It's normal for students' relationships to change. While some friendships just drift apart, others may end abruptly. It’s important that students learn how they can best deal with these changes and understand that they are natural. Equip students with the skills to adapt and cope with these changes and help them to develop social resilience.

Year level

7-12

Duration

60 minutes

Type

In class activity

Online learning

SEL Competencies

Social awareness

Relationship skills

Learning intention

Students examine different ways of dealing with changes in friendships and other relationships.

Key outcomes

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

  • identify healthy ways to adapt when friendships end and change

  • explain the importance of friendships

  • reflect on their own relationships.

Materials needed

Mapped to

Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education

  • Evaluate strategies to manage personal, physical and social changes that occur as they grow older (ACPPS071)

  • Investigate the benefits of relationships and examine their impact on their own and others’ health and wellbeing (ACPPS074)

  • Evaluate situations and propose appropriate emotional responses and then reflect on possible outcomes of different responses (ACPPS094)

  • Propose, practise and evaluate responses in situations where external influences may impact on their ability to make healthy and safe choices (ACPPS092)

Australian Curriculum: General Capabilities

  • Personal and social capability:

    • Self-awareness

    • Self-management

    • Social awareness

    • Social management

NSW PDHPE Syllabus

  • Examines and evaluates strategies to manage current and future challenges (PD4-1)

  • Applies and refines interpersonal skills to assist themselves and others to interact respectfully and promote inclusion in a variety of groups or contexts (PD4-10)

  • Analyses factors and strategies that enhance inclusivity, equality and respectful relationships (PD5-3)

  • Critiques their ability to enact interpersonal skills to build and maintain respectful and inclusive relationships in a variety of groups or contexts (PD5-10)

Victorian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education

  • Evaluate strategies to manage personal, physical and social changes that occur as they grow older (VCHPEP124)

  • Investigate the benefits of relationships and examine their impact on their own and others’ health and wellbeing (VCHPEP127)

  • Evaluate factors that shape identities, and analyse how individuals impact the identities of others (VCHPEP142)

  • Examine the impact of changes and transitions on relationships (VCHPEP143)

Show details

Activity 1

Individual thought dump

15 minutes

  1. Ask students: Why do friendships end and change?

  2. Students list their answers in their workbooks.

  3. Discuss with students that there is no one reason why friendships end and change. There may have been a difference of opinion, or a friend may have changed schools, or an argument may have occurred that can’t be resolved. The reason for the friendship breakdown is likely to impact on how we cope with it.

Activity 2

OTT (Over-the-top) brainstorm

15 minutes

  1. Brainstorm with students: What can we do when friendships end and change?

    • It doesn’t matter how over-the-top the students’ suggested options are – for example: ‘bash the person’, ‘spread rumours about them’, ‘ask someone for help’, ‘stop going to school’.

  2. Discuss each suggestion and decide how helpful or unhelpful each one might be.

Activity 3

Class discovery: Expert tips

30 minutes

  1. Ask students to read the following ReachOut.com articles individually or in pairs:

  2. Students summarise the main ideas from the articles to answer the question: What are healthy ways to manage when friendships end and change? They could do this by:

    • writing a summary in their workbook

    • drawing a mind map

    • making a presentation

    • designing a poster.

Note: Encourage students to use the subheadings of the articles to help them identify the key themes.

Print

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              Aboriginal flagTorres Strait islander flagRainbow flagAustralian flag

              We acknowledge the traditional owners of Country throughout Australia. We pay our respects to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, and to Elders past and present. We recognise connection to Country as integral to health and wellbeing.

              We acknowledge people with lived experience of mental ill-health and recovery and the experience of people who have been carers, families, or supporters.

              ReachOut values diversity. We are committed to providing a safe, culturally appropriate, and inclusive service for all people, regardless of their ethnicity, faith, disability, sexuality, or gender identity.

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