G etting on with peers

R esilience building

A ssertiveness development

S taying safe

P roblem solving

1
GRASP Social Skills Programme
Programme Rationale
The GRASP programme is designed to target those pupils who may be feeling
vulnerable in school, particularly with regard to intimidation or social pressures
from peers.

The programme is designed to provide pupils with a range of skills and

understanding, such as problem solving and assertive expression, which will
enable them to make confident, positive decisions in social situations with
peers.

Pupils who are at risk of succumbing to negative peer pressure, feel threatened
by the aggressive behaviour of others, have a poor self image, and/or low
confidence could benefit from the programme.

The programme’s delivery is based on social learning theory, which emphasises

that people’s learning and behaviour is shaped by their experiences and
interactions with others. Staff delivering the programme use the strategy of
positively modelling behaviour as a vehicle for learning.

The programme also draws on other psychological frameworks, such as

cognitive behavioural theory, amongst others. A list of sources which have
been consulted in order to produce the programme can be found in the
references section at the end.

The programme is suitable for pupils in Key Stage 2, although could be adapted
to target other age groups, as appropriate.

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GRASP Social Skills Programme
Pupil Selection and Monitoring
It is advised that those conducting the programme with pupils select children
for the group with care. Consideration should be given to the group dynamics,
to ensure that pupils selected will be able to work well together. Someone
with a good prior knowledge of the pupils is therefore most appropriate to
assist with selection.

An assessment tool to measure the effectiveness of the group intervention is

advised, to be administered prior to the intervention, then again shortly after
completion of the programme, so that comparisons can be made, and progress
therefore assessed.

The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), which can be accessed free
of charge online (www.sdqinfo.com), is a useful resource for this purpose. In
order to make the assessment as thorough as possible, staff should endeavour
to receive parent/carer input, by sending them versions of the questionnaire
for completion. Staff, parent and pupil versions of the SDQ are available, and
can be printed off from the website. The questionnaires can be scored by
hand, or online (www.sdqscore.net).

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GRASP Social Skills Programme
Session Outlines

Session 1: ‘Feeling Good’ Page 5

Children explore the concept of respect, and feeling proud. They examine
their strengths and things they find challenging, and discuss the notion that
everyone is unique, and this makes us special.

Session 2: ‘Getting On’ Page 8

Children explore the skills necessary for friendship formation and
development, and learn practical strategies for dealing with bullying.

Session 3: ‘Express Yourself’ Page 12

Children explore the three communication styles of passive, aggressive and
assertive. They are given opportunities to practice assertive communication.

Session 4: ‘Solving Problems’ Page 15

Children are provided with the ABC (antecedents, behaviour, consequences)
problem solving model, and given opportunities to practice using it.

Session 5: ‘Feeling Safe’ Page 19

Children explore personal safety, and how to positively assert themselves in
order to stay safe, and circumnavigate feelings of threat.

Session 6: ‘Review’ Page 22

Children review the session material covered throughout the preceding weeks,
and have the opportunity to celebrate their progress and participation.

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 Session 1: ‘Feeling Good’
Materials:
 A4 paper
 Pencils
 Flip chart and pen
 ‘Make It Positive’ sheets
 ‘Feeling Good’ shield
 Certificates

Welcome:
“Before we start our first activity, let’s get to know each other, because some people might
not know everyone’s name. Let’s take it in turns to say our name, and something that we
really like to do, such as a hobby or game.” (If a pupil does not wish to contribute, then
move on to the next, and let them know that this is OK).

Group Rules:
“Before we can start the activities, we need to set some rules for our group. Why do you
think that is? What do rules help us do? (Receive responses). Rules help us to get on better
together, and make sure everyone feels OK within the group. Can anyone think of a rule we
could have for our group?”

List the rules on a flip chart or large sheet of paper, reframing responses positively, as
appropriate. (E.g. If a pupil says ‘don’t kick’ say: “What will you be doing if you follow that
rule?” and reframe as ‘keep hands and feet to yourself’). Try to encourage each pupil to
provide a rule.

Make sure to include the basics: listening to each other, waiting your turn to speak, sharing,
respecting others etc. Finally, ask pupils to sign the rules in agreement.

Introduce the Topic:

“Today’s topic is called ‘Feeling Good’. We are all unique and special; part of what makes us
unique is the things we are good at, and the things we find hard. It’s important to try and
be proud of the things we are good at, as this helps make us feel special. Things that we
find hard sometimes make us feel bad. We are going to learn about how to deal with the
bad feelings we might have when we find things hard, so that we feel better about it.”

Activity 1: Hand It Round

“First, we are going to remind ourselves of all the things we are good at.”

Hand every pupil a blank sheet of A4 paper. Ask them to draw around their hand, and write
their name above it. The papers are then passed in a clockwise direction, and each pupil
writes a positive comment on everyone else’s sheet inside the hands. This continues until
every child has written a comment on everyone else’s paper.

Activity 2: ‘Mouse in the Jungle’ Story

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“Now we are going to read a story about being different from each other, and why that
makes us special in our own way.”

Facilitator to read part 1 of the story about Mouse. Ask children to listen carefully and think
about how the mouse feels about herself at this time.

Part 1:
Mouse lives in the jungle with many other kinds of animals. They can all do something
special. Mouse wants to be special like the other animals. She sees Lion who is a great
leader and very strong, Gazelle who can run fast, and Monkey who is a brilliant climber.
Mouse gets sad, because she wishes she was special like them. Mouse hides away feeling
useless and unhappy. When Mouse goes and hides in a hole, she meets Vole. Mouse says
to Vole: “I’m a useless mouse who is no good at anything.”

Ask children to work together in pairs, and think about what Vole could do or say to help
Mouse feel better about herself. Ensure all children have the opportunity to speak, and
praise all suggestions.

Read part 2 of the story.

Part 2:
One day, hunters go into the jungle. Lion, Gazelle and Monkey get caught by the hunters.
They call out for help. At first, Mouse thinks she is too useless to help, but slowly comes
forward. She chews through the ropes the hunters tied the animals up with, and frees
them. The other animals thank her, and offer her anything she wants to repay her. Mouse
realises she doesn’t need anything from them, as she already has everything she ever
wanted. She feels good about herself, and special. All she wanted was to feel good to be
her.

“How did Mouse feel at the start of the story? (Allow discussion time). How did she feel at
the end? (Allow further discussion time). We all have things that we are good at and things
that we find hard, or don’t like about ourselves. Mouse didn’t like being small, but she
found out that there are good things about it. She could easily hide from the hunters, whilst
the others got caught, and her sharp teeth helped her free the animals. There can
sometimes be a good side to the things we don’t like about ourselves.”

Activity 3: Make It Positive

Give pupils a ‘Make It Positive’ sheet/ask them to turn to the relevant section in their
booklet. In the first column, ask pupils to write down things they don’t like about
themselves, or which upset them, and then in the following column, try to turn this into a
positive. If pupils do not wish to discuss the things which upset them, they can choose other
examples. Allow time afterwards for a discussion regarding the fact that for every positive
there can be a negative, and for every negative there can be a positive, depending on the
way we choose to look at it.

Read out the following negative examples, and ask pupils to think how these could be
turned into a positive, before providing possible responses:

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 Negative Statement Positive Statement
1. I am too tall. Everyone stares at me, and 1. Being tall makes me good at some sports
I feel silly. (e.g. basketball) and reaching things.
2. I am good at lots of other things (e.g.
2. I am rubbish at Literacy. I can’t spell or sport, maths), and have nice people to
write very well. help me with Literacy.
3. I can do other things (e.g. swimming,
3. I can’t do sport. I’m really clumsy, and running), and have different hobbies
can’t even catch a ball. other than sport.

Activity 4: Feeling Good Shield

“We have learnt that we all have things that we are good at. These things could be different
from other people, or the same. Sometimes, we might not know the things we are good at,
and find it hard to think of things that make us feel good about ourselves. So, what we are
going to do now is take a few minutes to think of some of the things we feel we are good at.
Other people may have told us that we are good at them, or they may be things we find
easy or enjoy. I would like you to all draw some special pictures that shows the things you
are good at, to help remind ourselves that we all have things we can do well. This is going to
be called a ‘Feeling Good Shield’.”

Provide each pupil with a shield, containing 4 different boxes. Pupils are to complete a
different picture depicting their area of strength for each box. (Again, a copy can be found
in the pupil booklets).

Review:
“Today we have been learning about feeling good about ourselves. We have been thinking
about things that we are good at, and how to deal with the bad feelings we might have
about things we find hard.”

“Over the next week, please can you practice nice things to say to yourself which help you
feel better about things you find hard, or which upset you?”

Certificates:
Hand out certificates to pupils, and remind them that their task to practice is written on it,
for their parents/carers to help them with.

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 Session 2: ‘Getting On’
Materials:
 Flip chart and pen
 ‘Bricks’ (brown oblong pieces of paper)
 A4 paper
 Pencils
 Certificates

Group Purpose:
“Can everyone remember why we are meeting as a group? (Wait for responses). We are
meeting for 6 weeks to work on some important social skills. Can everyone remember what
social skills are? (Check understanding). They are the things that help us get on with and
talk to other people.”

Review of Last Week

“Before we look at what we will be learning about this week, let’s see if we can remember
what we learnt last time. Can everyone remember what we learnt about last week?
(Receive responses). We looked at ways in which we are special and unique. We learnt that
everyone has things they are good at, and things they find hard. These are the things that
make us different from other people, and special. We also learnt that there are ways we
can help ourselves to feel better about the things we find hard, or which upset us. Did
anybody practice trying to feel better when they have bad feelings about something?”
(Discuss examples).

Introduce the Topic:

“Today’s topic is called ‘Getting On’. We are going to look at things that can help us get on
with other children. We will look at what can help us be good friends, how to deal with
bullying, and why it is important to sometimes fit in, but at other times stand out.”

Activity 1: Good Friend Wall

“What do we think makes a good friend? What things are important?”

Receive responses, and praise ideas. Divide the flip chart into 3 columns, and record
responses. Include the following headings: ‘Friendship Skill’, ‘Why It’s Important’, and ‘How
Can We Do It?’

Example:

Friendship Skill Why It’s Important How Can We Do It?

Listening well.
Standing up for them.
Makes your friend feel Stop what we are doing, look
important and special. at them, ask them good
questions about what they
said.
Helps them trust you and If your friend is being picked
feel safe and supported. on, ask the person to stop, or

8
 go and fetch help. Standing
up for a friend does NOT
mean hitting someone, or
name-calling.

Make sure to try and include as many different types of skills as possible, such as: plays with
you, listens/talks to you, shares their toys, shares feelings, helps you, is kind to you/doesn’t
put you down, stands up for you, makes you laugh.

Ask children to copy examples into their booklets.

Hand out ‘bricks’ (brown oblong pieces of paper), and explain that the children need to
write one thing on each brick which they think is important for friendship. This needs to
include a mixture of friendship skills, and strategies (first and third columns). Children can
use some of the ideas from the flipchart if they wish, but also encourage them to think of at
least one new example each. When they have done this, provide children with plain pieces
of paper, and they can then stick their bricks onto the paper to create a ‘good friend wall’.

Activity 2: Dealing With Bullying

“Now we are going to look at bullying. It is important to know how to deal with bullying,
because it is something that can happen in all schools. Can anybody describe what bullying
is?” (Receive responses, and provide praise).

“It can sometimes be hard to tell if something is bullying, or just falling out. We can help to
work out if something is bullying by looking at 4 things. If these 4 things are happening,
then it is probably bullying:

1. It happens more than once. (Persistent).

2. It is done on purpose. (Intentional).
3. It isn’t fair. (The bully may be stronger, or there may be more than one person ganging
up on another).
4. It causes the person being bullied to feel scared (and maybe also upset, lonely and
unconfident).

“Now I am going to read out some stories about children. Listen carefully and decide if you
think they are being bullied or not.”

Read the following examples one at a time, pausing after each one to discuss if children
think it demonstrates bullying behaviour.

 Paula and Jasmine had a fight one day. Jasmine said she hated Paula, even though they
were usually best friends.
 Jacob really wants to play football with Sumran and his friends, but they always leave
him out. When Jacob asks if he can play, Sumran makes excuses.
 Liz has an argument with her friend Katie, and they end up pulling each other’s hair and
clothes on the playground. Katie’s shirt gets torn, and she tells a teacher.

9
 Kevin and his friends stand in the toilets at playtime and don’t let the younger children
use them.

Activity 3: What Can Help?

“It is really important to do something if you are being bullied, or see bullying, because if
you don’t the bullying will probably carry on. If you see someone being bullied and don’t do
anything, then you are helping the bully to carry on. What can you do if you are being
bullied, or see someone else being bullied?”

Brainstorm ideas in the following way on the flipchart.

Helpful Things Unhelpful Things

 Make sure you stay in a safe place.  Cry, and hope the bully will realise how
 Tell an adult you trust. much they are upsetting you.
 Give the bully a chance to stop, by asking  Kick and hit the bully as hard as you can.
them firmly.
 Saying special phrases (see below).

Following this, discuss with children the following practical strategies to help with bullying
(which can be found in their booklets):

Verbal Strategies:
 So what?
 Can’t you think of anything else to say?
 Tell me when you get to the funny part.
 And your point is?
 You’re getting boring now.
 ‘No, stop it!’ (in a loud voice, and try to attract the attention of other people who could
help).
 I heard you, but I don’t care.
 Hurry up and finish what you’re saying, because you’re wasting my time.
 Do you feel better now?
 You’re an expert at this. Well done!
 Yes, you’re right. Well done.
 Let me know when you grow up.
 Why don’t you bother someone who cares?
 Why don’t you try and feel good about yourself some other way?
 Words, words, words!
 Thank you!
 OK, so you’ve noticed I look different from you. So what?
 Yes, you really are better than me.
 I feel sorry for you.

Other Strategies:
 Avoid places where the bully goes if you can.
 Act brave: in your body language, stand tall, and try not to look like you’re scared.

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 Plan: try to walk to places with someone else if you can.
 Ignore: pretend you haven’t even heard the bully, and act as if they haven’t even said
anything.
 Fogging: If the bully says something that is true, say “that’s true”. If it’s not true, say
“you could be right”, “it’s possible”, or “you might be right”.
 Distraction: count backwards from 100, or try to do a hard maths sum in your head, to
help stop you losing your temper or getting upset.
 Confront: if you see someone else being bullied, approach the bully (preferably with a
friend or supportive adult) and tell them to stop.

Activity 4: Bullying Role-Play

Facilitators role-play a bullying scenario. A child is name-calling another child. The victim
uses the verbal strategies at first, and then tries out some of the other strategies, by acting
brave, and going to join other children.

Ask children to work together in pairs or small groups. They need to role-play a bullying
scenario (either real or imagined), and try out the strategies suggested.

Review:
“Today we have been learning about getting along with other children. We have talked
about what we need to do to be good friends, and things that can help us deal with
bullying.”

“Over the next week, please can you practice one of the things which we thought made
good friends? When you are with your friends, choose one friendship skill that you think is
very important, and try to do it. Also, if anyone comes across bullying this week, can you try
out one of the things we talked about which might help? If it doesn’t work, then you can
always try a different one.”

Certificates:
Hand out certificates to pupils, and remind them that their task to practice is written on it,
for their parents/carers to help them with.

11
 Session 3: ‘Express Yourself’
Materials:
 Flip chart and pen
 Passive, aggressive, assertive cards
 ‘Being Assertive’ sheets
 Passive and aggressive sentences
 A4 paper
 Pencils
 Certificates

Group Purpose:
Reiterate this section as necessary: “Can everyone remember why we are meeting as a
group? (Wait for responses). We are meeting for 6 weeks to work on some important
social skills. Can everyone remember what social skills are? (Check understanding). They
are the things that help us get on with and talk to other people.”

Review of Last Week

“Before we look at what we will be learning about this week, let’s see if we can remember
what we learnt last time. Can everyone remember what we learnt about last week? We
looked at friendships, and the skills we need to be good friends. Can anybody remember a
friendship skill? Did anybody practice one? (Receive responses, and provide praise). We
also learnt about bullying and the things you can do and say to help deal with it. Did
anybody see any bullying? If so, did they try saying or doing any of the things we talked
about last week to help?” (Receive responses, and provide praise).

Introduce the Topic:

“Today’s topic is called ‘Express Yourself’. We are going to look at the way we talk, and
learn about the best ways of saying things so that we can get what we want without
upsetting other people.”

Activity 1: What’s the Style?

“Today we are going to look at 3 different ways of communicating. Communication includes
the words we say, how we say them, and our body language. The ways we speak, and the
messages we give to others with our bodies are as important as the words we say.

The first type of communication we will look at is ‘aggressive’. When we are aggressive, we
do not seem to care about other people’s feelings as much as our own, and only bother
about getting our own way, or making our point.

The second way of communicating that we will look at is ‘passive’. When we communicate
passively, we do not seem to care about our own feelings as much as the other person’s.
We end up not really getting what we want. We might feel like we don’t deserve to be
heard, and care more about not upsetting other people than getting our point of view
across.

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The last way of communicating that we will look at is ‘assertive’. When we communicate
assertively, we show that we care about the feelings of others and ourselves equally. This is
the best way of communicating, as you are less likely to upset other people, get to say how
you feel, and are more likely to get what you want, meaning that everyone can be happier.

We are now going to look at some of the things we might say or do for each type of
communication style.”

Place the ‘passive’, ‘aggressive’ and ‘assertive’ headings cards in the middle of the table.
Ask children to pick one card at a time each, containing a word or phrase, and place it in the
category they think it belongs. Discuss each one in turn as a group, and decide on the most
appropriate category, using the initial definitions as a guide.

Activity 2: Staff Role Play

Staff role play several scenarios. These could be situations such as taking a faulty product
back to the shop, or making a complaint in a restaurant. One staff member is the customer,
and the other is the owner. The customer needs to take it in turns to be aggressive, passive
and assertive in the ways they communicate, and the owner responds accordingly. Pupils
need to attempt to identify the communication style in each instance. A small group
discussion can follow after each role play, exploring the language used, and what the
customer was communicating to the owner through tone of voice, body language, eye
contact etc.

Activity 3: Being Assertive

Discuss with pupils words and phrases which help with assertive communication. Look over
the ‘being assertive’ sheet.

Give pupils a list of sentences containing aggressive or passive sentences. Pupils need to try
and convert them into an assertive communication. This can be done individually, in
writing, or as a group discussion, depending on ability levels of the group, and preferred
learning styles.

Activity 4: Pupil Role Play

Ask pupils to think about things they find hard to be assertive with. It could be saying ‘no’ to
something their friend wants them to do, standing up to a bully, or asking a teacher for help.
Brainstorm examples on the flipchart.

Give pupils the opportunity to practice assertive communication. Ask them to work in pairs,
and role play a situation of their choosing from the flipchart. Pupils need to take it in turns
being the assertive child.

Review:
“Today we have been learning about how we communicate. We have talked about the
three different types of communication- passive, aggressive and assertive, and practiced
being assertive.”

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“Over the next week, please can you practice being assertive? Pay attention to what your
body is doing (eye contact etc.), and try to do some of the things we talked about on the
‘being assertive’ sheet. Everyone try to remember one example of being assertive for next
week.”

Certificates:
Hand out certificates to pupils, and remind them that their task to practice is written on it,
for their parents/carers to help them with.

14
 Session 4: ‘Solving Problems’
Materials:
 Flip chart and pen
 A4 paper
 Different coloured pens
 Pencils
 Certificates

Group Purpose:
Reiterate this section as necessary: “Can everyone remember why we are meeting as a
group? (Wait for responses). We are meeting for 6 weeks to work on some important
social skills. Can everyone remember what social skills are? (Check understanding). They
are the things that help us get on with and talk to other people.”

Review of Last Week

“Before we look at what we will be learning about this week, let’s see if we can remember
what we learnt last time. Can everyone remember what we learnt about last week? We
looked at the way we communicate. Can anybody remember the three styles of
communication? (Receive responses, and provide praise). That’s right; they’re ‘passive’,
‘aggressive’ and ‘assertive’. Can anybody give an example of when they have practised
being assertive over the last week?” (Receive responses, and provide praise).

Introduce the Topic:

“Today’s topic is called ‘Solving Problems’. We are going to look at the types of problems
we have, and how we can help to solve them in good ways. Sometimes, people find it hard
to know how to solve their problems, so they might make bad choices, or always have to ask
someone else for help. We are going to learn about a way which can help us choose the
best choice to make for ourselves when we have a problem. Dealing with problems well can
help us to get on with other people and not fall out.”

Activity 1: What’s the Problem?

“Everybody has problems sometimes. There are all sorts of different problems. Let’s listen
to a few (read a selection):

 Someone at school keeps calling you names. It makes you want to miss school.
 Your friends all keep falling out and asking you to take sides.
 You don’t know what to do next, but the teacher is busy.
 Your sister tells you a bad secret, but you think it’s serious, and want to tell your mum.
 Your older brother wants to watch a different TV programme than you.
 You want to finish your work, but your best friend keeps talking to you.
 Your friend tells you that her dad sometimes hits her, but not to tell anyone.
 Your mum has told you to tidy your bedroom, but your friend has just called to ask if you
want to go out to play.
 A friend has told you that she is being bullied. You don’t know what to do.
 You have been invited to a party, but have nothing cool to wear.

15
“What other sorts of problems might there be? Try to think of things that you have a
problem with at school.” (Receive examples, and write on the flip chart).

Activity 2: Problem Solving Brainstorm

“Let’s choose a problem that most people might have had. Look at the problems on the
board.”

Go through each problem, and ask children to put their hands up if it’s been a problem for
them. Select the problem that seems to be the most common. On a piece of flipchart
paper, write the problem in a bubble in the middle.

Ask children for all the possible solutions to the problem, positive AND negative. Write
responses around the edge. Ask children to decide if the solution is positive or negative,
and write the two in different colours. Explain that these are the ‘actions’ or ‘choices’ that a
person can make.

Once this is done, go through the solutions one at a time, and ask children what might
happen in each instance. Explain that these are the ‘consequences’. Again, record all
responses. The finished brainstorm should enable you to be able to select one or two
positive courses of action. An example brainstorm is shown below:

16

They might speak
to the children and
ask them to stop.
Tell an adult.
Being called names by someone.
Cry.
They might pick on
you more. They
might laugh at you.
Activity 3: Brainstorm Practice
They might call you
more names. You
You might get into might get into
trouble. You could trouble. It might
get hit back harder.
end in a big fight.
Call them names
Hit them.
back.
Ignore them. Ask them nicely
to stop.
They might get They might carry on
bored and stop. anyway. They
might stop.
17
Provide children with a sheet of plain A4 paper each. Ask them to choose another problem,
preferably one which they have experienced, and to complete a problem solving brainstorm
for it. They can use pictures and symbols instead of writing, if they prefer.

Review:
“Today we have been learning about how to solve problems. We have talked about the
types of problems people might have, and looked at a way to help deal with them.

Over the next week, please can you practice trying to solve problems? Take one problem
that you are finding hard, and do a brainstorm for it, like we have done today.”

Certificates:
Hand out certificates to pupils, and remind them that their task to practice is written on it,
for their parents/carers to help them with.

Session 5: ‘Feeling Safe’

18
Materials:
 Flip chart and pen
 ‘My Safe Place’ sheets
 A4 paper
 Pencils & colouring pencils
 Certificates

Group Purpose:
Reiterate this section as necessary: “Can everyone remember why we are meeting as a
group? (Wait for responses). We are meeting for 6 weeks to work on some important
social skills. Can everyone remember what social skills are? (Check understanding). They
are the things that help us get on with and talk to other people.”

Review of Last Week

“Before we look at what we will be learning about this week, let’s see if we can remember
what we learnt last time. Can everyone remember what we learnt about? (Receive
responses, and provide praise). We looked at solving problems, and used a problem solving
brainstorm to help us work out what to do. Can anybody give an example of a problem they
have tried to solve this week? Did you do anything differently because of using the
brainstorm to help you?” (Receive responses, and provide praise).

Introduce the Topic:

“Today’s topic is called ‘Staying Safe’. We all have times when we feel safe and unsafe.
Sometimes, we need to have these feelings, as they help protect us from getting hurt.
However, sometimes, feeling like this seems to happen to us a lot, and we might be scared
when we don’t really need to be. We are going to look at what we can do to make
ourselves feel safer at school, and help protect ourselves from things which might be
unsafe. When we feel unsafe at school, we might be too stressed or upset to be able to do
our work. We are also going to look at how to calm ourselves down if we are getting upset
because of unsafe feelings.”

Activity 1: Safety First

“What sorts of things make us feel safe? (Brainstorm ideas on the board in 2 columns).
What things make us feel unsafe?” Make sure to include:
 People that make us feel safe/unsafe.
 Places that make us feel safe/unsafe, and why.
 Safe/unsafe behaviour.
 Safe/unsafe activities.

“How does it make us feel, and what might we do if we feel unsafe?” Again, brainstorm on
the board in 2 columns. Make sure to include:
 Butterflies in stomach.
 Needing the toilet.
 Stomach ache/headache.
 Physically sick.
 Loss of appetite.

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 Tearful.
 Increased breathing/panic attack.
 Lashing out/hitting.
 Shaking.
 Sweating.

Activity 2: My Safe Place

Ask pupils to draw two pictures, one of a place or time where they feel really safe in whilst
at school, and another where they feel really unsafe. Ask pupils to make sure to include
areas, people, and activities in their pictures. Allow time afterwards to discuss each picture,
and the particular reasons why people feel this way about certain places. If particular
similarities arise, it may be that areas deemed particularly unsafe are raised with more
senior members of school staff at a later date.

Activity 3: Keeping Ourselves Safe

Ask pupils to complete a problem solving brainstorm for something/somewhere in school
which makes them feel unsafe. Remind pupils of the process, if necessary. This can be
completed as a group, if common themes emerge. Ensure pupils consider solutions
associated with what they could do about their environment, the people, and behaviours
and activities.

Activity 4: Dealing With Feelings

“When we feel unsafe, we can get really stressed and anxious. We are now going to look at
some of the things we can do to calm ourselves down if we are feeling really upset or
worried.”

Talk through the following strategies, and then give children time to practice some of them
in pairs. Operate a carousel system, whereby children work on a different skill each in their
pairs, then rotate after several minutes.

Verbal strategies:
 What is the worst thing that can happen?
 Everything is going to be ok.
 1, 2, 3, 4, 5…. (count for as long as you need).
 Calm down, everything will be ok.

Other strategies:
 Talking to someone. Find an adult who you feel happy to talk to, and tell them how you
are feeling.
 Breathe. Breathe in slowly for 7 seconds, then slowly breathe out for 11 seconds. Do
this 10 times, or as many times as you need.
 Relax and tense your muscles. Go through each part of your body, from your head to
your toes, and slowly tense then un-tense the muscles.
 Go to a quiet room. Go somewhere quiet that you find safe, and sit and relax.
 Think of a special place. Imagine somewhere that you love being, and pretend you are
there. Try to imagine all the sights, smells and sounds of the place.

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 Walk away. If you are in a place that you feel unsafe, or around people that are making
you upset, try to move as far away as possible. Make an excuse if necessary.
 Listen to music. If you can, and you like music, listen to some tracks that calm you
down.
 Use a stress ball. Get yourself a stress ball, or other object, and squeeze it when you’re
scared or upset. Imagine all your worries are leaving your hands, and going into the
stress ball.

Review:
“Today we have been learning about how to feel safe. We have talked about the things that
might make us feel unsafe, and how to deal with the feelings we might get when this
happens.

Over the next week, please can you practice one of the strategies we tried out to help us
calm down? If you feel unsafe this week, try out a different ways to calm down.”

Certificates:
Hand out certificates to pupils, and remind them that their task to practice is written on it,
for their parents/carers to help them with.

Session 6: ‘Review’
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Materials:
 Flip chart and pen
 A4 paper
 Pencils
 Quiz sheets
 Questionnaires
 Certificates

Group Purpose:
Reiterate this section as necessary: “Can everyone remember why we are meeting as a
group? (Wait for responses). We are meeting for 6 weeks to work on some important
social skills. Can everyone remember what social skills are? (Check understanding). They
are the things that help us get on with and talk to other people.”

Review of Last Week

“Before we look at what we will be doing today, let’s see if we can remember what we
learnt last time. (Receive responses, and provide praise). We looked at staying safe, and
how we can do this. We also learnt ways to help calm ourselves own if we get upset or
worried because of feeling unsafe. Can anybody give an example of using one of the
strategies we talked about to calm ourselves down? Did it work? If not, did you try
something different? What happened?” (Receive responses, and provide praise).

Introduce the Topic:

“We are not going to learn about anything new today, because it is our last week. Instead,
we are going to look at what we have learnt about over the last 5 weeks, and have a go at
practising some of the skills. Later, we will also celebrate everything that we have done and
learnt about.”

Activity 1: Role Plays

Ask children to practice being assertive, dealing with bullying, feeling safe, feeling proud,
and problem solving, the skills learnt over the last 5 weeks. Provide pupils with the
following options if they find it hard to think of situations for themselves:
 Assertive: Asking for help in class.
 Assertive: Saying ‘no’ when another child asks you to do something you don’t want to.
 Dealing with bullying: Standing up to a bully.
 Dealing with bullying: Reporting a bully to someone/what to do if you see bullying.
 Problem solving: What to do when you get worried about having to take a test.
 Problem solving: What to do when another child threatens to hit you.
 Feeling proud: Showing your good work to the head teacher.
 Feeling proud: Talking in front of the class about a story you have written.
 Feeling safe: What to do if your friends want to do something dangerous, and they want
you to do it too.
 Feeling safe: What to do if your friends like to hang around in unsafe places.

Activity 2: Quiz

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Provide pupils with a multi-choice quiz to determine what pupils have learnt from the
programme.

Activity 3: Questionnaires
Provide all pupils with a copy of the pupil questionnaire for completion. Provide the school
partner with a separate questionnaire, and ask them to complete it before the end of the
session if possible.

Activity 4: Celebration
Allow children 10-15 minutes at the end of the session to celebrate the completion of the
group work programme. Facilitators may wish to provide biscuits and juice as appropriate.

Goodbyes:
“It’s time for us to finish now. Well done for completing the programme. I hope you have
enjoyed it, and that you have learnt lots of important things. I have enjoyed working with
you. I hope the things that you have learnt help you in school.”

Certificates:
Hand out the final certificates to pupils.

References

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DCSF (2005) Primary SEAL Resources.

Mortimer, H. (2007) Worry Box: Managing Anxiety in Young Children, Stafford: QEd
Publications.

Scarpaci, R. (2006) Bullying: Effective Strategies for Its Prevention, Indianapolis: Kappa Delta
Pi.

Stallard, P. (2002) Think Good- Feel Good, John Wiley and Sons.

Wilding, C. and Milne, A. (2008) Teach Yourself Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Oxford:
Bookpoint Ltd.

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