Preparing for Work

Overview

This 240-minute Year 11 PSHE lesson focuses on preparing students for employability by developing teamwork skills in realistic scenarios, linking choices and communication to wider wellbeing and future adult life. It builds critical enquiry and communication in different formats while helping students practise how to cope constructively when things go wrong.

Learning intentions

Students will:

• develop and apply teamwork skills (roles, cooperation, listening, shared decision-making) in a practical task
• communicate effectively and respectfully during group problem-solving and planning
• evaluate how different behaviours affect group outcomes and personal wellbeing
• relate learning to future careers and adult life, including how to ask for help appropriately

Success criteria

Students can:

• take a clear role in a team and support others to complete shared goals
• use respectful communication (including listening, asking questions, and giving feedback)
• adapt when problems arise, using agreed strategies to stay constructive
• explain how teamwork skills link to employability and adult life

Curriculum links

• RELEVANT SKILLS for adult life: critical enquiry, creative problem-solving, and communication in a variety of media
• Good practice in learning: relevance to pupils’ needs and opportunities to relate learning to the wider world and adult life
• PSHE wellbeing: discussing isolation/loneliness and bullying, and how to cope when things go wrong in life; keeping language age-appropriate and safe

Lesson structure (total 240 minutes)

1. 0–25 min · Welcome and purpose. Teacher introduces employability link and wellbeing-safe class norms; students complete a quick “teamwork moments” journal (1–2 minutes silent, then share in pairs).
2. 25–55 min · Teach: teamwork behaviours. Teacher models a simple teamwork framework (role clarity, listening, respectful disagreement, next steps) using a short scenario read aloud; students highlight which behaviours help and which harm.
3. 55–95 min · Scenario round 1 (guided). Teacher gives teams of 3 (within a class of 6, pair into two teams) a workplace-style challenge (e.g., organising a mock event with limited budget/time); students assign roles and produce a 1-page group plan.
4. 95–120 min · Communication practice (media task). Teacher demonstrates two communication formats: a “team message” (short written update) and a “meeting minute” (action-focused notes); students create both for their scenario.
5. 120–135 min · Checkpoint: coping when things go wrong. Teacher facilitates a brief discussion on how disagreements can become unhelpful (without naming self-harm or using emotive content), then introduces two coping strategies: pause-and-clarify, and asking for support from a designated person; students choose one strategy and write when they would use it.
6. 135–185 min · Scenario round 2 (challenge + adaptation). Teacher changes one condition mid-task (e.g., a key resource is missing; one team member is late or needs support); students must adapt roles, renegotiate the plan, and record decisions and reasons.
7. 185–215 min · Teamwork reflection and employability linking. Each student completes a structured reflection (What did I do? What did we decide? What changed? What would I do next time?) and then each team prepares a 60-second pitch on “My teamwork skills for work.”
8. 215–240 min · Present, peer feedback, and exit check. Teacher leads a short whole-class share; students give one “kind and useful” feedback sentence using a stem (“I noticed…, which helped…, next time you could…”). Students complete a final exit ticket: one teamwork skill to practise and one way it helps employability/adult life.

Resources

• Scenario cards (workplace-style, age-appropriate for Year 11)
• Role cards (e.g., coordinator, communicator, quality checker, timekeeper, note-taker, challenge-solver)
• Paper or printed templates for: team plan, meeting minutes, action list
• Sentence stems for feedback and reflection
• Timer for timed work rounds
• Whiteboard/flipchart for modelling teamwork behaviours
• Sticky notes for quick answers (optional)
• Exit tickets (printed)

Assessment

• During tasks, teacher uses an observation checklist: role clarity, listening, respectful disagreement, and constructive problem-solving
• Teacher reviews communication products (team message and meeting minutes) for clarity and action-focus
• Exit ticket identifies individual next steps and checks understanding of employability links

Differentiation

• Provide sentence starters for feedback and reflection (e.g., “I noticed…”, “I contributed by…”, “Next time we could…”)
• Assign roles explicitly if needed, rotating roles across scenario rounds to ensure participation
• For support: provide a worked example of meeting minutes and a partially completed plan template
• For extension: introduce an extra requirement—include one risk to wellbeing (e.g., exclusion, bullying) and propose a preventative teamwork response, keeping language non-emotive and solution-focused

Assessment of teamwork skills (teacher checklist prompts)

• Does the student take responsibility within a role and help the team progress?
• Does the student communicate respectfully and clearly, especially during disagreement?
• Does the student contribute to adapting the plan when conditions change?
• Can the student link teamwork skills to employability and adult life using their own words?