1. I can stay true to myself despite external pressures
Year 6 – Feeling good and being me
I can stay true to myself despite external pressures
© Leeds South and East CCG

2. Learning outcomes Knowledge Skills
I know what positively and negatively affects my physical, mental and emotional health, including the media
I can use a way of resisting peer pressure
I can name factors that can help me cope with difficult feelings and situations 2

3. How we will work together
Can you remember the group agreement we have already talked about, let’s take a minute to think about them.
Teacher notes
Read these through with the children. Hopefully the group agreement will be displayed in the classroom already. 3

4. What do we already know?
What is your physical, mental and emotional health?
What influences your physical, mental and emotional health?
Discuss what we mean by influences. Invite children to share their thoughts. 4

5. Let’s get started What sort of people/things can influence you?
Can influences be good or bad?
Children could brainstorm as a group and record their ideas or this could be done as a whole class.
In pairs, think about characters in film / tv programme that have had to do something difficult/dangerous/outside their comfort zone. Eg – Harry Potter fighting Voldemort/ Dr Who facing the Darleks / something from a soap opera etc. What influences the characters’ actions eg, Harry P fighting V in order to protect his friends. Were these influences positive or negative? 5

6. Who influences you? Diamond 9 activity
Decide who influences you the most and least
Discuss how things as well as people, eg technology, can influence you
Provide children with the diamond 9 cards, including some blanks for children to add own ideas. . Ask them to work in a group/pair to arrange their diamond 9 cards in a diamond shape with the most influential at the top and least influential at the bottom.
Allow children to discuss their thoughts. If there is a lot of disagreement reassure children that this is normal. We are all different and therefore may be influenced by different things. As a class, discuss those cards that children disagreed on the most/least. Why do you think this is? What affects your decisions on this? Help children to understand that their own experiences will affect their decisions and thoughts. 6

7. Positive and negative influences
Sort the pictures according to who/what you think might have a positive or negative effect on you or others
Show photos of celebrities/ images of objects etc. You may want to include alternative pictures that you know will suit the class you are teaching. Sort them according to who they think could have positive and negative influence. Discuss what we mean by positive and negative influence. What might some of the dangers of a negative influence be? The children may not be aware of some of the people so a discussion may need to be had. Ensure that children are aware that having a negative influence doesn’t mean that someone is a bad person but they may just not be suitable for children to listen to / watch etc. Help children to understand what is appropriate and inappropriate for them.
You could discuss the pressure people feel to look like celebrities. You could show a before and after airbrushing picture to explain the unrealistic idea that we can look like these celebrities when their images are not always real. 7

8. Positive and negative influences on our…
Physical health
Mental and emotional health
Children working in groups with 2 large body outlines on A1 paper – unhealthy mind and body and healthy mind and body. Children to scribe around the figure things that influence unhealthy/healthy physical, mental and emotional health.
Make sure children are clear on the difference between physical, emotional and mental health.
Draw attention to the overlap between these.
Ask the children to look at the pictures that they have sorted. Can they think about who might influence their physical, emotional and mental health. Again remind children that they may have different opinions on this. Discuss this as a class once groups/pairs have discussed.
Unhealthy
Healthy 8

9. How to resist pressures
Thinking back to Year 4… How can you resist negative influences?
Discuss different ways we can resist negative influences. Brainstorm children’s ideas
E.G
Know what is healthy/unhealthy/ know the risks/dangers so that you can make a decision
Knowing you have the right to say no, know that it’s ok to do things differently to others
Be confident
Be assertive and firm without being angry
Use a strong voice, stand up tall, and look people in the eye
It is always an option to walk away
Ask for support from friend/family/staff at school / ChildLine etc.
Discuss benefits or these and ask children to think about which would be most successful for them.
Pick an ‘unhealthy’ influence from A1 paper from previous activity and role play with partner how you would resist this influence eg., friend trying to persuade you to choose sweets over fruit/brother trying to persuade you to stay in on the Xbox when you want to go out and play football. Practice saying ‘No’ in different ways. 9

10. How has our learning progressed?
What/who do you think should influence you?
What/who should not? Why?
Who/what do you think might influence you in high school?
What do we need to remember in order to resist negative influences?
Discuss whether the children think these influences are likely to be positive or negative. How might you resist these pressures? Remind children of the list create to help resist negative influences. 10

11. Taking the learning away
When watching TV, looking in magazines etc. think about the celebrities that you see
How might people be influenced by them?
Is this a good or bad thing?
What can you tell yourself as you look at them?
What could you tell others? 11

12. Additional resources and help
Talk to your teacher or an adult in school
Talk to your Mum, Dad or someone you trust at home about how you are feeling
If you have them: – Write your worry down and post it in the class worry box – Talk to a peer mediator in your school – Write your worry down on the worry wall on the school’s website
Contact:
im-a-young-person
Where can I go for help? 12