Flying off the virtual shelf!

CoRAY was a project based at the University of Oxford. We joined forces with CoRAY to produce a pack of mental health lessons and resources. They can be used by teachers and others who work with children and young people, and also by parents and carers.

Five key mental health challenges

Researchers, clinicians and young people were central in creating the resources to ensure the advice is all evidence-informed. The pack is based on five key challenges young people said they most wanted support with:

• Managing change and uncertainty
• Feeling lonely, isolated, and disconnected
• Feeling bored, flat, and unmotivated
• Feeling anxious about social situations
• Getting help or support for mental health

Practical guides

The packs comprise a series of lessons ready to deliver to pupils in Key Stages 3 and 4. For each topic, there are two lesson plans, two sets of PowerPoint slides, and accompanying worksheets and videos.

There is a practical guide to support teachers to deliver sessions to young people with additional needs, and one to help parents use the resources.

The parent guide includes two videos entitled Encouraging Young People to Seek Help and Managing Change and Uncertainty.

There is also guidance to support parents and carers in having helpful, honest and empathetic conversations with young people about their thoughts and feelings.

In the two weeks since we launched the resources, take-up has been very encouraging

Enthusiastic take-up

In the two weeks since we launched the resources, take-up has been very encouraging: there have been 354 downloads of the main teachers’ pack, 135 of the material relating to additional needs, and 216 of the parent pack.

Teachers' views

Natalie Hunt, the Mental Health and Wellbeing Coordinator at Abingdon School in Oxfordshire, reviewed the resources on ‘Feeling Bored, Flat and Unmotivated’. She said:

"I think these sessions will be incredibly useful for teachers and students as one of the most common issues I have seen has been around lack of motivation and procrastination, both for high achieving students through to those who are disengaged with their learning."

These sessions will be incredibly useful for teachers and students

Rachel Stacey-McKay, teacher and mental health trainer, said, “As a SENCo [Special Educational Needs Coordinator], these resources are brilliant.”

You can find out more and download the resources here:

Explore resources

We hope you find them interesting and helpful.