IN the news welcome to 2025 .pptx
A 15 minute ‘In the news’ Lesson
from Life Lessons - Spring term 2024
Welcome to 2025!
Resolutions and reflection.
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A 15 minute ‘In the news’ Lesson
from Life Lessons - Spring term 2024
Welcome to 2025!
Resolutions and reflection.
Worksheet bank
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This is where the printable worksheet for the lesson is. This worksheet is for the activity on slide 17 should you wish to use it.
Print out
Lesson ground rules
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Listen to others without interrupting
Be open and honest
Make sure everyone in the group has a chance to speak
Respect each others ideas and opinions
Encourage and support everyone
Do
Lesson ground rules
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Don't
Make others feel bad
Guess or think you know something about your friends
Pressure others into sharing information if they don’t want to
Make personal disclosures during the lesson
Key terms
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a firm decision to do or not to do something
to look at your past actions and behaviour
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Reflection
Happy New Year!
Today, we will think about 2024 and how we want to make 2025 an even better year!
Reflect on last year:
Pick three words to describe how 2024 was for you
Choose 3 words to summarise 2024.
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Traditions
Many religions and cultures celebrate new year, and they each have their own traditions.
In the Jewish new year (Rosh Hashanah), Jews perform an act known as Tashlich where their sins or mistakes from the past year are cast away, ready to start the year anew.
This is done by either casting breadcrumbs or pebbles into a body of water
Even if you are not religious, it is good to self-reflect on what we want to improve in the new year!
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Do
Activity
On the following slide write at least one thing you want to improve upon from last year.
Example:
Question: What would you like to improve on from last year
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Respect
Do you think making new year’s resolutions is helpful?
Do you think resolutions are easy or difficult to stick to? Why?
Why do many people struggle with resolutions?
Clear planning
Too much support from friends
Lack of motivation
Unrealistic goals
What can help stick to resolutions?
Making vague promises
Setting specific goals
Ignoring setbacks
Tracking progress
When do most resolutions fail?
After six months
Within the first few weeks
At the end of the year
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Suggested answers.
Do you New Year’s resolutions are helpful?
Do you think resolutions are easy or difficult to stick to? Why?
It can be helpful to self-reflect on your past actions and commit to bettering ourselves.
It can be easy to make resolutions but difficult to stick to.
Sometimes it is better to think about small steps to achieve goals than one big resolution.
Some resolutions are easy to stick to if it something we know we need to change in our lives.
Sometimes we can set ourselves unrealistic goals or goals that we aren’t ready to work towards.
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Self-reflection
You have two minutes to think about your answers to these questions. The answers don’t need to be shared as they are personal to you.
What’s important to you in the year ahead?
What needs to happen to achieve that thing or things?
Write down some tiny steps or changes that would take you towards that thing being a reality
What went well in the year that just passed?
What do I want to do differently in the year ahead?
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Do
(Optional) Activity
After you have reflected on those questions you should start to have some ideas for small achievable goals, steps or changes that get you towards where you want to be this year.
On your worksheet, think of three goals you have for the coming year and break them down into manageable steps to help you achieve them!
See slide 5 for the worksheet.
Example:
Habits
In order for our yearly goals to be achieved, we need to make good habits and stick to them.
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Habits
‘Piggyback’ habits by adding the new habit you want to develop on top of another you already have. For example, building in the habit of flossing, on top of the habit of brushing your teeth.
Habits might not become second nature straight away. You have to keep working at them.
Try to tie your habit to a context. For example, everytime you walk into the kitchen check the dishwasher to see if it needs emptying. This can build the habit of being tidier.
Repetition is key!
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Respect
Why do you think it is so difficult to develop good habits?
What habits could you try to pick up that will help you achieve your goals?
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Suggested answers.
Why do you think it is so difficult to develop good habits?
What habits could you try to pick up that will help you achieve your goals?
Habits can take a long time to form.
Sometimes, developing good habits means overcoming bad habits, which can be hard to break.
Setbacks in forming habits can make us give up and stop trying.
You could put money away each time you are paid, this can make saving money a habit.
You could always do a chore at the same time each day, to embed it in your daily routine.
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Growth mindset
Achieving the goals we want to reach can sometimes be difficult, especially if we experience setbacks or struggle to form good habits.
We need to develop a growth mindset to help us tackle these challenges the best we can!
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(Optional) Activity
Do
Raise your hand when you see a statement that reflects how you think about setbacks.
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Silent reflection
Which mindset do you think you have?
Extend:
Why do you think you have this mindset?
How do you think you can develop a growth mindset?
Embrace imperfection.
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How to achieve a growth mindset
Face challenges bravely.
Take criticisms constructively.
Learn from your mistakes.
Don’t rush yourself.
Value the process, not just the result.
How do you think a growth mindset can help you to achieve your goals for the year?
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Suggested answers
How do you think a growth mindset can help you to achieve your goals for the year?
It can help you to deal with setbacks.
If you fall behind on developing a habit, or achieving your goal, this mindset can help you to learn from a mistake and make better choices in future.
You enjoy a challenge and can be driven by your desire to achieve your goal.
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(Optional) Activity
Write a letter to your future self in 2026 about what you hope to achieve for them this year!
In your letter:
Explain what you hope to have achieved next year.
Remind yourself to be kind if you didn’t achieve the goal, and think of things your future self could do to try again.
Explain what resolutions you had for the year were
Tell your future self something positive or inspiring to help maintain a growth mindset!
More questions for discussion (if you have time)
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What does it feel like to not reach a goal?
How do other people influence our goals? How do you feel about this?
How can you celebrate reaching a goal?
Why is it important to celebrate reaching a goal?
What is more important - reaching a goal, or the process of trying?
How can we know whether we should abandon a certain goal?
Is it important to have goals in life?
More questions for discussion (if you have time)
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How can we deal with it if we experience pressure from others to reach a certain goal?
What can you do personally to help you develop a growth mindset?
How can we learn from our mistakes?
Video resources
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Respect
Where do you get your confidence from? What does it look like to have low self-esteem? (2m 57s) Watch the video
When have you failed and how did you cope? (2m 52s) Watch the video
Where to get support
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Helpline for children to discuss personal issues
A charity offering mental health support.
Mind
Childline
Helpline for people under 25 and website with information on different topics
The Mix
Find our more on the Mind website
Find out more on the Childline website
Find out more on the The Mix website.
Credits:
This lesson has been created by Life Lessons Education Ltd as part of their weekly ‘In the news’ series.
To learn more about Life Lessons and how they support schools visit www.lifelessons.co.uk
