Healthy Friendship Day

Overview

A 60-minute, interactive Anti-Bullying Curriculum session exploring the theme “What is a healthy friendship?”. This session promotes personal, social, and emotional development as outlined in the National Curriculum for England. It provides engaging discussions, reflection, and a creative activity designed to deepen students’ understanding of positive friendships, respect, and kindness.

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National Curriculum Links

• Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education (PSHE) statutory framework (DfE, 2020):

  • Understand how to maintain personal health and wellbeing
  • Recognise what makes a positive, healthy relationship
  • Recognise the impact of bullying and how to respond

• Relationships Education (Statutory for KS2):

  • Identify qualities of positive friendships
  • Develop empathy and kindness
  • Understand respect and managing conflict

• English (Spoken Language):

  • Pupils should participate actively in collaborative conversations, expressing their thoughts and feelings clearly.

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Learning Objectives

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

1. Define what makes a healthy friendship, including qualities such as trust, kindness, and respect.
2. Recognise behaviours that can damage friendships or lead to bullying.
3. Express their thoughts and feelings about friendship through discussion and creative work.
4. Demonstrate empathy and positive communication strategies within friendships.

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Resources

• Whiteboard and markers
• Large sheets of A3 paper (one per pair/small group)
• Colouring pencils, markers, crayons
• Friendship scenario cards (prepared before)
• Sticky notes
• Timer or stopwatch

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Lesson Structure

1. Introduction & Warm-up (10 minutes)

Objective: Set the tone with a positive mindset and activate prior knowledge.

• Starter question: Write on the board:
  “What does a healthy friendship mean to you?”
• Invite volunteers to share short answers (1-2 keywords each). Record these on the board, clustering similar ideas (e.g., trust, kindness, sharing).
• Explain that today’s session explores these ideas in detail to help us become better friends and prevent bullying.

Differentiation: Use visual prompts or emojis to illustrate feelings like happiness, trust, sadness, and anger.

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2. Class Discussion: Qualities of Healthy Friendships (15 minutes)

Objective: Deepen understanding of positive friendship qualities aligned to PSHE and Relationships Education.

• Present 5 key qualities of healthy friendships on the board:
  1. Trust
  2. Respect
  3. Kindness
  4. Listening and communication
  5. Helping and supporting
• For each quality, ask the class for examples of what this looks like in real life.
• Use guided questions:
  • “How do you show respect to your friends?”
  • “What happens if a friend doesn’t listen to you?”
• Briefly introduce the concept of bullying behaviours as the opposite of these qualities (e.g. ignoring, name-calling).

Assessment: Observe class participation and note any misconceptions.

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3. Interactive Scenario Activity (15 minutes)

Objective: Apply knowledge to identify healthy vs unhealthy friendship behaviours and practice empathy.

• Split the class into small groups of 3–4 pupils (depending on room layout).
• Provide each group with 2-3 printed scenario cards describing friendship situations (some positive, some negative). Examples:
  • “Your friend shares their snack with you when you forget yours.” (Positive)
  • “Your friend says you can’t play with them today.” (Negative)
• Groups discuss:
  • Is this a healthy or unhealthy behaviour? Why?
  • How would they feel if they were involved?
  • What could they do to make the situation better?
• Groups share their best example and solution with the class.

Teacher Tip: Model empathetic responses like “I feel sad when…” or “I would say…” to support discussion.

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4. Creative Poster-Making (15 minutes)

Objective: Consolidate learning by visualising healthy friendship messages.

• Arrange pupils in pairs or small groups and give each an A3 sheet with colouring materials.
• Task: Design a “Healthy Friendship Poster” that includes:
  • At least 3 qualities of a healthy friendship (words or pictures)
  • An anti-bullying message or pledge (e.g. “Be kind!”, “Respect each other”, or “Say no to bullying”)
• Encourage creativity—drawing, symbols, colourful slogans.
• Circulate, offering encouragement and asking questions to reinforce learning.

Differentiation: Support less confident writers by allowing them to illustrate more, or write short bullet points.

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5. Sharing & Reflection (5 minutes)

Objective: Provide opportunities for children to articulate learning and personal commitment.

• Invite each group to briefly share their poster and explain one key idea they have learned.
• Finish with a whole-class affirmation:
  “We can all be a good friend by being kind, respectful, and helpful.”
• Hand out a simple “Friendship Promise” card for pupils to take home and discuss with parents.

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Assessment and Follow-up

• Formative assessment: Through observation of discussions and scenario activity, check pupils' ability to identify positive and negative friendship behaviours.
• Summative reflection: Evaluate posters for understanding of concepts and creative expression.
• Consider follow-up activities in PSHE focused on conflict resolution or role-play of friendship situations.

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Curriculum Impact

This lesson directly supports pupils' personal development goals around emotional literacy, respectful relationships, and social skills—building foundations for well-being and resilience in line with the 2020 PSHE statutory guidance and Relationships Education. The active engagement supports confidence in speaking and listening while fostering a safer, more supportive school environment.

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Tips for Success

• Create a warm, safe space where all students feel comfortable sharing.
• Use positive reinforcement to celebrate contributions.
• Adapt language and questioning for SEND pupils to ensure inclusion.
• Use the posters as ongoing classroom displays to reinforce messages throughout the year.

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This highly interactive approach offers a fresh and creative way to develop crucial social skills while empowering pupils to prevent bullying and cultivate healthy friendships.