Managing Friendships and Conflicts

Overview

This 30-minute lesson is the final session in the "Empowering Relationships and Rights" unit for Year 4 students. It targets key PSHE learning objectives in the National Curriculum for England by helping pupils recognise emotions connected to friendships, understand reasons for conflict, and explore constructive strategies to manage disagreements and strengthen friendships.

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National Curriculum Links

PSHE Key Stage 2 (Years 3–4) - Personal Wellbeing

• Developing relationships:
  • Identify what makes a positive, healthy relationship.
  • Understand that friendships have ups and downs and how to manage conflict constructively.
• Mental health and emotional wellbeing:
  • Recognise different feelings and emotions in themselves and others.
  • Use appropriate strategies to deal with negative emotions.

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Learning Objectives

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

1. Identify a range of emotions commonly experienced in friendships, including both positive and challenging feelings.
2. Recognise common causes of conflict in friendships and why disagreements sometimes happen.
3. Suggest and practise positive strategies to resolve conflicts and maintain strong, happy friendships.
4. Demonstrate respectful communication skills during discussions about managing disagreements.

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Resources

• Emotion cards illustrating feelings such as happy, sad, frustrated, jealous, proud.
• Scenario cards presenting common friendship conflicts relevant to Year 4 children.
• “Friendship Repair Plan” worksheet - simple template to guide students through resolving conflict.
• Whiteboard and markers
• “Feelings Scale” visual chart (from calm to upset)

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Lesson Structure

1. Starter Activity – Emotion Brainstorm (5 minutes)

Aim: Activate prior knowledge about feelings in friendships.

• Sit with the two students and show the emotion cards.
• Ask: “When you think about your friendships, which of these emotions do you feel sometimes?”
• Discuss and note on the whiteboard which emotions come up frequently.
• Reinforce that all emotions, positive or negative, are normal in friendships.

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2. Understanding Friendship Conflicts (8 minutes)

Aim: Explore why conflicts arise and normalise them as part of relationships.

• Present simple, relatable scenario cards depicting friendship conflicts (e.g., one friend feels ignored, disagreement over sharing).
• Read each scenario aloud; ask the students how the people might be feeling and why the conflict might have started.
• Introduce the idea that disagreements are normal but managing them positively is important.
• Use the Feelings Scale to discuss emotions that might escalate during conflict and ways to calm down.

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3. Conflict Resolution Strategies (10 minutes)

Aim: Equip pupils with practical strategies for resolving conflicts.

• Introduce 3 key strategies for managing disagreements positively:
  1. Calmly talking about feelings using “I feel…” statements.
  2. Listening to the other person’s point of view without interrupting.
  3. Finding a solution or compromise together.
• Role-play: Each student chooses a scenario card and takes turns practising these strategies.
• After each role-play, discuss: “What worked well?” and “How did it make the friendship stronger?”

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4. Friendship Repair Plan (5 minutes)

Aim: Consolidate learning by planning how to fix a friendship after conflict.

• Provide each student with a simple “Friendship Repair Plan” worksheet with prompts:
  • What happened?
  • How did it make you feel?
  • What could you say or do to make things better?
  • What can you both agree to do next time?
• Complete the worksheet together based on one of the earlier scenarios or a real friendship issue the students feel comfortable sharing.

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5. Plenary and Reflection (2 minutes)

• Recap key learning points: emotions in friendships, why conflicts happen, and positive ways to solve them.
• Ask each student to share one thing they will try next time they have a disagreement with a friend.
• Praise the students for their empathy, communication skills, and thoughtful ideas.

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Assessment

• Informal assessment of understanding through participation in discussion and role-play.
• Review completed “Friendship Repair Plan” worksheets to check ability to reflect on conflict and generate positive solutions.
• Observation of respectful listening and communication skills during paired activities.

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Extension Ideas (for further practice or homework)

• Draw a “Feelings Portrait” showing different emotions they and their friends feel and write sentences describing what helps in each situation.
• Keep a “Friendship Journal” for a week, noting times when emotions were strong in friendships and how conflicts were handled.

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Teacher’s Reflection

• Note student engagement with role-play and emotional vocabulary use to inform future PSHE sessions.
• Observe if pupils can generalise strategies to different friendship scenarios confidently.
• Adjust scaffolding for communication skills based on participation levels.

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This lesson carefully scaffolds emotional literacy and social skills, adhering closely to the National Curriculum requirements for PSHE at Key Stage 2 while ensuring an interactive, personalised learning experience for the small group.