PSHE & SEL
PSHE & SEL resources
PSHE / Social-Emotional Learning resources — wellbeing, friendship, emotions, growth mindset and respect for others. The UK PSHE curriculum and the international SEL framework cover the same ground.
Where to start
Curator's picks for pshe & sel.
If you're new to LessonKind pshe & sel, these are the resources we'd point you to first.
Feelings Vocabulary Poster
Beyond happy and sad — 50+ feelings words organised by intensity. Builds emotional vocabulary across KS1 and KS2.
Calm Corner Essentials — What Goes In It
What to put in a primary classroom calm corner — soft seating, regulation tools, visual aids, calming books, quiet activities. With honest notes on what genuinely helps children self-regulate and what's just decorative.
Picture Books That Teach Big Feelings
Picture books that handle emotions, friendship, fear, anger, sadness, change, and difference well. For SEL teaching, classroom calm corners, and home reading. Carefully chosen so the books do the emotional work, not the adult.
Friendship Changes in Year 6/7 — Article and Activity
An honest pack about friendship changes during transition. Some primary friendships continue; some don't. New friendships form. The pack helps children process this without shame, and helps adults talk about it without minimising. Includes a class activity, parent guide, and self-reflection prompts.
Browse all pshe & sel resources
Calm Corner Essentials — What Goes In It
What to put in a primary classroom calm corner — soft seating, regulation tools, visual aids, calming books, quiet activities. With honest notes on what genuinely helps children self-regulate and what's just decorative.
Color the Mood — Feelings Coloring Pack
Children color faces and abstract shapes to match different feelings, then talk about how each feeling feels in their own body. Combines coloring with emotional literacy. Useful for SEL lessons, calm-down corners, and morning check-ins.
Lesson Plan Template (one page)
A one-page lesson plan template — objective, success criteria, hook, main task, assessment, plenary.
Parent–Teacher Conference Notes Template
Structured conference notes form — strengths, areas to develop, agreed actions, parent comments.
Picture Books That Teach Big Feelings
Picture books that handle emotions, friendship, fear, anger, sadness, change, and difference well. For SEL teaching, classroom calm corners, and home reading. Carefully chosen so the books do the emotional work, not the adult.
Teacher's Weekly Planner Template
A clean one-page weekly planning grid for teachers — Monday to Friday with five subject slots per day.
Wellbeing Daily Check-In — Routines & Visuals
Three classroom routines for daily wellbeing check-ins — Zones of Regulation poster, How am I arriving today wheel, and a class wellbeing tracker. Print, mount, use every morning.
Behavior Tracker (Positive Reinforcement)
Strengths-based daily behavior tracker. Records what went well — designed to build, not punish.
Calm-Down Corner Toolkit
Five posters to set up a classroom calm-down corner — feelings check, breathing, choices, return-to-class steps.
Classroom Rules — Class-Built Template
Build classroom rules WITH the children, not for them. Five-rule poster with class-signing space.
Emotions & Self-Regulation Knowledge Organiser
A KS1/KS2 knowledge organiser on emotions — naming and identifying feelings, understanding physical signals, regulation strategies, and the brain science behind big emotions.
Friendship Rules
Eight friendship rules that build a kind, inclusive classroom culture.
IEP Goal Progress Tracker
Lightweight monthly tracker for individualized education plan (IEP) goals. SMART format with progress notes.
Kindness Bingo
16 kind acts on a 4×4 bingo card. Tick them off through the week — first row done wins.
Quick Data Collection Sheet
A simple class-roster template for collecting any quick data — assessment scores, behavior tallies, completion.
Substitute Teacher Info Pack
Leave this for the sub when you're out — class info, routines, who's-who, and emergency procedures.
Wellbeing Calming Strategies — Strategy Cards
12 calming strategy cards for children — finger breathing, 5-4-3-2-1 grounding, slow drink of water, hand-press, bubble breathing, animal walks, and more. Print, laminate, give one to a child who needs to regulate.
Classroom Responsibilities Chart
Editable chart for assigning weekly classroom jobs. Includes 12 standard jobs with explanations.
Color Yourself Calm — Mindfulness Coloring Pack
Six pages of mandala-style and pattern-based coloring designs for use during quiet time, calm-down sessions, or wet-break. Pairs each pattern with a one-line mindfulness prompt to focus attention while coloring.
Exit Ticket Templates — 6 Quick Formats
Six tiny exit-ticket formats to assess understanding in 60 seconds at the end of every lesson.
Feelings Vocabulary Poster
Beyond happy and sad — 50+ feelings words organised by intensity. Builds emotional vocabulary across KS1 and KS2.
Feelings and Emotions — Vocabulary Mat
Twenty emotion words grouped by intensity. Helps children name and talk about feelings.
Growth Mindset Knowledge Organiser
A KS1/KS2 knowledge organiser on growth mindset — the difference between fixed and growth beliefs about intelligence, strategies for persisting through difficulty, and the neuroscience in simple language.
Mindfulness Breathing Techniques
Four kid-friendly breathing techniques to help students calm down or refocus.
Teacher Term Overview Planner
One-page at-a-glance term planner with week columns, space for topics, key dates, assessment points, and parent communication reminders. Covers a full 6- or 7-week half term.
Teacher Weekly Planner — 2-Page A4
Two-page A4 weekly planner with timetable grid, Monday–Friday columns, notes section, reminders strip, and a wellbeing check-in. Print weekly or laminate for reuse.
Unit Planning Booklet — 6-Lesson Template
A printable 4-page planning booklet for a 6-lesson unit — unit overview, lesson-by-lesson planning grid, key vocabulary list, and end-of-unit assessment notes. Subject-neutral.
Year at a Glance — Annual Planner
Full academic year overview planner — 12 monthly columns with space for topics, key dates, assessments, and events. One page landscape A3 or two-page A4. Perfect for long-range planning.
Compliments, Not Comparisons
How to give and receive compliments well — and why comparisons hurt even when they sound nice.
Gratitude Journal Template
Daily gratitude pages with prompts. Builds positive self-talk and emotional resilience.
Growth Mindset — Fixed vs Growth
Compare fixed-mindset and growth-mindset thinking. Rewrite negative self-talk.
Managing Anger — A Toolkit
Healthy strategies for handling anger. The 5-4-3-2-1 grounding technique, body cues, and what to do.
Self-Esteem Builder — All About Me
Reflective template that helps children notice their strengths, kindnesses and goals.
Active Listening Skills
Five active-listening behaviors plus a self-check. Helps children become better friends and learners.
Anti-Bullying & Bystander Skills Knowledge Organiser
A KS2 knowledge organiser on bullying — what it is and isn't, types of bullying including cyberbullying, the bystander role, how to report, and how to support someone being bullied.
Boundaries and Consent
What boundaries are, why they matter, and how to ask for and respect consent in everyday situations.
Conflict Resolution — Using I-Statements
Turn finger-pointing into clear communication with the I-statement formula.
Courage and Confidence
What real courage looks like for kids — and why it's not the same as fearlessness.
Decision-Making Framework for Kids
A simple 4-question framework children can use to make better choices when they're not sure what to do.
Digital Citizenship & Online Safety Knowledge Organiser
A KS2 knowledge organiser on being a safe, responsible digital citizen — online safety, digital footprints, managing screen time, cyberbullying, and responsible use of social media.
Empathy — Seeing Things from Another View
Six story scenarios ask students to consider how each character feels and why.
Growth vs Fixed Mindset Cards
16 phrases — sort into 'fixed mindset' vs 'growth mindset' — and rephrase the fixed ones.
Relationships & Belonging Knowledge Organiser
A KS2 knowledge organiser on healthy relationships — features of healthy and unhealthy friendships, conflict resolution, empathy, active listening, and the importance of belonging.
Resilience & Coping Strategies Knowledge Organiser
A KS2 knowledge organiser on resilience — what it is and what it isn't, coping strategies for difficult emotions, the difference between healthy and unhealthy coping, and specific evidence-based strategies children can use.
Anti-Bullying Class Pledge
A class pledge poster — every child signs and it goes on the wall. Includes definitions of bullying types.
Leadership Traits Poster
Eight traits of great leaders — useful for student council elections and team-building.
Mental Health & Wellbeing Knowledge Organiser
A KS2 knowledge organiser on mental health — the spectrum from wellbeing to mental health difficulties, factors that support good mental health, warning signs, stigma, and where to get help.
Friendship Changes in Year 6/7 — Article and Activity
An honest pack about friendship changes during transition. Some primary friendships continue; some don't. New friendships form. The pack helps children process this without shame, and helps adults talk about it without minimising. Includes a class activity, parent guide, and self-reflection prompts.
Y6 SATs Anxiety Toolkit — for Children, Parents, and Teachers
Practical strategies for managing SATs anxiety. For the children who genuinely worry. For the parents who can see it. For the teachers who want to help without making it worse. Includes specific scripts, breathing exercises, and the conversations worth having before May.
Editorial
Articles for pshe & sel teachers.
Long-form pieces that go deeper than the resources — written by a qualified primary teacher, not generated.
Behavior & classroom management
What to do about 'I'm bored'
'I'm bored' is one of the most common phrases in primary classrooms — and one of the most misunderstood. Children rarely mean what adults assume. Here's how to decode it and what to actually do.
6 min read
Behavior & classroom management
The problem with sticker charts
Reward charts are everywhere in primary. They produce visible results — children behave for stickers. But the underlying psychology is well-studied and the long-term effects are not what most teachers think.
7 min read
Reading & literacy
The Vocabulary Gap (And How to Close It)
Vocabulary size at age 5 is one of the strongest predictors of academic outcome at 16. Here's why the gap exists, and what teachers can do to close it.
6 min read
Behavior & classroom management
Screen Time and Primary Children: What the Evidence Actually Says
Screen time is the parenting topic with the loudest opinions and the weakest evidence base. Most of what people believe is more confident than the research warrants. Here's what's actually known, what's still debated, and what actually matters for primary-aged children.
9 min read
Classroom culture
What Makes a Good Classroom Display
Pinterest shows you beautiful displays. The best classrooms often have plainer ones — because they're working harder. Here's what actually helps children learn from a wall.
5 min read
Behavior & classroom management
Friendship Problems in Year 4: When to Step In, When to Wait
Year 4 is the age where friendships get politically complicated. Drama, exclusion, falling-out, falling-back-in. Most of it isn't bullying. Most of it doesn't need adult intervention. Some of it does. How to tell the difference, and what to do when your child comes home in tears.
8 min read
Hand-built collections
PSHE & SEL bundles.
Back-to-School Pack
A handpicked mix of routines, getting-to-know-you activities and easy first-week resources that work across grade levels.
12 resources
End-of-Year Reflection
Reflective writing, fitness and wellbeing planners, and personal goal-setting templates for the final weeks of the school year.
8 resources
Winter & Holidays
A cross-curricular pack for the cold months — covering winter science, world celebrations, kindness, and craft.
9 resources
Summer Camp Pack
PE games, art projects, and SEL builders that work for summer camps, holiday clubs, or any time learning needs to feel less like school.
9 resources
Y6 SATs Prep Pack
Eight resources covering all four SATs papers (Arithmetic, Reasoning, Reading, SPaG) plus the operational layer — parent guide, teacher pacing plan, anxiety toolkit, question-stem flashcards. Calibrated for January-onwards revision without burning children out.
8 resources
Secondary Transition Toolkit (Y5/Y6 to Y7)
Eight resources covering the secondary transition from every angle — parent guide, child prep pack, Y6 teacher's plan, handover form, anxious-children toolkit, summer bridging pack, friendship changes, and a primary-led transition simulation day. For Year 5/6 teachers, parents, and pastoral leads.
8 resources