Togetherness has partnered with Developing Experts to create a ready-to-deliver Key Stage One lesson series helping young children recognise, talk about and seek support with big feelings.
The new series, designed to run over a 6-weekly curriculum slot, introduces emotional health at the very start of school life, encouraging five-year-olds to notice feelings in themselves and others, understand that big and uncomfortable emotions are normal, and identify trusted adults who can listen and help.
The lesson plan is designed for teachers to use straight away through Developing Experts’ established digital learning platform, which provides schools with ready-to-deliver classroom resources across a range of subjects.
The resources have been carefully created by psychologists and psychotherapists with decades of experience working directly with children, families and schools. The creative team at Developing Experts have brought the information to life for young children, introducing loveable characters and friendly presenters.
The lessons focus on helping children understand that feelings can change throughout the day and may appear in facial expressions, body sensations or behaviour. Drawing on professional knowledge of children’s emotional development, it also reinforces that children should not be expected to manage difficult feelings alone.
Instead, the programme encourages pupils to talk openly about their feelings and to recognise the adults around them who can offer support. This approach reflects the Togetherness proposition: here for big feelings.
The launch comes at a time of growing concern about children and young people’s mental health in the UK. NHS England reported that around one in five children and young people aged 8 to 25 in England had a probable mental disorder in 2023, underlining the need for early, developmentally appropriate support that helps children build emotional understanding before difficulties escalate.
Dr Hazel Douglas, Director of Togetherness, said “We know children’s mental health in the UK is under increasing pressure, and that is why early, evidence-based support matters so much. When children learn early that big feelings are normal, speakable, and something adults can help with, we give them a foundation for healthier emotional development. This is also about giving teachers confidence and giving children language.”
The resource has been designed to support all children, including those who may not consistently experience healthy, caring relationships outside school. By giving teachers a structured way to explore emotional health in the classroom, the lesson helps create safe, non-judgemental spaces where children can begin to build the language and confidence to share how they feel.
Clare Faulkner, Director of Primary Education at Developing Experts said: “Schools are increasingly being asked to support children’s wellbeing alongside their academic learning. Yet many teachers don’t always have the confidence, experience or resources to know how best to support children’s emotional health. That’s why access to trusted, high-quality resources is so important. Teachers need practical, easy-to-deliver materials that give them the confidence to have meaningful conversations about emotions, while helping children develop an early understanding that their feelings can be recognised, shared and supported.”
Unlike approaches that ask children to contain or manage worries on their own, the lessons emphasise connection, communication and trusted adult support. The evidence-informed design avoids activities that place responsibility on young children to hold difficult feelings by themselves, and instead centres on the role of caring relationships in helping children process emotions.
The lessons complete the Togetherness whole-school offer, which now provides support for staff, parents and children. Togetherness hopes the resource will strengthen provision in schools already using the Solihull Approach model, while also introducing Togetherness and its values to new schools across the UK.
Schools will be able to use the lesson series as an accessible starting point for conversations about emotional health, helping Key Stage One pupils understand big feelings and the importance of sharing them with adults who listen and care.
Sign up for free to review the lessons and plan them into your PSHE calendar