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Worries and Emotions Group at Arkwright Primary School

"Worries and Emotions Group at Arkwright Primary School" with 3 pages from the worries and emotions workbook

Published on: April 11, 2025

Changing Lives, recently ran a Worries and Emotions group at Arkwright Primary School in Chesterfield.

Beth and Emma, EMHPs in the Bolsover MHST, ran the group intervention for 6 weeks, working with 7 pupils in Years 5 & 6.

The group intervention covered a number of topics related to worries and anxiety, including the ways they can affect our bodies, the reasons we experience anxiety, and when anxiety is or isn’t helpful.

One of the ideas touched on is the Flight, Fight or Freeze response, something that evolved as a survival instinct in our ancestors. The children drew comics to illustrate how they felt about this idea.

Page from the workbook, a comic strip. "Draw your own comic strip" Printed: "1. DRAW AN EARLY PERSON" Hand-drawn: A picture of an early person. Box 2 Printed: "2. DANGER COMES FOR THEM" Printed (in the burst shape): "FIGHT, FLIGHT OR FREEZE!" Hand-drawn: "Tigers with Sharp fangs Sprinting towards the Cavemen." and drawings of tigers. Box 3 Printed: "3. PHYSICAL SENSATION THEY EXPERIENCE" Hand-drawn: "There body Starts to Shiver. Headache. Butterflys!" and wavy lines. Box 4 Printed: "4. FLIGHT, FIGHT OR FREEZE" Hand-drawn: "Flight." and a drawing of the early person running towards an "Exit". Speech Bubbles at the Bottom Printed: "THE FFF RESPONSE KEPT EARLY PEOPLE ALIVE AND SAFE" Printed: "IF EARLY PEOPLE DIDN'T EXPERIENCE FFF, THEY WOULD NOT HAVE SURVIVED!"
Page from a workbook: Printed Text:at the top: "What's inside your self soothe box?" Handwritten Text: "Pop it's" "My dancing group keychain." "Chocolate" "loom bands" "family" "Trampoline" "Sweet Perfume" "Gymnastics" "football" "Olivia Rodrigo" "Sweets Haribo" "Reading" "music"

The programme went on to teach the children ways to manage anxiety and worries, both in the moment and long term.

The strategies included breathing exercises that they can use when they feel overwhelmed, and a self soothe box filled with calming things.

Beth had this to say about the group:

“We loved running it and were so impressed with the student’s creativity in exploring their worries and emotions. We are exceptionally proud of the progress they made!”

“We wanted to share some of their beautiful pictures and some of the very kind feedback the students gave us.”

Page from the workbook: Printed Text: At the top: "Let's Recap" Question 1: "What have you enjoyed?" Question 2: "What top tips will you carry on using?" In the blue cloud at the top right: "WORRIES & EMOTIONS SESSION 6" Handwritten Text (in yellow): "Spending time just us girls" "Listening to the stories" "other girls expressing how" "they feel, and not feeling" "As alone in tough times"

Through the sessions, pupils were guided by the Worries and Emotions Workbook Changing Lives had developed for KS2. Their journey was supplemented by a number of illustrative books, including Compass’ own “Pesky Parrot”.

The children filled their workbooks with their own ideas and artwork, based around the themes of the sessions. These included their interpretations on what worries “looked like”, representations of their “Positive Parrot”, and their own tips on how to feel better when they worry.

Page from the workbook. Very colourful hand drawn picture of a parrot. Printed Text: "Over to you... What does your Positive Parrot look like? And what does it say to you? What is your parrot's name?" Hand-drawn Text (inside the speech bubbles and below the parrot): "You are Unique" "Never give up" "You've got this" "Stay calm" "You are a Savvy Shopper" Hand-drawn Text (in the blue box at the very bottom): "Super girl Saver!"

They also included their own, highly positive, thoughts on the sessions, saying the liked “not feeling alone in tough times” and pledging to continue using the tools taught to them.

Beth wanted to add a thank you to the Arkwright School for hosting the group:

“A big thank you to our lovely Primary School for making us feel so welcome.”

Page from the workbook. Hand drawn picture of a pink blob with a face and hat. "What does your worry look like?" "Ruby's worry looks like a yellow blob:" Picture of a yellow blob with big eyes. "Draw a picture of you and what your worry looks like:"
Page from the workbook: What have you enjoyed?": "All of us girls" "The first lesson the best But I Loved the rest." "Reading the books." "What top tips will you carry on using?": "Self soothe box." "Breathing." "I do not want it to end!"
Page from the workbook: Printed Text at the very top: "Over to you..." "Draw the top tips to help you feel better when you worry, in the space below:" Hand-drawn Text: Inside the central cloud shape: "My top tips..." In the surrounding circles and shapes: "go on a walk and get some fresh air!" "Cuddle dogs!" "Talk to someone you trust!" "Write or draw about your worries." (There's a little drawing of a face with a thought bubble next to this) "Do something you enjoy!" "Have a rest and chill out!" "Have your bestie's round to play!"

If you or a child or young person you know is struggling with worries or anxiety, then Changing Lives wants to help. You can access a self guided workshop on anxiety through our app that goes into all of the topics discussed in this article, and more. Our app is also full of helpful advice and tips on a range of mental health topics, including anxiety. We have online resources on mindfulness and parent’s guides on how to help children manage with anxiety, ready to read on our website right now. And, of course, you can always get in touch with us if you need extra help.

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