This lesson prepares students with skills and strategies to cope with feelings of disappointment after receiving their final Year 12 results. You can use this resource in wellbeing, pastoral care, year group and study skills sessions.
Learning Intention
Students identify skills, strategies and support structures they can put in place to cope with feelings of disappointment they might experience after receiving their final Year 12 results.
Key Outcomes
By the end of the lesson, students will be able to:
- identify skills, strategies and support networks they can use to cope with feelings of disappointment after receiving their final Year 12 results.
Activity 01
Class discussion: Strategies for acceptance 15 min
- Explain to students that practising acceptance can help us to cope with difficult feelings such as disappointment, and can support them to build a positive mindset. Provide some examples of how to do this, such as by:
- acknowledging your feelings
- being kind to yourself
- getting a perspective on the situation
- changing up your self-talk
- finding a creative outlet.
- Ask students to read the ReachOut article How to cope when things feel out of your control.
- Using the example of receiving disappointing Year 12 results, discuss the three strategies outlined in the article and how they could be beneficial in helping students to cope with disappointment:
- 'Imagine what a role model or admired friend would do in the same situation.'
- ‘Write down your thoughts.’
- ‘Talk to others about how you’re feeling.’
- Explain that these are examples of positive strategies. It’s also important to acknowledge that some strategies aren’t so useful. As a class, discuss:
- What strategies wouldn’t be useful in dealing with disappointment? (Examples might include escaping through alcohol or drug use, excessive partying, and overworking or overtraining.)
Debrief: While practising acceptance isn’t easy, it’s an important skill for students to learn. Explain that acceptance takes practice, but the better you get at doing it, the easier you’ll find it to accept when something doesn’t go your way.
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