Lesson video

Hello, my name's Mrs. O'Neill.

And this is the first lesson in a series of lessons, all about puberty and menstrual wellbeing.

As part of a unit on the changing adolescent body.

Today's lesson is going to be all about exploring what is meant by puberty and what young people can expect to happen during that phase of their life.

It may be that this lesson recaps a lot of what is already been learned in primary school, and that's absolutely fine and will really help to set the scene for the lessons to come.

However, for some of you, it may be that you've never studied this topic before, and that's absolutely fine.

Let's make a start.

So do remember that this lesson will cover issues about puberty and growing up that may be sensitive to you.

We do recommend checking with a trusted adult before starting or doing the lesson or doing the lesson with a trusted adult nearby.

If this is something that you're concerned about.

So for today's lesson, you are going to need an exercise book or a piece of paper and a pen or something to write with.

Let's look at the agenda for today.

Let's have a look at the agenda for today's lesson.

Hopefully you've completed our intro quiz.

If you haven't, just pause the video and hop back and complete that before we start.

We're going to go through some of the key words.

I'm going to set the scene for this lesson and the lessons ahead.

We're going to talk about what talking about puberty really entails.

We're going to look at the changes for those who were born as a biological female, and those were born as a biological male.

And then we're going to look at our exit quiz today, and you'll be able to see how much you've learned and the knowledge that you can take away.

There is one more thing I'm going to ask you to please have at the ready as we embark on this lesson, and that's an open mind and a lack of embarrassment.

The content of today's lesson may at times be something that you feel a little awkward about, and while that's completely fine and normal, to get the most out of today's lesson, I'd like you to please leave that behind at the door and be ready to take part wholeheartedly.

So let's look at some of the key words for today's lesson.

Puberty describes changes that take place, where you physically become able to reproduce.

By that we mean make babies.

It's part of growing up for everybody.

Penis is the male part of the body used for sex and urinating.

Sometimes it's referred to as private parts or genitalia.

Testes sit beside the penis and create sperm.

The Adam's apple is the male voice box that sticks out on males, usually.

Vagina is the term for the internal female genitalia or private parts.

The vulva describes the parts of the female genitalia.

A period describes the normal monthly cycle of bleeding for females, also known as menstruation.

And breasts describe the pair of glands that extend in front of the chest on females.

So, first of all, I'm going to ask you a question and I'm going to ask you to reflect on this for a couple of seconds.

You might want to jot a couple of ideas down, or you might just want to think, how does talking and thinking about puberty make you feel? So how does talking and thinking about puberty make you feel? Give you a moment.

It may be that it makes you feel uncomfortable, embarrassed, scared, frightened.

It might be that actually you're quite interested and you genuinely understand that looking to the future, these changes are going to happen.

And maybe it doesn't phase you.

Let me make clear that all of these responses are absolutely normal.

There's a variety of reasons why people may have real anxieties about puberty and it's absolutely fine.

At the end of this lesson, I will give you some information about who you can contact if puberty and the idea of puberty and talking and thinking about puberty is something really uncomfortable to you.

But for now, I just want you to keep those ideas to one side, because at the end, we're going to come back to this question and I hope that maybe your response may have changed slightly.

And if it hasn't though, then that's also fine.

So let's set the scene.

Let's think about what this lesson in fact, this series of lessons is going to be all based around.

So I want you think back to primary school lessons, did you have a lesson or a talk about puberty? Puberty is the word that describes the changes that take place to your body and your brain, as you physically become able to reproduce or make babies, that doesn't mean that you ever have to do that.

That is a personal choice, and for some people, the ability to reproduce might be something that medically is difficult for them, but puberty is essentially the body's way of getting ready for that process.

But it's also about growing up and the changes that take place in your body at the start of this process.

For this lesson, we will talk about boys and girls separately at times.

Our biological sex, whether or not we are born as a boy or girl, will affect the changes that happen to you.

Now it might be that your gender does not match the biological sex that you were ascribed at birth.

In which case, puberty we know, might be an even more anxious time for you than it might be for people whose gender matches their biological sex from birth.

Again, please do bear in mind that everything we discuss in this lesson is for everybody and for all young people.

And if you do need extra support at the end of the lesson, as I've said earlier, we will be signposting you towards some organisations that will be able to help a little bit further if you need it.

So we're going to do a true or false question now.

Just to test if you've been listening.

Changes that take place during puberty relate only to the body.

Is that true or is that false? Please point to the screen to the answer that you think is correct now.

Shall we see if you're right.

It's false because changes also take place in the brain during puberty, not just in the body.

So let's set the scene a bit further.

Puberty normally starts between the age of nine and 11, but that can vary.

You might have noticed some of these changes happening to you and you might feel like you're the only one going through these changes.

But let me assure you, as I've already said, this word normal is something we need to remember because these changes that happen to you are normal.

You will not be the only person to have experienced these emotions or these physical changes.

So this lesson is intended to be a recap because we expect that most primary schools will have covered this content, but it might be the first time that you've covered it, which is of course fine.

And hopefully, as you now go forward into future lessons as a secondary school pupil, this lesson has given you that information to really help you on your way.

Everyone experiences puberty in the same way.

Is that true or is that false? Point to the screen now.

Okay, that's false because everyone will experience puberty differently or they may do, and that's normal.

Here's some general signs of puberty that all young people can expect.

Some growth at the hands and feet, pubic hair or hair around the genitals that will begin to grow.

Sweating more, perhaps change to sleep.

And some emotional changes, specifically for those young people whose biological sex is female.

They can expect breast growth, hips widening, vulva growth and their periods to start.

And there are future lessons within this unit specifically about periods.

So, multiple choice.

Which of these changes happens to everybody regardless of their sex? Please point to the right answer.

Is it breast growth, period starting, pubic hair growth or hips widening? So one of these remember, happens to everybody.

It is pubic hair growth that have, will happen to everybody, no matter what their biological sex or gender.

So for those who are born as a biological male, they can expect the following changes to occur.

Facial hair growth, the Adam's apple that I mentioned before, muscle growth and genitalia growth, the testes followed by the penis.

So I would like you to complete the sentence.

I'd like you to pause the video for a moment and write down how you would finish this sentence please.

The biggest challenge for young person going through puberty would be.

Pause the video, complete the sentence and press play when you're ready to continue.

Huge thanks, hopefully you finished that sentence now.

Huge, thanks.

Hopefully you finished that sentence now.

And there's no right or wrong answer here because for every individual young person, the biggest challenge will be different.

For some, it may be more about the emotional changes, for some, it may be generally all the changes to the body, for some, it may be associated with their gender and how that might be different from their sex that they were assigned at birth.

And they may not be comfortable with the changes.

For some, it may be that actually the biggest challenge is the knowledge and the knowledge and understanding around what's happening or indeed how to communicate about it.

So have a task here for you.

I would like you to please pause the video and to organise the following different aspects of puberty or words associated with puberty into categories.

Do we associate the word or the aspect of puberty with boys, with girls or with both? Remember here by boys and girls, we are talking about biological sex.

So pause the video, organise your key words here and your aspects of puberty into those three categories and press play when ready to continue.

Wonderful, thank you so much for completing that task.

Shall we see if you are correct? So before we go through the answers here, let me make clear this is not an exhaustive list of the changes that will happen during puberty.

Certainly we're covering here some of the main ones, and as these lessons in this unit progress, we will also cover some more, hopefully this gives a really good overview of the changes that you can expect to occur.

So in your column for girls, for those who were born as a biological female, you may have got the answers correct.

And if you have, that will say periods, breast growth, and vulva growth.

For boys or those who are born as biologically male, erections or hardening of the penis is something that will begin and will begin to happen and may happen at completely random and times that there's no explanation for in the mind of the male, but it's the body preparing itself to be able to have sex in the future, when old enough.

The Adam's apple will grow.

And that's part of the development of the area around the voice box, as the voice will also deepen during puberty.

the testes will grow and ejaculation will become possible and will be something that happens regularly.

And perhaps also something that happens without warning or without any kind of desire from the male for that to happen.

For both girls and boys, we can expect more sweating, emotional changes, growth at the hands and feet, pubic hair growth and sleep issues.

It's certainly worth pointing out at this point in the lesson, that a small proportion of young people may be what's known as intersex.

What that means is that they have aspects of both female and male genitalia.

This is normally something that's noticed at birth or when a young person is a baby or small child.

Again, if this is something that concerns you or you're worried about, please see the details of who to contact at the end of the lesson if you are seeking more information and that's relevant to you.

So let's return back to this question that we looked at at the very start of the lesson.

How does talking and thinking about puberty make you feel? Just take a moment to reflect if the answer has changed or stayed the same, jot down your thoughts, pause the video for a moment to do that, then press play when ready.

Wonderful, thank you, for some of you, you may now have an added confidence in some areas and you may feel differently.

For others of you, the same concerns may still apply.

And again, that's absolutely fine.

And hopefully, if your concerns and anxieties are something that is really bothering you, we can point out where you can go for more information or help.

So Childline, an organisation that can offer free advice over the telephone at any point is contactable on 0800 11 11.

A trusted adult is also someone you can turn to.

That might be a teacher or someone that works in school.

Someone within your family, someone you can confide in or ask questions.

So you might want to identify who your trusted adult is.

You can of course see your GP or other health professional, and for lots of information about puberty if you want to find out more, please visit the NHS website because there's lots of information there that will be factual, correct.

And give you a lot, lot more in depth knowledge than this lesson provides if that's something that you're interested in.

Thanks for joining me today in this first lesson all about the changing adolescent body with a focus on exploring puberty.

I do hope that you'll join me for future lessons in this unit where we'll go into in more depth, some of the changes that you can expect to happen as you go through this part of your life.

I look forward to seeing you next time.

Thank you, goodbye.

And remember, please don't forget to complete today's exit quiz.