Brilliant ME! – Background and Context

Brilliant ME! started life as a resource to use alongside the Lemonade Project resources. Lemonade was originally developed to support teenagers struggling with their wellbeing. Much of the project approach (and resources) can work in KS2 but we felt that the brilliant Life and Lemons Journal was less appropriate. We set out to create a primary journal that could compliment Lemonade in primary schools.

As the project developed, we have taken the opportunity to give it a life beyond Lemonade and to contribute to:

• ‘A Brilliant Place’ – the council’s key strategic priority for C&YP
• The Belonging Framework for schools
• 'Psychoeducation' in the classroom as part of PSHE
• A whole school, trauma informed, relational approach to wellbeing, that is ‘everybody’s business’.

To align with ‘A Brilliant Place’ and Belonging, ‘Brilliant ME!’ has a distinctly Cornish flavour and a sea related theme.

Brilliant ME! and PSHE (Mental Wellbeing)

By the end of primary school pupils should know:

• t

  Primary health and wellbeing: content to be covered by the end of primary

  1. The benefits of physical activity, time outdoors, and helping others for health, wellbeing and happiness. Simple self-care techniques, including the importance of rest, time spent with friends and family, as well as hobbies, interests and community participation.
  2. The importance of promoting general wellbeing and physical health.
  3. The range and scale of emotions (e.g. happiness, sadness, anger, fear, surprise, nervousness) that they might experience in different situations. Pupils should understand that worrying and feeling down are normal, affect everyone at different times, and are not in themselves a sign of a mental health condition.
  4. How to recognise feelings and use varied vocabulary to talk about their own and others’ feelings.
  5. How to judge whether what they are feeling and how they are behaving is appropriate and proportionate.
  6. That isolation and loneliness can affect children, and the benefits of seeking support.
  7. That bullying (including cyberbullying) has a negative and often lasting impact on mental wellbeing and how to seek help for themselves or others.
  8. That change and loss, including bereavement, can provoke a range of feelings, that grief is a natural response to bereavement, and that everyone grieves differently.
  9. Where and how to seek support (including recognising the triggers for seeking support), including who in school they should speak to if they are worried about their own or someone else’s mental wellbeing or ability to control their emotions (including issues arising online).
  10. That it is common to experience mental health problems, and early support can help.

DfE PSHE Guidance last updated 2025

Brilliant ME! - Links

Threaded throughout Brilliant ME! are 'Resilient Moves' from the Boingboing Resilience Framework, Protective Behaviours and 5 Ways to Wellbeing. 

Download Brilliant ME! links mapping (pdf)

Request copies of My Brilliant Place to be ME!

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