Healthy relationships: a toolkit for secondary schools

Friendships and conflict in secondary school

Friendships play an important role in secondary students’ lives, offering connection, belonging and support for their mental wellbeing. This toolkit helps students explore how conflicts can arise in friendships, how emotions can influence behaviour, and how they can respond in positive, respectful ways. It also explores how conflict can affect the mental wellbeing of students and provides practical strategies to manage challenging situations effectively.

What this toolkit covers

This toolkit includes assembly materials, a two-part lesson and guidance for education staff. It supports students aged 11 to 13 to develop the skills and understanding they need to build healthy friendships and manage conflict in ways that support their mental wellbeing.

Students will explore key topics including building confidence in setting boundaries, managing peer pressure and navigating both face-to-face and online interactions. They will also learn how to identify and use constructive conflict resolution strategies, both offline and online.

The toolkit forms part of a wider curriculum around emotional literacy and how young people manage their emotions. It begins with an assembly to introduce key ideas, followed by a two-part lesson to deepen understanding and practise skills.

What students can gain from this toolkit

This toolkit supports students to:

• develop the skills to manage and repair peer conflict effectively, including knowing when and how to seek support

• improve emotional literacy and the ability to regulate emotional responses in social situations

• develop an understanding of safe and respectful behaviour in online spaces, particularly within peer group communication (e.g. group chats)

• build confidence in setting and maintaining personal boundaries, both offline and online

• strengthen their ability to navigate peer pressure and make safe, independent decisions

• feel more confident in building and maintaining positive, healthy friendships during the transition into and across Year 7 and 8.

The guidance for education staff is designed to be used alongside the teaching resources. It provides an overview of the toolkit aims, along with some practical suggestions to help education staff feel more confident when delivering the assembly and lesson, and when supporting students.

Changes to social media access for under-16s

The UK government has announced plans for a social media ban for under-16s, with the changes expected to come into force in spring 2027.

These resources explore friendships and online interactions rather than specific social media platforms. They focus on skills that students can use to navigate relationships and conflict, both online and offline.

We will review our resources in light of further government guidance and update them where needed.