggling things in life.  
  7. There are also some suggestions on how you can help yourself or a friend when you, or they, are finding it hard to juggle everything going on.  

Overview

  • Suitable for: Years 7-10
  • Materials: Water bottle

Steps

  1. In today’s wellbeing session we will be engaging in a real time 20 minute workout! 
  2. There are 10 exercises that you will repeat twice. Each exercise you will do for one minute at a time.  
  3. Feel free to pause the video and have a break at any time that you need to. You may also want to watch the exercise first to learn the correct technique before trying it yourself.  
  4.  Let’s begin! Watch the workout video (20:52)

Maintaining connections

Overview

  • Suitable for: Years 7-12
  • Session overview: How to identify behaviours and emotions of concern in a friend and feel confident in helping them seek support.
  • Materials needed: pen and paper.

Steps

  1. View this picture and answer the following questions in your workbook.
  • Describe what you can see in the picture.
  • What behaviours concern you about the people in the picture? Why?
  • How may these people be feeling? List at least 3 emotions and why you think this is.
  1. View the headspace resource: How to help a friend. Read the information.
  2. Imagine the person in the image you viewed before is your friend. Using your newfound knowledge, complete the following sentences:
  • One thing I could say...
  • One thing I could do is...
  • My friend might need...
  • One person I could connect my friend to...
  • One place I could connect my friend with...

Reflection: what are the 3 key messages you took away from this wellbeing session?

Overview

  • Suitable for: Years 7-8
  • Session overview: In this session we will look at why friendships are so important to us and explore the qualities of a good friend.
  • Materials needed: Workbook, pen and How to be a good friend PDF

Steps

  1. Start by watching the video What makes a good friend? (5:41)
  2. There are some questions that you will be asked to reflect on and activities for you to complete. When you are prompted, pause the video and think about these questions or do these activities.
  3. Begin by reflecting on a movie you have recently watched and the relationships that you saw between people in this movie. This will help you to start thinking more about what a good friendship looks like.
  4. In your workbook write down your ideas about these questions
    • What do you think are qualities of a good friend
    • What traits do your friends have that are most important to you?
    • What makes you a good friend to others?
    • What qualities could I work on to become an even better friend?
  5. You’ll also come up with some practical strategies that you can use that will help develop your friendship skills.
  6. You might want to look at the PDF How to be a good friend for ideas about some of the key qualities in a good friendship.

Overview

  • Suitable for: Years 7-8
  • Session overview: Talking to friends and family might be hard if it seems there is not much to talk about these days. In this session we'll have a go at some fun challenges for you and your friends.
  •  Materials needed: empty plastic bottle, pen, timer.

Steps

  1. Collect materials.
  2. Have a go at both challenges. You can start by practising by yourself.
  3. When you're ready, contact and challenge a friend or family member! This can be done virtually (e.g. via FaceTime or Zoom). 
  4. You can also make up your own 'win it in a minute' challenge games.
  5. When you're finished, make sure you organise a time for your next challenge games session.

Challenge 1: Bottle head squats

You will need: an empty plastic bottle and a timer.

  • Start by placing the bottle on your head. You will need to keep it balanced. 
  • You are not allowed to touch the bottle with your hands. 
  • When the bottle is stable bend your legs so you do a full squat (imagine you are trying to sit on a chair). 
  • Stand back up and straighten your knees 
  • One squat (without the bottle falling) = one point.
  • Set a timer for one minute. 
  • When the timer starts count how many squats you can do with the bottle balanced on your head.  
  • If the bottle falls during the minute, replace it and keep going for the time left. 
  • Record your score. 
  • Compare notes with your the person you challenged. How many points did you each get? What was easy/hard about this challenge? How could you make this challenge harder?

Challenge 2: Foot pick up

You will need: a pen and a timer. 

  • You will need to be barefoot for this activity.
  • Put a pen on the floor.
  • Using only your foot, pick up the pen.
  • Once your foot has picked the pen off the ground, grab the pen with your hand and raise it above your head.
  • Drop the pen on the floor, ready to go again.
  • Each time you complete this = one point.
  • Set a timer for one minute.
  • See how many times you can pick the pen up with your foot and raise it above your head.
  • Record your score.
  • Compare notes with your the person you challenged. How many points did you each get? What was easy/hard about this challenge? How could you make this challenge harder?

Managing change

Overview

  • Suitable for: Years 7-10
  • Session overview: Do you ever feel uncertain about things that are happening in your life? This session will help you to think about why we can find uncertainty difficult to manage and give you the chance to learn about strategies that will help you manage uncertainties that you are likely to experience in the near future.
  • Materials needed: Workbook and pen

Steps

  1. Start by watching the video Dealing with uncertainty (4:19)
  2. When prompted, scan the QR code to watch the clip Coping with uncertainty (1:30) that will provide you with 6 different strategies that can be useful for managing uncertain situations.
  3. Once the video has finished there are 5 different activities for you to complete in your workbook. These activities will allow you to explore a bit more about what you have learned and practice being able to apply the strategies to an uncertain situation that you think you are likely to face in the future.  

Overview

  • Suitable for: Years 7 and 8
  • Session overview: In this wellbeing session you will learn about different coping strategies and have an opportunity to develop strategies you can add to your resilience toolkit to help you manage problems and difficulties you might face now and in the future.   
  • Materials needed: pen and paper

Steps

  1. Watch the video How are you coping (12:33). When prompted pause the video and complete the activities
    • to reflect on different coping strategies and how helpful they are 
    • to practice using different coping strategies 

Overview

  • Suitable for: Years 7-10
  • Session overview: Using information from Reach Out, students will learn about creating the best plan to be successful during home-based learning, and trouble -shooting when things don’t go to plan.
  • Materials needed: pen and paper

Steps

  1. Watch Keeping up, being successful (3:12)
  2. Create a plan for the day.

Overview

  • Suitable for: Years 9 and 10
  • Session overview: Have you heard anyone say to you ‘be optimistic’ and thought how, or what, does that mean? Optimism is about being hopeful and confident about the future.
  • Materials needed: workbook and pen

Steps

  1. So what type of mindset do you have? Is it fixed or are you open to the world around you and are wanting to grow?  
  2. Complete the mindset quiz on ReachOut to find out more about your mindset. 
  3. When you have finished the quiz respond to these 4 questions about your mindset. 
    1. What was your mindset? 
    2. How does your mindset affect your relationships? 
    3. How does your mindset affect you at school? 
    4. What ideas, if any, about mindset could you re-consider or change? 
  4. People with a growth mindset are typically more optimistic than people with a fixed mindset. Changing the perspective we look at life through can have enormous benefits to our happiness and wellbeing.  
  5. Read the information on the Optimism PDF (2.7MB), along with information on Optimism on the Bite Back website and answer the following questions. 
    1. Outline the benefits of optimism. 
    2. How can optimism be built up? 
  6. Think of a time recently in your life where you had a negative experience.  
    • What happened? 
    • What emotions did you feel in the moment?  
    • What did you say to yourself at the time? 
    • What did you do after? 
    • What emotions do you feel now thinking back on this experience? 
    • Now try to reframe that situation to make it a positive one. 
    • What happened? 
    • What emotions do you feel now? 
    • Are you willing to face a similar situation again? 
    • How could it end differently? 
  7. Using this type of questioning and reframing can make any situation positive. This allows us to grow from it. Having a positive mindset will open ourselves up to challenges that are present in our lives and be hopeful and confident in facing them head on, which will increase our chances of having a positive outcome.  

Overview

  • Suitable for: Years 7-10
  • Session overview: We all know that part of looking after our mobile phone is making sure that it is regularly recharged. How much we use our phone and what we use it for will affect its battery level and determine how often it needs to be charged.  
  • The same goes for looking after ourselves! So we need to learn to keep an eye on our “battery level” and make sure we take the time to do things each day to recharge.
  • Materials needed: Workbook and pen

Steps

  1. Look at the image Recharge your battery and how this image relates to looking after ourselves. 
  2. Start by writing down the types of situations, events or experiences that can quickly drain your battery. Examples could be constant changes to your routine, conflict or unexpected events. 
  3. In your workbook write down ways you can monitor your phone’s battery level and know when the charge is low. 
  4. Now think about ways you can learn to notice that your battery level is low. In your workbook list signs you might notice that your battery is being drained in terms of
    • your physical health 
    • your mood 
    • your “head noise” (what it feels like and sounds like in your head)  
    • your relationships 
  5. Think about whether you find all these signs easy to notice or whether some are easier to notice than others. 
  6. Now it's time to think about what things help you to recharge your battery. Make a list of things that you do each day to recharge. If you can, share these things with others in your class to hear about the different ways that people are able to recharge themselves. 
  7. Using the ideas you have heard or looking at some of the suggestions on the headspace website, write down 2-3 new ways you want to start trying to help you recharge. 

Extension 

Discuss with others ideas for what someone could do if they are finding it hard to recharge or they feel that their battery is draining really quickly all the time. Include ideas about who you could talk with and where you could go for help if needed. 

Reaching out

Overview

  • Suitable for: Years 9-12
  • Session overview: This wellbeing session will give you a chance to explore Yarn Safe - the first youth led national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health campaign of its kind. The campaign shares the message to young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people that headspace is there to help. It also reminds people that when we've got a lot going on we can feel sad, tired, stressed and angry and this is totally normal, but when these feelings go on for a long time it can weaken our body, mind and spirit.  
  • Yarn Safe wants to remind us that when we have a lot going on there’s no shame in talking it out as this can help clear your head
  • Materials needed: Workbook or paper and a pen

Steps

  1. Watch Got a lot going on? Yarn Safe (8:33) to learn more about Yarn Safe and complete the activities in the video to explore the Yarn Safe website.
  2. You will be prompted to choose 2 topics from the Yarn Safe website: Mental Health and Wellbeing, Stress and Pressure, Relationships, Alcohol and Drugs and answer some questions about the topics you chose to explore.  
  3. You will also be prompted to watch some other videos on the Yarn Safe site and think about how some young Aboriginal and Torres Strait people handled things when they had a lot going on. Knowing the different people and things around us that support us can be really helpful if we're going through something tough.

Overview

  • Suitable for: Years 7-10
  • Session overview: Knowing the different people and things around us that support us can be really helpful if we're going through something tough.
  • Materials needed: Workbook or piece of paper, 3 coloured textas, Pen or pencil andna ruler

Steps

  1. Watch Knowing my supports (3:41)
  2. Knowing the different people and things around us that support us can be really helpful if we're going through something tough.
  3. In this activity you are going to create a ‘support grid’ which shows the different supports around you, whether they be people, activities or services available online. These can be different for different people.
  4. First up draw up a grid by dividing the page into nine even boxes either by folding the page in three columns and then into three rows, or by using your ruler.
  5. Now add some people - in three square write the names of three people in your life who support you. These could be family, friends, teachers, coaches, or a boss from a part time job.
  6. Underneath each of their names write a brief description about how the person supports you and what makes them a great support for you.
  7. In another three boxes identify 3 things you do to support your mental health eg play sport, go to a counsellor, do different hobbies like crafts or participate in different groups at school. As you did with the people, add a short description of each one provides you with support.
  8. In the last 3 boxes write 3 online or phone support services that you think you could use if needed, along with a description of what that service provides.
  9. Keep this grid handy just in case in the future you need it for yourself or a friend.

Overview

  • Suitable for: Years 7-12
  • Session overview: Schools are large places and there are a lot of staff.  This might mean you find yourself asking questions like 'How can I find someone to talk to', 'Who is available' and 'Will they want to talk to me'?

Steps

  1. It can be challenging or confusing to decide who is the best person to speak to if you have a question or need help.  
  2. So have a look at the video on the student wellbeing site called ‘Who can I talk to at my school’.  
  3. Once you’ve watched the video, answer these questions in your workbook 
    • What staff roles were mentioned in the video?  
    • Does my school also have these roles? Do we have other roles where the people are there to help? 
    • Name all the people in these roles at my school and where they are they located in the school. 
    • If you can’t remember their names, or are unsure how could you find this information? 
    • What might young people like to talk to these people about? 
    • Which of these people do I have a connection with and would feel comfortable talking to if I needed? 
    • Is there anyone else in the school that I could reach out to? Where could I find them? 

School and study support

Overview

  • Suitable for: Years 9-10
  • Session overview: This session you will help you learn about motivation, reflect on what motivates you and work on ways to sustain your motivation to do and be your best.
  • Materials: Device, paper and pen.

 Steps

  1. Watch the video Staying motivated  (7:54) 
  2. When prompted pause the video to think about the questions posed or to complete the activities provided. 
  3. Try and name 3 rewards that you could introduce and sustain daily to enhance your motivation. 
  4. Answer the following questions on a piece of paper
    • Why is learning important to you? 
    • Think about one task you did not want to complete this week but you did. How did that feel? 
    • How are you feeling right now? If you are not feeling motivated, what can you do to improve that?

Overview

  • Suitable for: Years 7-12
  • Session overview: Not sure which study method is best for you? This session will help you understand more about your learning style and provide you with some different strategies to best study for your exams. 

Steps

  1. Watch the Study tips video (3:41). When prompted, view the video Discover your learning style (3:31) on YouTube.
  2. Think about your learning style and answer these questions:
  • What type of learner are you?
  • What works best for you when you're studying?
  • What strategies could you try next time you study?

 

Looking for more study tips and ideas?

Check out the exam tips in the Stay Healthy HSC resource hub.

Self care

Overview

  • Suitable for: Years 7-8
  • Session overview: Looking for something to do after you finish learning for the day or during the holidays? This activity is about having some fun, looking after yourself and staying connected.  
  • Materials: Paper and pen.

Steps

Your task is to create a calendar of fun activities, one for each day of the month. 

  1. Watch the videos Calendar of fun - Part 1 (10:57) and Calendar of fun - Part 2 (4:57) to get some great ideas.
  2. Think about some activities you would like to try. If you're not sure where to start, check out an example calendar of fun (PDF 112KB).
  3. Use the Calendar of fun template (DOCX 24KB) to create your own calendar of fun activities. 
  4. Start using your calendar of fun each day and tick off an activity once completed.
  5. You can also share your calendar with your friends. Talk about the activities you tried and what you thought of them.

Overview

  • Suitable for: Years 9-10
  • Session overview: As humans, we are really good at taking notice of our physical health, but sometimes we’re not so good at checking in on our mental health and wellbeing. Let’s take 20 minutes to do a quick check-in quiz and then an activity to care for our wellbeing
  • Materials: workbook and pen.

Steps

Complete the ReachOut Checking in with yourself quiz. As you do the quiz, note down your responses to questions about:

  • how you are feeling
  • how you are dealing with stress
  • how motivated you feel
  • how regularly you are doing hobbies you enjoy
  • how connected you feel to family and friends
  • how you feel about the future

Next, answer these questions:

  • If you are feeling stressed or anxious, tired or flat, what are some of the things that might be making you feel this way? 
  • If you are feeling good, what are the things that are keeping your spirits high? 
  • If you are feeling disconnected from your friends, how might you reconnect? 
  • If you are feeling overconnected (often due to increased screen time) what are some ways you could manage this? 
What next?
  • At the end of the quiz you will see some recommendations on what you could do to help look after yourself. Take 10-15 minutes to complete one of these activities. 
  • Check out the ideas on Ways to chill for cheap for more suggestions. Keep in mind that if you are in lockdown, some may take a little forward planning and some may need to be modified.
  • If you’re feeling up to it, why not share this with a friend or family member? Get them to take the quiz and then do an activity together.
  • Remember: making sure we regularly reflect on how we are going is a positive step towards caring for our wellbeing. 

Who can help?

It is normal for things to change and it is okay not to be okay.

If you have identified that you aren’t in a great place with your mental health or wellbeing please start a conversation. It might be with a friend, a trusted adult or a healthcare professional. Read the helpful article from ReachOut about how to prepare for a converation.

There are also some free services you can contact at anytime in Australia:

Overview

  • Suitable for: Years 7-10
  • Session overview: In this session we are going to make a dream jar. A dream jar is somewhere you can store all your hopes, goals, wishes, visions, resolutions and dreams in one place.
  • Materials: pen, post-it notes (or small pieces of paper), an empty jar, decorations for your jar (optional).

Steps

  1. Watch the video about creating a dream jar (5:44) before you get started.
  2. Label and decorate your empty jar, making it unique to you. View an example of a dream jar.
  3. Jot down a dream or goal you have right now on one of your post-it notes.  
  4. Think of some small steps you could do right now to get started on each goal. Write these on the post-it note, underneath the goal. 
  5. Repeat with more goals or dreams – one per post-it note.
  6. Put these in the jar. 
What next?
  • Keep adding to your dream jar over time. 
  • Remember to take out your dreams and look at them regularly as dreams can change. 
  • When you achieve your dreams, reward yourself.  

Overview

  • Suitable for: Years 7-10
  • Meditation is a great way to slow it down and get your mind to focus on the present, particularly if it is full of uncertainties.
  • This 20 minute meditation will include some breathwork, as well as some affirmations.

Steps

  1. Find a place that is comfortable and quiet where you can lie or sit, preferably with your eyes closed  
  2.  It is good to do some meditation each day so that we are taking care of our minds in the same way we take care of your bodies each day by eating the right foods and exercising. This will help us be proactive in taking care of our mental health. You can come back to this guided meditation any time that you like.  
  3.  Listen to the meditation (18:00). Follow along with the breathing activities, the affirmation activities, and the body awareness activities. These different activities can help ease tension in your body, clear your mind, promote a sense of calmness and give you a sense of control over your thoughts, particularly in times when you may feel things are out of control.   
  4. Remember you can replay this meditation anytime you want to further care and connect your mind and your body.

Transcript

Good morning and welcome to today's wellbeing session.

We are going to slow it down today and try to get our minds to focus on the present. We are going to do this by engaging in a 20-minute meditation that includes some breath work, as well as some affirmations.

At this point in time, your mind might be racing a million miles an hour. It's easy to focus on the 'what if?', 'there is so much out of my control'. Meditation is an important practice to engage and bring our thoughts back to focusing on the present moment and focusing on what we can control.

Ideally, we want to be doing some form of meditation each day, so that we are taking care of our minds, just like we take care of our bodies by eating the right foods and exercising. By doing so, we are being proactive and preventative, in taking care of our mental health. Today's meditation aims to help you take the time to care for your mental health and connect your mind and your body. You can come back to this meditation anytime that you like.

To begin we are going to start with some breath work. I would like you to take in the biggest breath you've taken today. Then hold your breath, then exhale. Let's do it together. Inhale, and exhale. I'd like to repeat this process another 10 times. Inhale, exhale times 10.

Once you have done that, start to have a think about how you feel. Do you feel different? A bit more relaxed? At ease? Breathwork is an amazing and powerful tool that reduces stress, creates feelings of openness, love, peace, gratitude, clarity, communication, and connection. Breathwork can also help release trauma or mental, physical, and emotional blocks as well as anxiety, depression, fear, grief, and anger.

Allow your breath to flow naturally. Now I'd like you to shift your focus, from your breath to your thoughts. 

We are living in an uncertain and challenging time and often we feel as I said previously as though we are not in control. It is important to remember that we cannot control everything, however what we can control is our thoughts and how we react to situations.

Sometimes simple affirmations can bring our thoughts back to a state of ease. I would like you to repeat the following affirmations in your mind after me. You may wish to repeat them whenever you're feeling stressed, or that things are out of control.

I am in control. I am focused. I am positive. I am at ease. We're going to repeat these affirmations 5 times, and try to surrender any stress, or unsure thoughts that we have at this present time. If any intruding thoughts come to you during this time, acknowledge them and then let them slip away.

I am in control. I am focused. I am positive. I am at ease times 5.

Ok now wherever you are sitting or lying, I want you to bring your attention to your body. Let's start by focusing on our hair, imagine your hair melting away, melting off the crown of your head.

Now I'd like you to bring attention to your forehead, ease any tension, notice any strain, and just let it go. Then, I'd like you to focus on your nose. Let it relax, let it feel like it's melting away. Focus now on your cheek bones, let them soften, and let them relax. Bring your attention to your chin, let it soften, let it relax, letting go. Bring your attention to your neck, this is where we can hold onto a lot of the days stress and strain. I want you to let it all go, let your shoulders slump as you do so.

Let's focus on our shoulders, let them relax, soften, and drop. Bring your attention to your arms, let them feel as though they are heavy, weighted, and relaxed. Focus on your fingertips, let them soften one by one all the way from the base through to the fingertips.

Bring your attention to your torso, ensure it feels soft, relaxed and in a state of calm. Head to your stomach, and your back, let these areas deeply relax. Paying attention to your pelvis, let it sink into the chair, or into the ground you are sitting on.

Bring your attention to your quads, notice any strain, or discomfort and just let it go. Bring your attention to your hamstrings, let them feel heavy, let them feel weighted and relaxed. Pay attention to your kneecaps, let them melt into the ground and soften.

Bring your attention to the soles of your feet, let them soften, let them relax. Bring your attention to your toes. Focus on them one, by one, let them feel as though they are melting away. Bring your attention to your body in this state and think about how you are feeling. Hopefully, you are destressed and feel as though you can focus on the present moment. I'm going to leave you in this state for 5 minutes, try and remain in this state of relaxation and focusing on the present moment.

Thank you for taking the time to be here today and for prioritising your mental health, remember you can replay this meditation anytime you wish to further care and connect your mind and your body. Have a great day.

Overview

  • Suitable for: Years 7-10
  • Session overview: We all go through different positive and negative emotions every day. It is okay to have all these feelings, but we also need to find ways to manage them. This activity will explore how music can be used to help your mood and cope when managing tricky emotions. 
  • Materials: My Ultimate Coping Playlist pdf or workbook, pen.

Steps

  • Look at the attached pdf, My Ultimate Coping Playlist.
  • Print this pdf or if you can’t, write the heading “My Ultimate Coping Playlist” in your workbook and then the following subheadings as shown on the worksheet.
    • For Amusement
    • To Uplift
    • To Distract
    • To Change Thoughts
    • To Connect 
  • Under each heading list the types of songs you need to find.
  • Now think of a song that fits the description provided (eg “a song that gets stuck in my head”). Write down the song title (and the artist) that meets that description for you.
  • Try and name a song that fits each description to create your ultimate coping playlist.
  • You may want to create a playlist on your device for each of these categories so you have these songs ready to listen to when you need to lift your mood, chill out, or express how you are feeling in a different way. 

Overview

  • Suitable for: Years 7-12
  • Session overview: This lesson will focus on observing our mindset, self-talk and resilience when approaching a difficult or frustrating task.
  • Materials: A deck of cards. If you don’t have cards, you could also use books or DVD/CD cases (approximately 15), pen and workbook.

Steps

Part 1

  1. With your deck of cards, you are going to aim to build a triangular card tower. This tower should have 3 pairs of cards on the bottom, 2 pairs of cards in the middle and on pair at the top. View an example.
  2. Set a timer and spend about 10 minutes completing this activity.
  3. When your 10 minutes is up, answer the following questions:
  • When you started the activity what were some of the things you thought to yourself?
  • If you found the activity difficult, what were some of the things you were thinking as you were finding it difficult?
  • Were your thoughts overall positive or negative?

What's the purpose of this activity?

Completing challenging tasks that have little purpose can teach us a lot about our self-talk and resilience. The things that we think when approaching new or challenging tasks can impact our ability to persevere and succeed.


Part 2

  1. View the Reachout article: How to challenge negative thoughts
  2. Read the article and write down some points you find interesting.
  3. Think of how you could use this tool when:
  • Learning from home
  • When you return to learning at school
  • Activities you are involved in outside of school (sport, part-time work, performing arts etc).


Overview

  • Suitable for: Years 7-8
  • Session overview: Explore the concept of stability rocks to help create a daily routine of  self care tasks.
  • Materials: pen and workbook.

Where do I start?

Self care is important for your brain to function at its best. Keeping a daily routine for our basic needs helps our body to stay physically and mentally healthy.   

Let’s start by reflecting on how we are going with some of our basic needs at the moment. Think about these questions: 

  • How well am I sleeping?  
  • How much sleep am I getting?  
  • What time do I generally eat breakfast, lunch and dinner?  
  • Do I connect with a friend each day?  
  • How often am I doing physical activity?  

When we feel stressed we can start to forget about the basics.  That’s why its important to practise self care.  

Stability rocks

Routines are one way we can maintaining our self care. Routines will help give us a sense of control, manage our emotions and improve our focus.  We can use the concept of 'stability rocks' to help create a daily routine of self care tasks. 

  • A ‘stability rock’ is a practice that adds something reliable to your life when it feels like things are spinning out of control.
  • Stability rocks (your routines and rituals) are important at these times as they give you some control over what’s going on in your life.   

Examples of ‘stability rocks’ could be:  

  • waking up at the same time every day  
  • eating regular meals  
  • going to bed at the same time every day  
  • doing some form of exercise every day  
  • reaching out to a friend each day.  

Steps

  1. Watch the video All about self care (4:30).  
  2. After watching, write down 3 interesting things you learnt from the video.  
  3. Read the information about 'stability rocks' (above).
  4. Use the Stability Rocks sheet (PDF file, 7.4 MB) to create your stability rocks list and schedule them into your week. 
  5. Put it up in your room or somewhere in your home so that you see it regularly.  

Overview

  • Suitable for: Years 7-10
  • Session overview: In this wellbeing session, you will be focusing on sleep – an area of our wellbeing that we sometimes don’t think much about. You will be learning more about sleep to better understand its important role in our general wellbeing.  
  • Materials needed: Workbook and pen

Steps

  1. Watch the video Strengthening Your Sleep Habits (4:43) and complete the activities that are included in the session. There is a link to a video from Kids Helpline to watch and an audit you can do on your current sleeping patterns to find out if there are some areas you might be able to improve. 
  2. Finally, you learn some useful tips and strategies that you might want to introduce in your nightly routine to help improve your sleep hygiene and therefore your overall health. 

Overview

  • Suitable for: Years 9-10
  • Session overview: The purpose of this activity is to stop for 20 minutes and engage in some small activities to support your wellbeing. There are several activities to choose from. 
  • Materials: Paper and pen.

Steps

Prioritise your wellbeing with a bingo style activity.

  • View the wellbeing bingo card (PDF file, 84 KB) and choose 3 activities that you would like to do today.
  • You can refer to the bingo card throughout the week and try to complete each of the set tasks.
  • You may even wish to complete the tasks and compete with a classmate or family member virtually! 

Overview

  • Suitable for: Years 7-8
  • Session overview: This session will allow you to learn about mindfulness.
  • Materials: Paper, pen and device.

Steps

  1. Start by using the link provided to go to the Bite Back website page learn mindfulness and discover more about mindfulness
  2. Use the student worksheet What is mindfulness (PDF 36KB) to answer the questions. 
  3. Return to the Bite Back webpage and take the Mindfulness Quiz that is in the Explore section  
  4. Think about the recommendations provided at the end of the quiz. How could you include these recommendations in your life? 
  5. Now imagine that you have been asked by your school to promote mindfulness to students. You can create anything that you feel would engage young people in exploring and practising mindfulness. You may like to create something like a Tik-tok video to be played on the school’s webpage, design a poster, write a series of daily messages to be texted to the school community or develop activities for a mindfulness day for all students to engage in. Or come up with your own way of promoting mindfulness. 
  6. You may want to think about the following
    1. What would be an effective medium to reach lots of students? 
    2. How will you help them learn what mindfulness is? 
    3. How will you be able to show different ways to practise mindfulness? 
    4. How can you convince them of the benefits of mindfulness? 
  7. Once you develop this strategy share it with your Year Advisor. You never know they might take your ideas on! 

Overview

  • Suitable for: Years 7-8
  • Session overview: We are all so busy and can often need reminding of what makes us happy. Being happy is important, it can promote a growth mindset and invigorate us to try something new or to simply get on with our day. 
  • Materials: Paper and pen.

Steps

Your task is to create an A-Z list of things or activities that make you feel happy. 

  1. Separate your page into 2 columns. 
  2. In the first column write the letters of the alphabet 
  3. In the second column for each letter, write a word, phrase or draw something that makes you feel happy. 
  4. Fill in as many as you can. 

Reflection:

  1. How did you feel creating this list? Was it easier or harder than you thought?   
  2. Did you manage to write something for each letter? You can share your list with a friend for more inspiration or to fill in any blanks.
  3. Review your list, and schedule some happiness time into your week.  For example:
  • 1 to do now
  • 2 for later this week
  • 3 for next week.

Remember, It is important to keep reminding yourself about what makes you happy in life.

What next?

  • Put your list somewhere visible in your home, so that you see it regularly as well as the people you live with.
  • You can mark off the activities you do that make you happy. See if you can do everything on your list!

Overview

  • Suitable for: Years 7-8
  • Session overview: If you were asked to describe who you are…what would you say? This session will give you the opportunity to think about who you are, what experiences have shaped your identity and how they have influenced how you see yourself.
  • Materials: workbook, pen, device to watch video and to scan QR codes.

Steps

  1. Start by watching the video Who Am I? (2:25)
  2. When prompted in the video scan the QR code to watch Shake Takes; Who Am I? What’s My Identity?
  3. After watching the clip complete the activities provided to think about your identity and then think about what you can do to build connections with people whose identities are different from how you identify yourself.  
  4. Enjoy! 

Category:

  • Student management and wellbeing

Business Unit:

  • Teaching, Learning and Student Wellbeing
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