Caring for Humanity

Overview

This 30-minute PSHE session for Year 2 students (ages 6-7) explores why people show care and concern for others and the world. It directly addresses the statutory PSHE requirements under the Personal, Social, Health and Economic education Programme of Study for Key Stage 1 (ages 5-7), focusing on "how to recognise and respond to feelings of others" and "to show kindness, care and concern for others." The lesson encourages empathy and understanding through real-life examples, linking to the National Curriculum’s emphasis on developing pupils’ social and emotional skills.

National Curriculum Links

PSHE Education Programme of Study: Key Stage 1
- Pupils should be taught to:
  - Recognise what helps them and others to feel cared for and safe.
  - Understand the importance of kindness, showing care and concern for others.
  - Learn ways people can help and care for others and the environment, promoting empathy and social responsibility.

Learning Objectives

By the end of the lesson, pupils will be able to:

Describe at least two ways people show care and concern for other people and the world.
Explain why it is important to care for others and the environment.
Respond to real-life scenarios by suggesting caring actions.

Resources

Age-appropriate storybook or video clip illustrating acts of care and concern (e.g., a story about helping a friend, planting trees, or recycling).
Scenario cards with real-life examples of caring and non-caring behaviours.
Paper, crayons, and stickers for a creative “Care Collage.”
A large world map or globe.

Lesson Structure

1. Introduction (5 minutes)

Greet the class and explain the focus: “Today, we will learn how and why people show care to each other and for our world.”
Show the world map or globe. Ask: “Who can tell me something we need to look after to keep our planet happy?” (Expected answers: plants, animals, people, the environment)
Introduce the story or video clip demonstrating real acts of care and concern from people in different situations.

2. Exploring Real-life Examples (10 minutes)

Briefly retell the story or discuss the video, asking questions such as:
- “Who needed help?”
- “Who showed care and how?”
- “Why do you think they helped?”
Show scenario cards (e.g., “A neighbour’s dog is lost,” “Your friend falls over at playtime,” “Someone is throwing rubbish on the ground,” “A person is lonely”).
Split class into pairs or small groups and ask pupils to decide:
- Is this showing care? How?
- What else could someone do to show care in this situation?

3. Class Discussion and Response (7 minutes)

Invite some pairs to share their answers aloud.
Summarise key ideas: Caring for people can be shown by helping, listening, sharing, or including others; Caring for the world can be shown by looking after animals, plants, and keeping places clean.
Relate back to the National Curriculum: explain that showing care helps make everyone feel safe and happy.

4. Creative Activity – Care Collage (7 minutes)

Pupils create a collage on large paper, drawing and sticking pictures or words which show caring actions for people and the environment.
Encourage diversity of ideas, e.g., helping a family member, caring for a pet, planting trees, recycling, or saying kind words.
While they work, circulate and encourage pupils to explain their drawings.

5. Conclusion and Assessment (1 minute)

Review learning objectives: “Today, we learned about caring for people and the world. Can anyone tell me one way they can show care?”
Praise engagements and caring thoughts shared during the lesson.
Collect collages to display and revisit to reinforce learning across the term.

Assessment Opportunities

Formative assessment through observation during pair/group discussions and class contributions.
Pupils' ability to identify caring actions in real-life scenarios and express reasons demonstrates comprehension of empathy and social responsibility.
Creativity and ideas shown in the “Care Collage” reflect understanding and personal connection to the topic.

Differentiation

For pupils needing additional support: provide verbal prompts during scenario discussions and offer simple sentence starters during the creative activity.
For more able pupils: challenge them to think of extra examples outside the classroom that show care on a global scale (e.g., helping people far away through charity).

Extension Ideas

Plan a class kindness box where pupils can write or draw acts of kindness they do throughout the week.
Organise a simple class planting activity or recycling challenge linked to environmental care.

This detailed and engaging lesson supports Year 2 pupils in developing core social and emotional skills aligned to the PSHE National Curriculum whilst fostering empathy, kindness, and a sense of responsibility for humanity and the planet.

Teaching Instructions