Keeping Friendships Healthy

Overview

In this ninth lesson of Friendship and Feelings, students apply earlier learning about emotions, empathy and communication. They identify behaviours that strengthen friendships, notice warning signs, practise ways to repair harm, and map trusted adults they can approach when a problem feels unsafe or too difficult to manage alone.

Learning intentions

• WALT identify behaviours that help friendships grow.
• WALT recognise warning signs in friendship situations.
• WALT practise respectful ways to repair harm and maintain boundaries.
• WALT identify when and how to seek support from a trusted adult.

Success criteria

• I can name ways to care for a friendship.
• I can recognise behaviours that may make a friendship feel unsafe or unhealthy.
• I can suggest a respectful way to repair harm.
• I can identify a trusted adult to talk to when a problem feels unsafe or too hard.

Curriculum links

• Relationships — using critical thinking, respectful discussion and empathy to build inclusive, respectful relationships.
• Relationships — recognising how people’s actions can affect others and understanding safe sharing and privacy.
• Bodies | Minds / Self-care — using supportive strategies to protect mental, emotional and physical wellbeing.
• Health and PE learning supports the key competencies of relating to others, managing self, and participating and contributing.

Lesson structure (45 minutes)

1. 0–5 min · Welcome and safety agreement. Teacher opens with the hook and learning intention slides and asks, “What helps a friendship feel safe and strong?” Establish that students will discuss fictional examples, may pass or write instead of speaking, and should not name real people or share private stories. Students think quietly, then offer one idea using a turn-taking routine.

2. 5–12 min · Teach friendship builders and warning signs. Teacher uses the friendship builders and warning signs slides to clarify trust, kindness, honesty, privacy and boundaries. Explain that healthy friendships include listening, inclusion, keeping appropriate private information private, respecting “no”, and telling the truth; warning signs may include repeated exclusion, pressure, threats, controlling behaviour, unwanted sharing of personal content, or being made to keep a harmful secret. Students show a thumbs-up, sideways or down response to fictional examples and explain their thinking.

3. 12–24 min · Scenario sort. Teacher gives the group the friendship scenario cards and models sorting one example into “helps a friendship”, “needs a conversation”, or “seek adult support”. Remind students that a warning sign does not always mean someone is “bad”; it means support or a safer choice may be needed. Students work in pairs, reading or listening to the cards, sorting them and choosing one card to discuss. Each pair explains the behaviour, how it might affect someone, and what a safe next step could be.

4. 24–32 min · Repairing harm and setting boundaries. Teacher returns to the repair and boundaries slides and models: “I’m sorry I…”, “That wasn’t okay. Next time I will…”, “Please stop”, and “I need help with this.” Emphasise that apologising is useful but does not remove the need for adult support when harm is serious, repeated or unsafe. Students role-play one fictional situation, with one student practising a repair or boundary statement and the other responding respectfully; students may rehearse privately with the teacher instead.

5. 32–41 min · Trusted-adult support map. Teacher distributes the trusted-adult support map and explains that students can record school and home adults, what they could say, and how they could reach that person. Include alternatives such as a note, drawing, message or asking another trusted adult to help. Students complete their maps independently, with teacher or teacher-aide check-ins. No student is required to disclose a personal concern to the group.

6. 41–45 min · Review and exit response. Teacher uses the review and exit prompt slide to revisit the WALT. Students complete the final section of the trusted-adult support map: “One friendship builder is…”, “One warning sign is…”, and “A trusted adult I could talk to is…”. Invite volunteers to share general ideas, then collect worksheets discreetly.

Resources

• the complete Keeping Friendships Healthy slide deck
• the trusted-adult support map
• the friendship scenario cards
• Board or chart paper
• Pencils, coloured pencils and highlighters
• Optional privacy folders or clipboards
• Read-aloud copies and dyslexia-friendly versions of all written material

Assessment

• Listen for students accurately distinguishing friendship-building behaviours from warning signs, and ask, “What makes you think that?”
• During role-play and mapping, check whether students can suggest a respectful boundary, repair statement or safe next step.
• Use the completed exit response to identify students who need clarification or a private follow-up. Follow school safeguarding procedures if a student discloses harm or an unsafe situation; listen calmly, do not promise secrecy, record accurately and pass the concern to the designated safeguarding person.

Differentiation

• Provide read-aloud support, short sentences, large clear print, uncluttered layouts and dyslexia-friendly fonts. Allow drawing, pointing, dictating or one-to-one responses.
• Use sentence starters: “A friendship grows when…”, “This could feel…”, “A safe next step is…”, and “I could talk to…”.
• Pair students thoughtfully and offer picture prompts, repeated modelling and teacher-aide check-ins. Students may pass during discussion or complete the map privately.
• For extension, ask students to explain the difference between a private problem and a harmful secret: a private matter may be shared when the person is ready, while a harmful secret involves danger, pressure, threats or ongoing distress and should be told to a trusted adult.