Assemblies for KS3/4 / Spring Term Assembly Plans / Mental Health Action Week Assembly Plan

Mental Health Action Week Assembly

This assembly for Mental Health Week is a teacher resource that could be used in conjunction with PSHE and Citizenship, with cross-curricular links to some Science topics. The teacher resource includes an assembly script on mental health and an accompanying PowerPoint presentation.

The assembly plan uses a well-known rock band to introduce the students to the idea of mental illness. This way, students become more engaged and it helps auditory learners understand the concept better. From this song, the assembly explains about how times have changed through the use of a certain word in the song. This conveys the message that mental health is taken more seriously in today’s society.

The assembly goes on to define what mental health is, and what kinds of problems people encounter with their mental health, such as depression. Five mental health disorders are explained to the students, with the help of a visual aid on the PowerPoint presentation. Delicate subjects such as suicide in young people are also explained and statistics are given to reinforce the importance of mental health for those students with false perceptions.

The importance of empathy is expressed, and people who suffer from mental health disorders are compared to cancer sufferers, in terms of discrimination against those with problems, and what is unacceptable. The PowerPoint displays a poem in one slide to stress the importance of empathy. The assembly concludes with some top tips to good mental health, and calls attention to any places that people suffering with a condition will find help.