Emotional Mapping - Explaining My Feelings At School PSHE

This is a comprehensive, ready-to-teach PSHE lesson focused on Emotional Literacy, School Transitions, and Wellbeing Strategies. Simply add a map of your school setting, and students can engage with this lesson.

Specifically designed for Year 7 (Key Stage 3) to be delivered at the end of their first half term, this lesson helps students reflect on their environmental anxieties and build personal coping mechanisms.

The aims of this lesson are to:

• Reflect on the transition to secondary school and track how thoughts and feelings change over time.
• Create an “Emotional Map” of the school site to visually link specific spaces to internal emotional states.
• Develop emotional literacy by naming complex feelings and identifying practical school-based wellbeing strategies.

Core Activities:

• Spatial Annotation - The Emotional Map: Using a printed bird’s-eye map of the school site (including areas like the Atrium, Refectory, Quad, and Science blocks), students colour-code different zones based on how they feel there. They must plot at least five distinct emotions, capturing everything from feeling “calm” in the library to “worried” or “excited” in busy corridors.
• Group Discussion (Safe Spaces vs. Challenging Spaces): Working in small groups, students analyze their maps to identify common triggers. They discuss what physical factors make a space feel positive (e.g., quiet, presence of friends) versus challenging (e.g., noise, crowds).
• The Wellbeing Checklist: Connecting data to the classroom, students learn from a 2022 Children’s Society report that school is one of the top three influences on a young person’s wellbeing. They generate a personalized toolkit of strategies, such as utilizing designated quiet areas, practicing tactical breathing techniques, and identifying trusted staff members for help-seeking pathways.

The lesson includes:

• A detailed, 100% editable PowerPoint packed with teacher talk scripts and reflective check-ins.
• Example School Site Map handout formatted perfectly for visual annotation and drawing - just add your own setting!
• Comprehensive signposting to support networks including the NHS, Childline, and school pastoral teams.
• This resource is completely “grab and go” ready, ensuring form tutors and non-specialists can run a highly supportive, grounding session for Year 7 students adjusting to secondary life.