Aims1 For pupils to explore their understanding of

the word ‘resilience’ 2 To apply this understanding to situations where

they may benefit from being resilient 3 To explore their own coping strategies

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Example: Interviews with people who received support from their community and strangers to cope with flooding

Step One: Introduction

Choose an (age-appropriate) news clip which illustrates community support following a difficult situation.

Assembly guideGet through difficult times and bounce forward - a resilience themed assembly

Suitable for secondary age young people

Materials requiredl Recent news clip

l YouTube clip of Olympian Derek Redmond

l OPTIONAL: PowerPoint slides

Step Two [corresponds with slide 2]

Show the word ‘resilience’ on a screen and discuss:

l Have you ever heard of this word? l What do you think it means?l How does the word ‘resilience’ apply to the

news clip just played? l What sources of resilience are the people in

the clip using? (for instance remaining hopeful, problem-solving, adapting to new situations, asking for help when needed and accepting the support of others)

[continue to slide 3]

Here are some suggested words and phrases that relate to the word ‘resilience’. You may want to discuss each of these if they haven’t already been suggested by pupils:

l Adapting to a new situation l Trying an alternative approach l Keep trying when things get hard (as long as

this is appropriate)l Seeking support from others l Bouncing forwardl Perseveringl Being optimistic l Staying positive

Step Three

[corresponds with slide 4]

There are many examples of resilience in everyday life.

Ask the pupils to suggest a famous person who has shown resilience in the face of challenging circumstances.

Suggested prompts: Tom Daley, Ellie Simmonds, Nelson Mandela, Malala Yousafzai, Katie Piper

Discuss: l What do you like or admire about them? l What might you learn from how they have

coped with challenging situations?

Introduce Olympian Derek Redmond, a 400 metre runner who was tipped for gold.

He trained hard for the 1992 Olympics but during the semi-final race, things didn’t go according to plan:

Watch:Derek Redmond semi-final racetinyurl.com/derekrunning

Invite ideas or brief discussion in pairs: l Can you imagine how Derek must have felt?

l What do you think made him keep going to the very end, even though he was in severe pain and had no chance of winning?

Suggested discussion prompts: l Support from his father (help from others)l A sense of pride that all of his hard work

counted for somethingl Determinationl Accepting that things don’t always go to plan

and amending goals (he was no longer able to win gold but his goal became crossing the finishing line)

Draw parallels between the news clip you showed and Derek Redmond.

Step Four [corresponds with slide 5]

Invite pupils to think of situations and events where they, or others, have needed to be resilient.

l What happened? l What did resilience look like? l Did it include some of the resilient behaviour

we have seen in the previous two examples?

Invite staff and pupils to share their thoughts.

NOTE: You may choose to prearrange with staff members so they can share a safe example of their own resilience in school.

Step Five [corresponds with slide 6]

Finally, show the word ‘resilience’ on screen again and the surrounding definitions previously shared.

Invite pupils to reflect on what they currently do when faced with a challenging situation, and what other ways they might be able to develop their resilience in future.

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Potential sources of resilience could include:l Helping each other and asking for help l Remaining hopefull Having a plan to move forwardl Determinationl Problem solving l Accepting that things don’t always go to plan

and adjusting goals

Accompanying music ideas: Shake it off (Taylor Swift) Survivor (Destiny’s child) Feeling Good (Nina Simone) Not givin’ in (Rudimental) Keep your head up (Ben Howard)

Optional follow on classroom activities include:

l Allow young people to interview staff about something they found tough in the past and ask them how they got through it. Think of some questions that bring out their skills, strengths, support system and qualities that lead to resilience

l Take photos that encapsulate the word ‘resilience’ - look for inspiration in nature, the local environment and make a collage or a display

l Make your own ‘resilience plan’ giving yourself daily resilience goals, and keep it on your mobile phone

l Download our ‘top tips’ for children from www.ChildrensMentalHealthWeek.org.uk and talk through three things we can all do every day to help keep our minds healthy