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Two classes are divided into smaller international groups of four to six pupils. The teachers explain to the groups that their wellbeing is affected by how well they deal with stressors in their lives. One way people deal with challenging or stressful situations is by employing coping strategies such as problem-solving or help-seeking. The pupils explain that as children they may have used different kinds of comfort strategies to soothe and calm themselves, such as playing a favourite game, watching a film or cuddling their soft toys. The pupils in the groups are then asked to go down memory lane and think of the strategies they used as children. They record this on a digital platform such as Padlet or Google Docs.  

Teachers can encourage them to share why they used these strategies and how they were helpful. When they have done so, the groups move on to adding coping strategies they now use as teenagers. Are there similarities? Do their coping strategies still serve the same purposes? Again, their answers should be recorded on a digital platform.  

Teachers then explain the importance of seeking help as a coping strategy to the pupils. They can do a reflection exercise to get them thinking about how they seek help and from whom. It can be organised online (Kahoot, Slido, etc.) or as a plenary discussion.  

The following questions can be asked:  

• Who do you go to first when you are stressed or upset?  
• Why do you go to that person for help?  
• When do you ask for help – only when you’re feeling negative emotions or also when you feel positively about something?  
• Who in this school might a pupil with mental health concerns go to for help?  
• To provide good peer support to a friend who is dealing with mental health issues, what would you need?  

Next, the classes go back into the groups of four to six pupils from earlier, and organise a video call or use a collaborative tool to record their answers. Each group receives two scenarios, each centred around an individual who needs help from either an adult or a friend.  

They discuss each scenario with questions, such as:  

• Is this a serious situation?  
• Should the character talk to someone? If so, who?  
• What actions might follow?  

The groups make an online action plan for what the characters should do. When the plan is finished, each group presents their scenario and action plan in a plenary video call. When all groups have presented, they are encouraged to give feedback to each other and discuss all the action plans, which are collected and shared on the TwinSpace afterwards.  

The following scenarios can be used as starting points, but pupils are also encouraged to come up with their own.  

• Ash has had the same close group of friends since the start of year seven. The four of them always hang out at lunchtime. Over the last week, though, Ash’s friends have been leaving him out – not waiting at the lockers, or going off with another group and leaving him out. Ash also found out that some kids in his class posted some negative comments about him on Facebook, and that his own group of friends added comments to the post.  
• Lola was allowed to go to her friend’s older brother’s birthday party. She was excited to be allowed to go, as usually her mum refused to let her go out with older kids. One of the older boys was really nice to her and she danced with him a lot, and they kissed when she thought no one was watching. The next morning when Lola checked Instagram, someone had posted a photo of them kissing. She felt embarrassed and worried that everyone would be looking at them and making comments about her.  
• George has started missing school a lot and is falling behind in his work. He stays home to look after his mum, who is suffering from depression and recovering from a problem related to the use of alcohol. He has not told his friends what is wrong with his mum, but they know he has some kind of home duties. His friends notice that the teachers think he is just skipping school.  
• Francesca has been on a diet for a long time, and is now really skinny and never seems to eat. She thinks she’s overweight and won’t wear shorts or a swimsuit. She always seems to be moody and unhappy. One hot day, all the girls in the group go to a friend’s house to swim. Francesca feels left out but doesn’t want her friends to see her in her swimsuit.  
• Jannus got a new haircut over the weekend. As soon as he gets to school, some of the older kids start teasing him about the haircut. His friends don’t say anything to make him feel better.