Accessing Support Services

Lesson Overview

Unit: Navigating Family Dynamics (Lesson 7 of 7)
Year Group: Year 9
Subject: PSHE (Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education)
Duration: 60 minutes
Curriculum Area: Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) – Health and Wellbeing (KS3)
Class Size: 2 students

Learning Objectives

By the end of the lesson, students will:

• Identify different support services available to young people and families in the UK.
• Understand when and how to access support for personal or family challenges.
• Analyse the importance of seeking help and breaking down stigma around support services.

Materials Needed

• Printed case studies on different family challenges
• Large sheets of paper and markers
• Pre-prepared "support service profiles" (summarising key UK organisations)
• Scenario role-play cards

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Lesson Structure

1. Starter Activity – "Where Would You Go?" (10 minutes)

Objective: Activate prior knowledge and encourage discussion around asking for help.

• Ask students to think of a time (real or hypothetical) when someone might need support (e.g., parents arguing, feeling stressed, struggling with friendships).
• Have them write down who they think they could turn to for help (e.g., family, friends, professionals).
• Facilitate a short discussion on:
  • Why people might hesitate to seek help.
  • The importance of knowing your support options.

2. Exploring Support Services (15 minutes)

Objective: Introduce a range of key UK-based support services for young people.

• Present different types of support:

  • Emotional Support: Childline, Samaritans
  • Family and Parenting Support: Family Lives, YoungMinds
  • Abuse and Safeguarding: NSPCC, Refuge
  • Mental Health and Wellbeing: Kooth, CAMHS
  • School-Based Support: Pastoral care teams, school counsellors

• Distribute support service profiles. Each student selects two services and summarises:

  • Who they help
  • How to access them
  • Why someone might use them

3. Scenario-Based Application (20 minutes)

Objective: Encourage students to apply their learning to real-life situations in a safe, structured way.

1. Case Study Discussion

   • Provide each student with a different case study (e.g., "Liam is struggling with anxiety because of family arguments").
   • Students write down:
     • Which service they would recommend.
     • How that person could seek support.

2. Role-Play Support Conversations

   • Students take turns playing "a person in need" and "someone providing advice".
   • They must guide each other to an appropriate support service.
   • Discuss as a group: How did it feel to offer/receive advice? What challenges came up?

4. Reflection and Breaking the Stigma (10 minutes)

Objective: Reinforce learning and address barriers to seeking help.

• Ask: "Why do some people struggle to ask for help?"
• Students write their answer on post-it notes.
• As a group, organise responses into themes (e.g., fear, embarrassment, not knowing where to go).
• Discuss ways to overcome these barriers and encourage a culture of support.

5. Plenary – Personal Reflection (5 minutes)

Objective: Ensure students can apply their learning personally.

• Students finish the sentence: “Something I’ve learned today that could help me or someone I know is…”.
• Share answers aloud (if comfortable).

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Assessment for Learning

• Verbal responses during discussions show understanding of support services.
• Case study recommendations demonstrate ability to apply knowledge to different situations.
• Reflection activities assess personal engagement with the topic.

Differentiation

• For higher ability: Students create a ‘Support Roadmap’—a step-by-step guide for someone needing help.
• For lower ability: Provide structured sentence starters for scenario discussions.

Homework/Extension Activity (Optional)

• Research a lesser-known UK support service and present a one-minute summary next lesson (informal presentation).

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Teacher’s Notes

This lesson is designed to be engaging, practical, and emotionally aware. The small class size allows for personalised discussion, making student-led role-play particularly valuable. If students express personal concerns, remind them that the classroom is a safe space and offer signposting to pastoral care if needed.

This final lesson in the unit reinforces the crucial message that help is always available—and asking for it is a strength, not a weakness.