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Tools to Thrive is a new positive mental well-being programme for senior cycle secondary school students in Fifth and Sixth year (ages 15 to 17+). The programme is drawn from the fields of Positive Psychology (the science of well-being) and Neuroscience, to develop positive well-being habits for life. It is designed to be implemented as part of the SPHE curriculum.
Each level has 8 lessons which are designed to be taught consecutively where possible. Each lesson may be taught over a one-hour class period, or maybe be split over 2 lesson periods if desired also.
The Tools to Thrive programme aims to introduce adolescents to these evidence-based skills (tools), drawn from the field of Positive Psychology, to develop positive well-being habits for life. Each lesson also indicates the neuroscience behind each tool to give students an understanding of what is happening in the brain as each tool is utilised.
The programme is designed in alignment with the 4 key features of effective teaching and learning in SPHE (NCCA, 2023): – Awareness – Dialogue – Reflection – Action.
The programme aims to support learning in all of the Learning Outcomes of 2 of the 3 strands of the Revised Senior Cycle SPHE curriculum (2024), namely Health and Well-Being and Into Adulthood. The majority of these Learning Outcomes (11 of the 16), are covered within Levels A & B of the programme. The remaining 5 are covered in Tools to Thrive: Level B Follow-On, which comprises of 3 further online lessons.
There are two levels in this series:
- Book A (Secondary – 5th Year / Ages: 15-16+)
- Book B (Secondary – 6th Year / Ages: 16-17+)
This is the second book in the series.
Tools to Thrive – Book B – Outline of Lessons:
- Lesson 1: From Surviving to Thriving
- Lesson 2: Tool 1: Manage Your Mood – You can try this for FREE
- Lesson 3: Tool 2: Activate Your Goals
- Lesson 4: Tool 3: Control Your Attention
- Lesson 5: Tool 4: Communicate to Connect
- Lesson 6: Tool 5: Embrace Stress
- Lesson 7: Tool 6: Cultivate Your Resilient Mindset
- Lesson 8: It’s Time to Thrive
Components of the Programme:
- Teacher Guide – Book B
- Comprehensive Digital Companion Page (DCP) to accompany the Teacher Guide (including PowerPoint to deliver each Lesson Plan, videos etc.). The link for this page is www.otb.ie/t2t-b-t and the password can be found in the Teacher Guide – Book B.
- Student Reflective Journal – Book B
- Student DCP – www.otb.ie/t2t-b-p (no password required)
- Guide for Parent/Guardian/Carer (preview HERE)
- Classroom Posters
- Supplementary Activities
Structure of the Programme:
The programme has 8 lessons, each with the following components:
- Lesson plan: Containing relevant SPHE learning outcomes, lesson-specific learning outcomes, introduction, subsequent development, suggested supplementary activities and posters
- PowerPoint slides: Containing all relevant material for the presentation of the lesson
- Video Clip: A video clip to support the concepts of each lesson is included midway through each lesson, along with an optional follow-up activity for group/pair work. – Teachers can use their discretion with regard to whether or not to include this activity in the lesson
- Student Reflective Journal: Containing 2 reflections per lesson, key message and end-of-week reflection. This Reflective Journal is confidential to the student and sharing reflections with the class or teacher should always be optional.
- Supplementary Worksheet: A supplementary worksheet for each lesson is available at the end of each lesson plan and these can also be downloaded from the Teacher Digital Companion Page. Teachers may choose to use this page as an additional. resource during or at the end of each lesson – www.otb.ie/t2t-a-t
- Pupil Digital Companion Page: This supporting online page contains weblinks, articles, further reading, videos and resources to support each lesson. This is not password protected and can be found at: www.otb.ie/t2t-b-p
About the Author:
Fiona Forman – click on the author’s name or HERE to find out more information about Fiona.
For more information please go to the Tools to Thrive Homepage.
