You snooze you win!

Latest ‘sleep factor’ lesson plans launched to foster healthy sleep habits and aid wellbeing, achievement and attendance.

• The PSHE Association has launched a brand new ‘sleep factor’ lesson pack for KS5/post-16 and updated existing primary and secondary lesson packs with the latest research and best practice.
• Over half of young people get less than 8.5 hours of sleep on a school night. This has an impact on mental health and even the ability to get up for school in morning.
• Some schools are hiring ‘sleep coaches’ to help combat sleep-related issues, but this learning should be available to all as schools in England are required to teach about sleep as part of statutory RSHE. These new and updated teaching materials, produced in conjunction with sleep experts at Evelina London Children’s Hospital’s sleep medicine service, will allow them to do so with confidence.
• Learning how to optimise sleep will have a beneficial impact on pupils’ ability to maintain attention, learn, and perform in sport, as well as helping to maintain their mental health and mood.

These innovative, evidence-based lessons, created in partnership with experts at Evelina London Children’s Hospital’s sleep medicine service, build on the success of the original 2019 pack. At each key stage, the lesson materials will help raise awareness of the impact of good quality sleep, and equip young people with the skills and strategies they need to get a better night’s rest.

There are five lesson packs available in total (one for each key stage) including a brand-new pack for KS5/post-16 to help students independently manage sleep when transitioning into work or higher education.

Each pack includes a lesson plan, teacher guidance, slides and accompanying resources. The existing lessons have been fully redesigned to enhance the user experience for teachers and pupils.

Teaching these lessons will help teachers and schools to cover relevant areas from the Department for Education’s statutory RSHE guidance around ‘understand[ing] the importance of sufficient good quality sleep for good health and recognis[ing] that a lack of sleep can affect weight, mood and ability to learn’.

Most pupils will find it easier to get up in the morning whilst there is still daylight, so supporting them to establish sleep routines early in the school year will help set them up for success throughout the rest of the academic year.

Ongoing research into the bidirectional relationship between mental health and sleep, has highlighted that:

• quality sleep is crucial for good mental health
• sleep issues can worsen mental health conditions, and
• mental health problems can lead to poor sleep.

Research also suggests that young people are spending less time outdoors and being active, and more time on screens — all of which can impact sleep quality. It’s crucial then, that they are supported to manage these different influences, and able to make informed decisions to promote good quality sleep and their broader health and wellbeing.

Dr Tom Maycock, a paediatric registrar who was part of the expert team at Evelina London that worked on the KS5/post-16 materials, said:

"The lesson materials aim to help prepare young people for their transition to the world of work and university, by focusing on how invaluable sleep is for meeting their professional and academic goals at a pivotal time in their lives when they are exercising more independence.

It discusses the importance of good quality sleep on better health and also the impact sleep deprivation has on poorer productivity on both a personal and global economic scale, in order to support positive and healthy decisions prioritising sleep and to encourage self-advocacy at work and university to optimise sleep as a matter of well-being."

Jenny Fox, PSHE Association Senior subject Specialist, said:

“It's been a pleasure working with the sleep medicine service at Evelina London once more to update our popular Sleep Factor lessons. We've extended this pack to also include a lesson for KS5/post-16 students, exploring the impact sleep can have on working life, higher education and even the economy!”

About the PSHE Association

The PSHE Association is the national body for personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education — the school curriculum subject designed to keep children and young people safe, healthy and prepared for life and work. A membership association and charity, the Association supports a network of over 50,000 teachers and schools with teaching materials, training, guidance and advice.
www.pshe-association.org.uk

About Evelina London’s sleep medicine service

Evelina London’s sleep medicine service care for children and young people, from newborns to adolescents, with a wide variety of sleep problems. The service is one of the few comprehensive children's sleep centres in the UK, and sees more than 3,000 children each year. The team provide clinical evaluation, diagnosis and management of children with all forms of sleep disorders including narcolepsy and sleep apnoea. The service also supports sleep difficulties in children with neurodevelopmental difference such as autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Find general information and advice for teenagers about sleep at: www.evelinalondon.nhs.uk/TeenSleep

Members of the PSHE Association can download the lessons at: pshe-association.org.uk/sleep