Help-Seeking Skills

Overview

Year Level: Years 5–6
Subject: Health and Physical Education (HPE)
Lesson: 6 of 10 in the unit Safe Connections: Communication Skills
Lesson Title: Help-Seeking Strategies
Duration: 45 minutes
Class Size: 31 students

Curriculum Alignment

Australian Curriculum – Health and Physical Education (Personal, Social and Community Health)
Strand: Personal, Social and Community Health
Sub-Strand: Being healthy, safe and active
Content Descriptions Covered:

• ACPPS053 – Examine how identities are influenced by people and places
• ACPPS054 – Investigate community resources and ways to seek help about health, safety and wellbeing
• ACPPS055 – Plan and practise strategies to promote health, safety and wellbeing

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Learning Intentions

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:

1. Identify a range of situations where help may be needed.
2. Recognise trusted people and services they can go to for help.
3. Develop a personal help-seeking plan that is realistic and achievable.

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Success Criteria

Students will:

• Articulate at least 3 situations where help-seeking may be necessary
• List 4–6 trusted sources (people or services) they can approach
• Complete a personal help-seeking plan demonstrating thoughtful choices

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Materials Required

• Whiteboard and whiteboard markers
• Sticky notes (3 per student)
• "Help-Seeking Strategy Cards" (prepared prior – examples below)
• Large sheet of butcher’s paper
• “My Help-Seeking Plan” template – one per student
• Pencils, textas, coloured paper for visual planning
• Timer or clock
• Access to classroom wellbeing displays showing staff photos (e.g., school counsellor)

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Vocabulary

• Help-seeking
• Trust
• Safe adult
• Confidential
• Respect
• Wellbeing

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Lesson Sequence

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1. Welcome & Warm-Up (5 mins)

Activity: “Emoji Check-In”

Brief emotional pulse-check with emojis drawn on the whiteboard. Students place a tick or dot under the emoji that best represents their current mood.

Purpose: Encourages emotional literacy, sets safe tone for the discussion of wellbeing.

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2. Partner Discussion: When Might You Need Help? (7 mins)

Instructions:

• Students pair up and brainstorm times when someone might need help at home, school, online, or with friends.
• Each student writes two ideas on separate sticky notes (e.g. “Feeling left out at school”, “Being bullied online”).

Place the sticky notes on the whiteboard under categories: School, Home, Online, Friendship.

Discussion:
Invite volunteers to read out examples. Highlight how help-seeking can be proactive and preventative, not just a last resort.

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3. Mini-Lesson: Who Can We Ask for Help? (6 mins)

Use large butcher’s paper titled “Trusted People & Places”.

Guide students through mapping out people/services they might approach including:

• Parents or carers
• Siblings or extended family
• Teachers
• School counsellor or principal
• Friends who listen and respect boundaries
• Kids Helpline (Australians-only service – mention service, don’t include a link)

Optional discussion prompt:
“Can someone online be a safe person to ask for help? When? When not?”

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4. Group Activity: Strategy Sorting (8 mins)

In mixed-ability groups of 4, students receive a set of Help-Seeking Strategy Cards – e.g.,

• “Tell a teacher I trust”
• “Ignore the problem”
• “Call Kids Helpline”
• “Pretend everything is okay”
• “Talk to a parent or carer”
• “Ask a friend who’s good at listening”

Task:

• Sort strategies into:
  • ✅ Helpful and Safe
  • ⚠️ Maybe Helpful
  • ❌ Not Helpful

Debrief: As a class, review one group’s sorted cards. Emphasise empathy, persistence, and knowing multiple options.

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5. Main Task: Personal Help-Seeking Plan (15 mins)

Introduce task: “Just like we plan what to do if there's a fire, it’s just as important to know what we’ll do if we need help emotionally, socially or online.”

Each student receives a My Help-Seeking Plan template. Prompts include:

• I would ask for help if… (3 examples)
• People I trust to help me are… (5 names – can include school, family, helplines)
• What I can say to ask for help… (e.g., “I don’t feel okay and I need someone to talk to”)
• What I can do if one person can’t help… (Plan B and Plan C)

Optional extension/visual learners: Students decorate their plans with icons or colours to show urgency (e.g., red for urgent situations).

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6. Reflection Circle: “One Brave Thing” (4 mins)

Students sit in a circle (or remain at desks), and those who feel comfortable share:

• One “brave thing” they think someone might have to do to ask for help
• Or one trusted person they included in their plan

Emphasise courage isn’t loud – even small steps toward help-seeking are powerful.

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7. Closure and Exit Ticket (Brief Wrap-Up) (Bonus Minute)

Exit Ticket Prompt (write on scrap paper or in wellbeing journals):

"One action I can take this week if I need help is…"

Collect as students leave or read anonymously aloud to reinforce ideas.

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Assessment (Formative)

• Observation during group card sorting and whole-class discussions
• Completed “My Help-Seeking Plan” demonstrating considered strategies & people
• Participation in the reflection circle

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Differentiation

Support:

• Teacher or support aide can scribe for students with additional needs
• Strategy cards include visuals for EAL/D learners

Extension:

• Early finishers can develop peer-help strategies or role-play asking for support in safe settings

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Teacher Reflection (Post-Lesson Prompts)

• Which students confidently named trusted adults and services?
• Who showed uncertainty or avoidance when discussing help-seeking?
• Which strategies did students agree were most realistic for their age?

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Follow-Up Ideas

• Role-play asking for help with different emotional tones (e.g. nervous, frustrated)
• Invite the school counsellor or wellbeing leader to visit next lesson
• Display anonymised student-created “help plans” on a wellbeing wall

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"Help-seeking is a sign of strength, not weakness. The more we practise it, the more resilient we become."