NHS Togetherness STAGING

Unit Summary

Unit Overview & Teacher Mastery 

Written in conjunction with the NHS, this unit helps children become ‘Emotion Detectives’, learning to name and recognise their emotions and notice how they feel in their bodies. They learn to measure feelings using a simple scale, explore emotions such as anger and anxiety, and understand that while some worry can be helpful, big feelings should be shared with a trusted adult. Children practise strategies for managing big emotions and learn the phrase, ‘Can you help me with this big feeling?’ The unit also explores how sleep, movement, time outdoors and healthy food support both physical and emotional wellbeing.

Throughout the unit, adults are encouraged to model their own feelings, showing children that everyone experiences emotions and that all feelings deserve to be understood and talked about rather than ignored. Strong relationships with trusted adults are central to helping children recognise, express and manage their emotions, with teachers provided with scripts and guidance to support healthy emotional modelling.

The six lessons are designed to sit within a wider whole-school approach to emotional health. Ideally, they should be delivered once children have settled into Year 1 and could be revisited during transition into Year 2. Schools are also encouraged to involve parents through the Togetherness online parenting course and support staff through emotional health training. By seeing adults recognise and manage their own emotions, children learn that feelings are shared, manageable experiences that they do not have to navigate alone.

National Curriculum Attainment Targets

• The range and scale of emotions (e.g. happiness, sadness, anger, fear, surprise, nervousness) that they might experience in different situations. Pupils should understand that worrying and feeling down are normal, affect everyone at different times, and are not in themselves a sign of a mental health condition.
• How to recognise feelings and use varied vocabulary to talk about their own and others’ feelings.
• How to judge whether what they are feeling and how they are behaving is appropriate and proportionate.
• Where and how to seek support (including recognising the triggers for seeking support), including who in school they should speak to if they are worried about their own or someone else’s mental wellbeing or ability to control their emotions (including issues arising online).
• The benefits of physical activity, time outdoors, and helping others for health, wellbeing and happiness. Simple self-care techniques, including the importance of rest, time spent with friends and family, as well as hobbies, interests and community participation.
• The importance of promoting general wellbeing and physical health.