Staying positive (resilience)

The skill of staying positive (resilience) is fundamental to pupils’ development, in education and beyond.  It’s key to start building from an early age as global societal and technological trends will continue to shape the future workplace as pupils move through education.  These changes are brought about by AI, automation and as the world looks to reduce the impacts of climate change. Core transferable skills such as staying positive (resilience)  are becoming increasingly valuable to employers and can transfer across different roles and industries. 

Teach pupils that staying positive is about using self-management tactics to stay motivated, manage emotions, and keep going when things get tough. 

Through case studies, class discussions and a role play activity, this lesson encourages pupils aged 7 to 11 years to understand how they can show the skill of staying positive (resilience) at home and at school. By building a positive mindset, they become more confident in handling challenges and see setbacks as an opportunity to learn and grow. 

Teaching Resources:

• Staying positive (resilience): Lesson plan and presentation slides – for use with a group of pupils in a classroom
• Staying positive (resilience): Pupil worksheet – a worksheet that asks pupils to reflect on their staying positive (resilience) skills
• Primary school: Skills tracker – an optional resource to support 7–11-year-olds keep track of the skills they have developed and plan how they can practise them
• Staying positive icon: available to download and incorporate in your wider teaching materials to help students recognise other contexts where they are learning and utilising staying positive skills. 

Lesson learning outcomes:

By the end of the activity pupils will be able to:

• Explain the skill of staying positive (resilience)
• Understand how staying positive (resilience) can help them throughout education and into the workplace
• Discuss how they can practice this skill at home, school or in after school clubs.

Support pupils’ ongoing progression 

This lesson features in the employability skills scheme of learning for 7–11-year-olds. They provide a ready-made sequence of curriculum linked resources to help you build progression in your learners' knowledge over time. Visit the Scheme of learning homepage to support with your planning.