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Loneliness can have a huge impact on our wellbeing, but there are lots of simple actions you can take to help lift yourself or others out of loneliness.
Following the success of last year’s national campaign, which saw some very positive steps towards people taking action to help feelings of loneliness, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport will soon be launching their new loneliness campaign activity as part of the Better Health - Every Mind Matters campaign.
The campaign primarily aims to reach 16-34 year olds by encouraging them to ‘Lift Someone Out of Loneliness’, knowing that this will likely help their own feelings of loneliness. This is based on recent research that shows that people in this demographic are at higher risk of feeling lonely compared to other age groups, but less likely to seek advice and support.
The Every Mind Matters loneliness webpage has advice for ways to help yourself or others who may be feeling lonely and suggested support routes.
The multi-channel, campaign will launch on 30th January and run until 13th March 2023.
The new and updated campaign toolkit for 2023, with updated key messaging, assets and draft social media copy is now available to download on the Campaign Resource Centre for you to use from 30th January.
They have also developed ‘Lift someone out of loneliness’ campaign posters which can also be downloaded on the Campaign Resource Centre.
If you require further information at this stage, please contact campaigns@dcms.gov.uk.
If you’re feeling lonely search ‘Every Mind Matters; for support and advice or go to https://www.nhs.uk/every-mind-matters/lifes-challenges/loneliness/.
The Anna Freud Centre have recently released  a brand-new podcast series – it’s called Talking racism and mental health in schools.
Racism has a detrimental impact on the lives of Black and racially minoritised young people, and when experienced it affects both their mental health and potential to thrive.
The podcast series features experts in mental health, education and anti-racism exploring topics like representation, culture and community, and provides advice and practical steps to support all education staff to create a whole school community which is anti-racist.
Guests on the podcast include former teacher, campaigner, author and speaker the Honourable Stuart Lawrence, and Eve Doran, researcher at Black Learning Achievement and Mental Health (BLAM). The podcast episodes also feature the voices and experiences of teachers.
The Wellbeing Toolkit from the City of Wolverhampton Council has just achieved the PSHE Association Quality Mark for PSHE education resources. This free-to-download Toolkit supports pupils to understand the importance of taking care of their mental health and offers them key knowledge alongside practical skills and strategies.
The Toolkit includes six upper key stage 2 lesson plans with PowerPoint slides as well as teacher guidance and accompanying resources.
The content in each lesson aims to develop pupils’ knowledge, understanding and skills in a developmental and practical way. Activities provide opportunities for pupils to apply their learning and to identify different strategies they can use, including problem solving skills and handling emotions to help develop their resilience.
A major new survey published today by the Sex Education Forum shows that young people are still not receiving the comprehensive and quality Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) they were promised when the subject became mandatory over 18 months ago.
The survey highlights the areas that young people feel need to improve, and sheds light on the format of RSE that they experience at school and the frequency of RSE from parents and carers
To find out more about the results of the survey, click here.
These newly updated KS4-5 'Relationship Safety' materials from the Alice Ruggles Trust have received the PSHE Association Quality Mark  — promoting awareness of unhealthy relationship behaviours and stalking to help protect young people from the potential risks.
Primarily aimed at key stage 4 students, but also suitable for key stage 5, the lessons support schools to build student confidence in managing situations where people are exhibiting or experiencing unhealthy relationship behaviours. They will also support colleagues to deliver key aspects of statutory Relationships and Sex Education.
These has been added a brand new lesson focusing on de-escalation and self-regulation which aims to reduce stalking prevalence, plus activities which highlight cyber-enabled stalking to ensure the content is relevant for young people.
Detailed lesson plans are included with activities, teacher guidance and accompanying PowerPoint presentations. The teacher guidance has also been updated to support teacher understanding of stalking.
Teaching about FGM is an important part of a school’s approach to safeguarding and child protection. To support schools that are teaching specifically about FGM at primary phase (beyond the protective factors developed through other contexts), the PSHE Association has developed new guidance and a lesson plan for upper key stage 2 (Year 5-6).
Guidance: The guidance is for teachers and PSHE leads teaching about FGM during the primary phase. It contextualises the issue and the relevant statutory requirements to help you consider how to include FGM within your curriculum at an age-appropriate level. Ensure you read the guidance before teaching the lesson.
Lesson Plan (PDF and PowerPoint versions available): For use with Year 5 or 6 pupils, the lesson plan and accompanying resources will help teachers to:
- explain what FGM is
- highlight to pupils the importance of reporting concerns around FGM (for themselves and others) and how to do this
- explore the issue in a sensitive and age-appropriate way — helping pupils to: identify myths and facts; engage in group and paired discussion; and recognise how FGM relates to the UN convention on the rights of the Child
