Lesson video

Hello, and welcome to lesson two of our current unit, mental wellbeing, talking about our emotions.

In this lesson, we will be looking at the link between connecting with others and our wellbeing.

We will also consider the importance of quality friendships.

In this lesson, you will need a pen, and some paper or an exercise book to write on.

If you do not have this equipment right now, pause the video and go and get it.

Just press play when you are ready to carry on.

What is today's agenda? Well, we will start by answering this question, what is a connection to others? We will then discuss the link between those connections and our own mental wellbeing.

We will then move on to decide who do we have connections with and look at what makes those quality, connections, and friendships.

We will end with a reflection and an exit quiz.

Let's start by seeing if you can remember our six ways to positive wellbeing that we learned about in the last lesson.

I will give you some thinking time now, so pause the video and see if you can jot down as many of the six that you can remember.

Let's see now, if you can remember the same six that we discussed last lesson.

Now, remember, all of these things are vital in you having a positive mental wellbeing.

And there are lots of examples that fit with these in order to help you.

So, did you come up with the same things that I did? Being physically active, learning new skills, giving to others, being mindful, sleeping, and finally connecting to others.

And this is what we are going to focus on today.

Connection to others is about your relationships with the people around you.

It can really help you to create a sense of belonging and self-worth.

And you might even remember some of the examples that we discussed last lesson.

So what is the link between connecting with others and our wellbeing? I'd like you to pause the video now and see if you can see a link between these two things.

As humans, we are social creatures, and our social relationships are critical for our positive mental wellbeing.

Relationships can help us feel that we belong.

And it is important to make time and space for family and friends, as well as to make new connections with others.

We are going to complete our first task now.

I would like you to create a mind map with this in the middle, connecting with others.

I would like you then to create some ideas that help you to connect with others.

So let's do one as an example.

My first idea would be, to have a family meal.

You may want to add that to your mind map now.

Please now, pause the video to complete the task.

How many ideas can you come up with that help us connect to other people in our lives? Press play when you are ready to resume the video.

Let's compare our mind maps now.

Did you get any of the same ideas as me or perhaps you have got some different great ideas to help you to connect with others? So other examples that I've written down include, playing a card game or a board game, calling a relative to catch up with them, or arranging a walk with a friend.

These are all some good ideas to help you connect with others.

If you would like to pause the video now to compare on mind maps, that would be fantastic.

See if you can add any more.

Let's have a look now at some good and bad examples of connecting with others.

I have created this list, and on your piece of paper or your exercise book, I would like you to create two lists.

One of good examples, and one of bad examples.

Let's take our first one here, a family dinner.

Now, as we have already discussed, this is a good example of how we can look after our mental wellbeing by connecting with others.

Pause the video and when you are ready, press play, and we will compare the list that you have made.

Let's see if we have had the same ideas.

So lets start with our bad examples, do you agree with me that sitting on your phone all day, watching TV alone, and staying inside all of the time are not good examples of how we can connect to others? In fact, these are the opposite.

These mean spending lots of time alone and not really seeing or being with others.

However, there are some good examples on that list and I am sure that these are some ideas that you are already doing yourselves.

So having a family dinner, playing a card game or board game, having a day out with some friends, whether that's to go for a walk, using technology to stay in touch with your family and friends, and also cooking with a parent or carer.

These are all fantastic ways for you to connect with the people in your lives and even maybe meeting someone new.

A quick true or false now for you, connections with others provide emotional support and allow you to support others.

Do you think this is true or false? Point to the screen now.

If you pointed to true, then well done, this is true.

And it is all about providing support to others and receiving support as well.

And that is really important for your mental wellbeing, so well done.

What about this one there? Watching TV alone will improve your connections with others.

Again, point to the screen, is this true or false? I'm sure you agree with me that this is false, and that actually, what might be a better way to spend your time is to turn that television off and see if anyone would like to play a card or board game with you, or perhaps you could cook a meal together.

Now I would like you to think about who you have connections with.

Pause the video and consider the different people in your lives and how you connect with them.

What different types of connections did you come up with? Now, I have created a list here, but yours might be different to mine, so don't worry.

There are many different people in all of our lives and these may include our carers, our friends, our pets, and even the school staff.

Write down how you have been helped by any of these groups of people or even the names on your list that you wrote down before.

Pause the video now and add some notes to how these different groups of people have helped you.

Another true or false statement here for you now.

Having lots of friends is more important than having a few good ones.

What do you think? Point to either true or false.

So hopefully, you agree with me that that statement is false.

It is absolutely nice to have lots of friends, but remember, that it is more important to have a few good quality friends around you that are there to provide support and people that you can really trust.

Good quality friendships will help you to build in confidence.

And I would like you now to think about your best friends.

Why are they your best friends? What qualities do you consider when you are choosing your friends? An important quality for me is that my friends will listen.

Pause the video now and take the time to think about the qualities that you look for.

Press play when you're ready to compare our answers.

Let's have a look now at whether we have got the same list.

And you will look for different qualities to me, so remember that that is okay, but let's see if we've got anything that was similar.

So we've already discussed that I think it's important to have someone who listens, but also I like my friends to have a sense of humour, as well as someone that I can trust and who is there to encourage me, to make me want to be the best possible version of myself and that will help me to make good choices.

This brings us to our reflection.

When was the last time that you made time to talk to those that care for you at home? When was the last time that you contacted a friend to check that they were okay? And how do you think you could improve the connections that you have with others? These are all really important questions to consider, now that we have completed this lesson.

You now have an exit quiz to do.

If you would like to share your work with Oak National, make sure you check with your parents and carers and tag @OakNational on Twitter.

Thank you so much for again, working so hard and for completing lesson two.

I will see you again very soon.

Goodbye.