Building Resilience

Overview

This 45-minute session is lesson 3 of 7 within the unit "Empowering Personal Growth". It focuses on understanding resilience and developing strategies to overcome challenges. Using examples from The Breadwinner alongside personal reflection, students will explore what resilience looks like in real life and how they can cultivate it. This lesson aligns with the PSHE national curriculum for England and supports pupils aged 11-12 (Year 7).

National Curriculum Links (PSHE Education Framework)

Core theme: Health and Wellbeing
Key Stage 3 learning objectives:
- Understand and develop strategies to manage emotional and mental health (including resilience)
- Explore and reflect on personal identity and factors that contribute positively or negatively to wellbeing
- Identify how to seek support and develop coping strategies in challenging situations
Programme of Study references:
- Pupils should be taught:
  - To recognise and manage emotions within challenging or changing circumstances
  - How to develop resilience and strategies to manage setbacks and change
  - To develop empathy by understanding others' experiences and challenges

Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson, all students will:

Define resilience and identify its key characteristics.
Analyse examples of resilience from The Breadwinner.
Reflect on personal experiences of overcoming challenges.
Learn and practise at least two resilience-building strategies.

Resources Needed

Copies or extracts of The Breadwinner (specific scenes showing challenges and resilience)
Whiteboard or flipchart and markers
Resilience Strategy handout (short descriptions of techniques)
Paper and pens for personal reflection
Reflection prompt cards (optional)

Lesson Structure

Starter (5 mins)

Activity: ‘What is Resilience?’ Brainstorm

Display the word "Resilience" on the board.
Ask students to shout out words or phrases they associate with resilience. Record responses.
Briefly introduce a simple definition: Resilience is the ability to bounce back from difficulties.
Highlight that resilience can be learned and improved.

Main Activity 1 – Text Exploration (15 mins)

Activity: Identify Resilience in The Breadwinner

Provide short extracts or scenes from The Breadwinner where Parvana demonstrates resilience in the face of challenges (e.g., disguising herself as a boy to support her family).
In pairs, students read and discuss: What challenge is faced? How does Parvana show resilience? What feelings and thoughts might she experience?
Groups feed back key points to the class, linking to the brainstormed characteristics of resilience.

Main Activity 2 – Personal Reflection and Sharing (15 mins)

Activity: My Resilience Story

Give students 5 minutes to write about a time they faced a challenge and how they coped or overcame it.
Prompt cards can be used to guide reflection (e.g., "What happened?", "How did you feel?", "What helped you get through it?").
In groups of four (small, to encourage openness), students share their stories, focusing on strategies they used and what they learned about themselves.

Main Activity 3 – Learn and Practise Strategies (7 mins)

Activity: Resilience Toolkit

Introduce 3-4 simple, evidence-based strategies for building resilience (e.g., positive self-talk, breaking down problems, mindfulness breathing).
Distribute the handout summarising the strategies.
Lead the group in a brief practice of one strategy (e.g., a 2-minute guided breathing exercise or a positive affirmation routine).
Invite students to choose one strategy they think could help them in future difficulties.

Plenary (3 mins)

Activity: Resilience Commitment

Each student writes a one-sentence commitment about how they will try to build their resilience before the next lesson.
Invite 2-3 volunteers to share their commitments aloud.
Reinforce that resilience is a skill developed over time with practice.

Assessment and Feedback

Formative assessment: Observations during pair/group discussions and personal reflections to gauge understanding of resilience concepts.
Self-assessment: Students reflect on their resilience story and identify strategies they find helpful.
Teacher feedback: Provide verbal feedback during sharing and discussion, praising insights and positive engagement.

Differentiation and Inclusion

For students with additional needs, offer tailored support during reading activities (e.g., assisted reading or audio versions).
Provide visual prompts and simplified handouts if needed.
Encourage all students to participate in oral sharing, allowing alternative modes of response (drawings, mind maps) if preferred.
Foster a safe and respectful environment ensuring all personal stories are treated confidentially.

Extension Ideas (Optional)

Create a class resilience wall where students add quotes or images about overcoming challenges.
Encourage journaling daily or weekly to track resilience growth during the unit.
Connect learning to other subjects such as English by analysing resilience themes in additional texts.

This lesson plan aims to empower Year 7 students to recognise resilience as a vital personal skill, bridging literature analysis and real-life application, in line with the National Curriculum expectations for PSHE education.

Teaching Instructions