Positive Relationships
Understanding, Empathy & Upstanding​
​
This six-week programme helps students explore the importance of respect, kindness, and positive relationships both in and out of school. Through small-group sessions, students reflect on the impact of their actions, develop strategies to manage peer pressure, and build the confidence to stand up for themselves and others. The programme focuses on promoting empathy, understanding difference, and making positive choices — supporting young people to contribute to a safe, respectful school environment where everyone feels they belong.
Looking beneath the surface
We support students to consider what might influence certain behaviours — things like peer pressure, frustration, social dynamics, or challenges with self-esteem. It's a space to reflect without judgement.
Moving from bystander to upstander
We also look at the wider context: what it means to be a bystander, and how choosing to speak up or support someone can make a real difference. Students are encouraged to consider the role they want to play.
Key Themes
​
-
Recognising what bullying is, the forms it takes, and how it differs from conflict or accidental harm.
-
Exploring how bullying affects mental health, confidence, and relationships—building emotional awareness and compassion.
-
Understanding power imbalances and how students can take responsibility for speaking up and supporting others.
-
Encouraging students to move from passive observation to active intervention in safe and appropriate ways.
-
Teaching when, how, and who to report bullying to—and reducing the stigma around asking for help.
-
Promoting behaviours that prevent bullying and create a positive, inclusive school culture.
Understanding the Impact
This small-group programme supports students to explore the impact of negative peer behaviours, including unkindness, exclusion, and conflict. It helps them see how words and actions can affect others — and themselves.
Encouraging Empathy and Accountability
Through discussion, scenario-based tasks, and reflective activities, students develop empathy, learn to take ownership of their actions, and begin to understand the role they play in creating a safe, respectful school environment.
Interactive Resources, All in One Place
To support learning both during and beyond the sessions, students have access to a central Padlet packed with interactive resources. From videos and reflection prompts to discussion tasks and digital activities, the Padlet helps reinforce key messages and encourages students to keep thinking, learning and growing outside the intervention space.
Understanding cyberbullying
Online spaces can feel distant — but the impact is real. We help students explore how digital behaviour, even when hidden behind a screen, can still cause harm. This includes things like sharing private images, exclusion from group chats, posting comments or jokes at someone’s expense, and misusing social media.
Empathy in a digital world
We encourage students to think about the person on the other side of the screen. How would it feel to receive that message? What does respectful communication look like online? Building empathy is key to helping students rethink how they behave and interact digitally.
As part of the programme, students watch short, real-life scenario clips that bring the realities of bullying to life. These videos help students see the emotional and social impact from different perspectives, encouraging empathy and honest discussion. They provide a powerful platform to explore how situations can escalate, the options available to those involved, and how different choices can lead to different outcomes. It’s a chance to talk openly, challenge assumptions, and learn from the experiences of others.
Checking Understanding with Kahoot
To help reinforce key learning, students take part in fun, interactive quizzes using Kahoot. These quick-fire quizzes are designed to check understanding in a low-pressure, engaging way — helping students recap what they've learned, spot any gaps, and build confidence in their knowledge. The quizzes also spark discussion and reflection, making sure the key messages are understood and remembered.
