The Rez is an exciting collaboration between academics at the University of Sussex, Make (Good) Trouble and Arts Council England. It is a sci-fi podcast adventure for 7–11-year-olds told through a comic book and a game-based website, designed to help young people prepare to negotiate emotional difficulties and stresses. The Rez is created by recent UK Comic Laureate Hannah Berry, alongside a team of writers and psychologists.
Make (Good) Trouble was engaged to produce content to raise awareness of The Rez, including a Key Stage 2 lesson pack, Quality Assured by the PSHE Association, which has now been updated to include alternative options for pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). Over 1.5 million children have special educational needs, according to government statistics – an increase of 87,000 on 2022.
Teaching about kindness supports pupils with SEND in meeting learning outcomes around ‘Self Awareness’, as outlined in the PSHE Association’s Planning Framework, and helps teachers to cover statutory content about ‘Caring friendships’ from the Department for Education’s RSHE guidance. You can find more about teaching safe and effective PSHE education for pupils with SEND on the PSHE Association’s website. There’s also a super-useful teacher’s handbook for embedding inclusive practice around SEND in schools.
We felt it was important for to work with the University of Sussex and the PSHE Association to develop guides and lesson plans that include pupils with SEND. We work with a lot of young people who have additional needs, and it’s great to offer more practical support and visually engaging content to enhance their experience in the classroom.
“We were delighted to work with The Rez and Make (Good) Trouble on this project. The story and bright visual aspects of these lesson plans will help teachers appeal to pupils’ imagination throughout and help them to explore the topic of kindness a fun and engaging way.”
Liz Laming, Senior Subject Specialist, PSHE Association.
“Working with Make (Good) Trouble to develop lesson plans for our PSHE Association-accredited adolescent well-being project has made all the difference to our outreach. It has literally opened the doors to hundreds of schools for us. This means potentially thousands of students are being resourced to support their own mental health and to have healthier media diets. Our impact would have been a fraction of what it is without Make (Good) Trouble. We are working with them on a second set of lesson plans and look forward to working with them on new projects we are developing. They are great!”
Martin Spinelli, Professor of Podcast at the University of Sussex and Director of Rezilience Ltd.
Get in touch if you’d like us to support you with the development and distribution of PSHE education lessons.