Could your students be in Season 4 of Life Lessons?
Life Lessons are filming Season 4 of Life Lessons this summer, and they are looking for young people who have something to say about growing up in the world today.
Whether it's AI, relationships, mental health, friendships or just what life feels like right now, they want to hear from your students.
Films from previous seasons are used in schools across the UK to help young people develop their thinking as part of their PSHE education. Being part of Season 4 is a chance for your students to have their voice heard, and to help shape the conversations happening in classrooms nationwide.
Find out more here: Filming with Life Lessons - Life Lessons
To mark Dementia Action Week, Gloucestershire Healthy Living and Learning (GHLL) were delighted to launch a coaster design competition earlier this year for schools, colleges, and further education providers across Gloucestershire.
We are now pleased to announce our winners! To see full details of the competition, including the winning entries, runners-up, and all participating schools, please click here
We would like to extend a thank you to everyone who took part and supported this initiative, raising awareness and understanding of dementia across our communities.
The latest version of the popular ‘EDUCATE’ lesson pack for KS3 about the HPV vaccine is available to download.
Co-produced by young people and researchers from the University of Bristol and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, ‘EDUCATE’ will help you teach students about the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine and provide reassurance about receiving the vaccine — which is usually offered to teenagers at school as part of the national vaccination programme.
Download the free lesson here: PSHE Association - HPV Lesson Plan
Exercise and Eating Disorders
Join Kim, one of Beat's experienced eating disorder clinicians, for their next FREE webinar
Wednesday 24th June 16:00-17:00 BOOK YOUR PLACE HERE: eLearn: Log in to the site
This session will explore:
- The relationship between eating disorders, movement and exercise
- How exercise and movement can become unhealthy and/or compulsive
- The physical and emotional impact of restrictive eating and compulsive exercise
- How to encourage healthier and more flexible relationships with movement during recovery
- How to respond to concerns using supportive and inclusive communication
Knife Crime Awareness Week 2026 has officially begun…
The Ben Kinsella Trust stand alongside the NPCC's Sceptre Week, working together to drive real, coordinated action across the country.
To mark the week, the Ben Kinsella Trust will be delivering a series of FREE online sessions, focused on prevention and early intervention
Alongside tailored training for professionals, the week will include a Real Stories, Real People - LIVE Q&A, creating a safe space to hear lived experience and encourage meaningful action to help keep young people safe. Book your space here
Life Lessons believe action starts in the classroom. So this week, they are giving away two free PSHE lessons to help young people understand and look after their mental health.
🧰 My Emotion Toolkit - Primary - Helps children explore what it means to feel overwhelmed, understand dysregulation, and build their own personal strategies to regulate powerful emotions. Ready to teach, no prep needed.
🌱 Healthy Choices for Mental Wellbeing - Secondary - Helps students understand how everyday choices - sleep, diet, exercise, nature and social connection - shape how they feel. Includes a video, discussion tasks and a mind-mapping activity.
Both lessons are free to download and ready to use this week. Download your free lessons here
‘Inclusion Matters: Learning From What Works’ - SEND and Inclusion Conference
Friday 19th June 2026 09:00 – 16:00 UoG City Campus, Gloucester, GL1 1AW
More details are available here: Gloucestershire University Inclusion Conference flyer
Book your place here: Learning From What Works 19th June 2026
Dementia Action Week is taking place 18th-24th May and there are lots of events taking place across the county, in the Forest of Dean, Gloucester, Stroud, Tewkesbury, Cheltenham, Berkeley Vale and Cotswold areas.
Please click here to see the full posters for what is going on in each locality.
Mental Health Awareness Week 2026 starts today! The theme this year is Action. Because, while awareness is vital, real change comes when we take action too.
Together, we’re taking action to support our own mental health; to create mentally-healthy communities, workplaces and schools; and to call on policymakers to take action to tackle the root causes of mental ill health.
MHAW 2026 Tipsheet Top ten actions.pdf
This skin cancer awareness month, Cancer Research UK are excited to share some amazing research into melanoma and non-melanoma cancer.
It's thanks to your ongoing support that they're able to continue research into skin cancer risk and prevention.
Prevention, stopping cancer before it starts, is one of the most effective ways we can beat the disease.
Read more to find out about key research into skin cancer symptoms, prevention and other breakthroughs that they wouldn't be able to achieve without your support.
New session " Leading a More Reflective Culture- Theory, Strategies and Impact".
Join GHLL for an online session with The Talk About Trust. The session will include information on the effects of Ketamine and how to have preventative and harm reduction conversations with young people around vaping using the Talk About Trust resources.
Our next Secondary, Colleges & FE PSHE Network Meeting is on Thursday 11th June 15:30-17:00 virtually, online via TEAMS
Click our poster above to see the full agenda including talks from Wendy Loades from Stop Loan Sharks and Alice Hendy from R;pple Suicide Prevention.
Our next Primary PSHE Network Meeting is on Thursday 11th June 09:30-12:30 at Dowty Sports and Social Club.
Join us from 09:00am for refreshments and networking for a prompt 09:30am start.
Click our poster above to see the full agenda including a talk on Positive Masculinity by Laura Nott from The Lucy Faithfull Foundation and Inclusion within Personal Development in a Gloucestershire School's Recent Ofsted Inspection.
Knife Crime Awareness Week is coming very soon, taking place from 18th - 24th May 2026, and The Ben Kinsella Trust are proud to be leading this national campaign.
This year, Knife Crime Awareness Week places a stronger emphasis on commitment through action, not just awareness. The week brings together communities, schools, charities and professionals across the country to take a stand against knife crime and help keep young people safe.
To mark the week, the Ben Kinsella Trust will be delivering a series of FREE online sessions, focused on prevention and early intervention.
Alongside tailored training for professionals, the week will include a Real Stories, Real People - LIVE Q&A
Book your space here
The following schools have recently been successful in achieving our Healthy Schools and/or Mental Health Champions Award. To find out more about our Awards please click here.
This scheme is open to all education settings in Gloucestershire including colleges and FE. Support is available for your whole journey from your schools GHLL Lead Teacher. For more information or an informal chat get in contact with us at ghll@gloucestershire.gov.uk
Presented by mental health trainers, clinical academics and youth ambassadors, Charlie Waller's free webinars explore practical, evidence‑based strategies across a range of mental health topics. There are a variety of sessions coming up over the next few months including loneliness, low mood in young people, and workplace mental health.
Click here to find out more: Free mental health webinars
Period Positive Curriculum Guide, Pledge, and Award: Call to Action
Period Positive is gathering partner support for the Curriculum Guide, Pledge, and Award frameworks as practical standards of good practice for menstruation education. This is a timely opportunity to show that inclusive, cross-curricular menstruation education already exists, is ready to be supported, and should inform the delivery of the Renewed Women’s Health Strategy.
CEP Showcases: Young Designers, ChangeMakers & Young Poets - Reserve your spot
Young Designers Showcase - 3 June 6-7.30pm at Francis Close Hall Chapel, GL50 4AZ Come and see what students have been working on this year. As part of CEP's collaboration year with the charity Lives of Colour, students from seven of their schools have been creating wearable pieces of art, merging African and British culture. Reserve your seat here
Climate ChangeMakers Showcase 10 June 6-7.30pm at the Wilson Art Gallery, GL50 3JT Eight schools present their local schools sustainability action projects. Register your interest here, or feel free to turn up on the day.
Young Poets Poetry Slam 5 May, 6.15-8.15pm at the Parabola Arts Centre Students have been exploring the theme "I live in Cheltenham, but I come from..." as part of CEP's collaboration year with our partner Lives of Colour.
With Bafta award winning poet Dean Atta joining them as one of the judges, we know this will be a great event. Please reserve your seat here
Better by Water is a 12 week programme which combines art, physical activity and advice and guidance around maintaining and promoting good mental health and wellbeing. Designed by the Canal and River Trust the sessions will consist of walks along the cnacl, paddle sports (kayaking), arts and crafts activities and some sessions exploring techniques for supporting their wellbeing.
Start date may be moved back- If you are interested please get in contact with tracy.yates@canalrivertrust.org.uk
The next PSHE network Meeting is taking place on Thursday 11th of June. Split into a session in the morning, 09:30-12:30, for Primary settings at Dowty Sports & Social Club and a Secondary/College/FE session taking place between 15:30-17:00 virtually. These useful meetings are an opportunity to keep up to date with the latest guidance, resources and support for delivering a high-quality PSHE curriculum. To find out more and book your FREE space click here.
Families in Partnership Newsletter for April 2026
- The Schools White Paper, which was published by the Department for Education (DfE) in February and includes proposed reforms to the SEND system, along with the proposed timeline.
- Exam stress and what this can look like for young people with SEND.
- National charity WellChild relaunch their free In Your Area digital platform.
- Gloucestershire libraries supporting neurodivergent young adults.
- How Severn Vale School are supporting their students with SEND through their Preparing for Adulthood (PfA) programme.
- News from the SEND and Inclusion Local Area Partnership
- The Cheltenham and Tewkesbury Youth Hubs celebrate winning their award for championing Youth Voice.
- Events and activities, such as Big Health Day 2026; Listen to Me and Other Events
Plus much more!
Bite Back in Schools is a FREE programme empowering students in Years 7–10 to improve their school food environment and understand the political processes shaping it. Schools receive:
- A £500 grant to fund student-led improvements
- A ready-made resource pack with physical workbooks, session plans, slide decks and a Championing Change card game
- An inspiring kick-off assembly from a Bite Back Ambassador
- Ongoing support from our team
- Badges, merchandise and celebration opportunities
Schools can sign up here : https://www.biteback2030.com/bite-back-in-schools/england-join-bite-back-in-schools/
Anna Freud have released their summer term edition of the mental health and wellbeing school and college calendar.
It includes lots of ideas, activities and free resources to support the mental health and wellbeing of your students,
staff and wider community.
Access the calendar here: summer-term-calendar-2026.pdf
South West Nature Park
The National Education Nature Park programme empowers children and young people to make a positive difference to both their own and nature's future.
Go on a journey to get to know your outdoor space and use creative decision-making to improve your grounds for both people and nature. This free programme provide all educators with the resources, support and guidance to embed climate and nature into learning in a way that suits your setting and learners.
How it works | Education Nature Park
You can even invite them to run a session at your setting! Get in touch at Southwestnaturepark@rhs.org.uk
Kidscape have recieved funding to support young people, parents, and carers with bullying in Gloucestershire, Swindon and Wiltshire.
See GHLL's full Training Calendar for 2025-2026
A major review of the curriculum – what children learn at school – and the qualifications and assessment system has just been published, and the government is making changes based on what it found.
The National Curriculum hasn’t been updated in over ten years, so these changes will ensure it stays relevant for today’s world.
What you need to know about the changes to the National Curriculum – The Education Hub
Gloucestershire County Council has launched a new online resource giving parents and guardians information about the benefits and risks of online spaces, with details of further information and where support is available.
On Your Mind Glos is a place for Children and Young People to turn to when you need help and support with your mental health but you aren’t sure where to go. We have an anonymous Mental Health Support Finder, which is also available via text, for anyone aged 0-25 that will help you find the most appropriate support options for you in Gloucestershire. On Your Mind Glos also has some self help guides and resources designed for both young people and their families to provide general support and advice about self-care. Click here to find out more.
More than 6,000 Children from 113 Schools across Gloucestershire are particpating in the Big Brush Club. See the full report by BBC News featuring Bream Primary School where lessons on how to brush and daily brushing at school are having a positive impact on improving oral hygiene.
View information from Talk Well on their Eating Difficulties Counselling Service.
Children will have experienced an average of 15 significant losses before adulthood, and may also encounter depictions of death in the media and social media, which are often explicit. The recent Covid-19 pandemic further highlighted change, loss and death, and children and their families may have experienced loss during this time.
PSHE Association have updated their Change, loss and grief lesson packs for KS1 - 4 to cover these topics safely, effectively and sensitively. ]
You will need a PSHE account to download these resources.
New data commissioned by domestic abuse charity Refuge reveals the scale of domestic abuse is significantly underestimated. Read the full blog around the impactful educational campaign created in response.
Poor mental health and absence from school are impacting the education of children and in turn their futures. Read the full blog from GOV.UK on 'How we're helping children and teachers with their mental health and wellbeing'
The results for the Pupil Wellbeing Survey have now been published. Click here to see the report.
Surfers Against Sewage "Plastic Free Schools" iniatitive is empowering the next generation of ocean activists. To find out more and sign your school up click here
Useful article from Claire Watts from High Speed Training, on what "Incel" means, the manosphere, and how this correlates to misogyny, radicalisation, and violence. This article looks at why teachers should be aware of Incel Culture and how Schools can tackle this issue.
The NHS Gloucestershire Asthma Team are looking into the current management of asthma in schools across the county. We would be very grateful if you could complete this questionnaire. The feedback you provide will be treated in the strictest confidence. It will be stored securely and only used to improve this service. Thank you in advance for your responses.
Please click here to complete the questionnaire.
Please click here to view AFS resources.
Lumi Nova: Tales of Courage is an engaging child-led, parent/guardian supported therapeutic intervention that can be used on most smartphones or tablets free for all Gloucestershire families.
It facilitates graded exposures (the active ingredient of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) with psychoeducation to empower 7-12 year olds with mild to moderate needs to learn to self-manage fears, worries and anxiety.
myHappymind is an award winning programme for schools & nurseries, families and organisations. It is delivered by class teachers across 5 modules, all designed to develop critical knowledge and habits that support children’s mental health. This means that children can develop a toolkit of resources to use when they need to. For further information on the pilot click here
After the outbreak of war in Ukraine in early 2022, we all saw how the resulting conflict impacted tens of thousands of children through separation, loss or bereavement. Bear Us In Mind was launched to provide early intervention to support those children and the adults in their lives.
Whether you’re a teacher, teaching assistant, Head, Governor or a supporting adult from the child’s school or local community, Bear Us In Mind is designed to help you be a compassionate and confident thinking partner for a child when it’s most needed. Download the complete Bear Us In Mind toolkit guide here. To receive your 'bear in a box' email ghll@gloucestershire.gov.uk
Mental Health e-learning - Children and Young People's Mental Health
This short course will provide you with information and guidance to help support the young people you work alongside.
The course will introduce you to some common mental health and emotional wellbeing difficulties, and will provide you with practical examples that you can use to help you to recognise and respond to children’s emotional health and wellbeing.
Text and WhatsApp support from Winston's Wish now available 8am - 8pm
Neurodivergent-friendly schools : Ten strategies
Neurodivergent children bring a range of strengths and challenges to the classroom. In this Best Practice Focus, Dr Pooky Knightsmith offers 10 techniques primary schools can adopt to create a positive learning environment for neurodivergent pupils, with practical classroom ideas and easy ‘do now’ suggestions for each approach Its Free to download from the link.
Post SATs projects for year 6 classes
TES have devised some great post SATs project ideas to inject some fun back in to the classroom after the stressful build up of SATs.
School Nursing Team Launch Pilot Monthly 'Health Hubs'
The school nursing team are launching a pilot 'Health Hub' monthly at Barton Gate Children's Centre for parents and carers. They will be a single point of access for families to come and seek health advice and support. Each month will have a theme and colleagues from other organisations joining them. For more information click here
The next Health Hub is taking place on 3rd June and will have a focus on Sleep and Emotional Help with Let's Talk Walk joining to support with these issues.
Click the posters below for further information
Breast Cancer Awareness and Prevention
The PSHE Association's latest lesson pack for KS4-5 students, Breast Cancer Awareness and Prevention, is available to download for free.
Created by Prevent Breast Cancer in partnership with the PSHE Association, the lessons explore breast awareness and breast cancer prevention, helping students understand how to notice changes, access reliable information and seek help with confidence.
Download the free lesson pack here: Prevent Breast Cancer: Breast Cancer Awareness and Prevention
Closure of Samaritans' email and letter-writing services
Samaritans is closing its UK email and letter writing services in 2026 but will continue to offer immediate support for anyone in crisis through its 24/7 telephone helpline.
When life is difficult, Samaritans are here to listen – day or night, 365 days a year. No judgement, no pressure. You can call them for free on 116 123 or visit www.samaritans.org
The way people seek support is changing and the closure of these services is part of Samaritans’ efforts to make sure its services are fit for the future. Alongside prioritising the 24/7 telephone helpline, the charity is working to expand its online chat service – currently available six nights a week. Through the telephone helpline and online chat service, Samaritans’ trained volunteers will continue to provide immediate support for anyone in crisis. To find out more please visit Samaritans’ website: www.samaritans.org/email-closing
Gloucestershire Healthy Living and Learning
Welcome to Gloucestershire Healthy Living and Learning. This is an umbrella organisation for Gloucestershire Healthy Schools and Gloucestershire Healthy FE (Further Education).
GHLL was launched in July 2012 for schools and colleges across Gloucestershire, supported by Leading Teachers.
Funding is through Public Health and by Gloucestershire County Council. Schools and colleges are offered this supported intervention at no cost.
