Healthy Minds Compact: Strengthening - The Stories Our Brains Tell
Pupils discover that our brains do not simply record events — they interpret them. They learn to separate observable facts from the story the brain adds, recognise common ways thinking can jump ahead and practise checking evidence and asking, “What else could be true?” This helps pupils develop greater flexibility in their thinking and creates more choice about what they do next.
Learning Outcomes
Outcome 1:
• Understand that our brains interpret events and create explanations about what they mean.
Outcome 2:
• Recognise the difference between what happened and the story the brain adds.
Outcome 3:
• Learn some common ways our thinking can jump to conclusions.
Outcome 4:
• Practise checking a story against evidence.
Outcome 5:
• Consider other possible explanations before deciding what something means.
What's included
A quick look at the classroom-ready resources that come with this lesson.
Available after purchase
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Available after purchase
Contributing Experts
People who helped produce this lesson.
Lucy Bailey
Lucy Bailey is Founder of Bounce Forward and Healthy Minds for Parents. With two decades of experience in mental resilience and emotional wellbeing, and training 1000s of teachers, parents and other adults around children and young people. Lucy is proud of her early career in youth work and children services. Lucy had a poor experience of school and that has driven her passion to influence UK policy to form a positive system of change with psychological fitness at the core. Lucy has directed national research projects (including the Healthy Minds five year study), is certified by University of Pennsylvania, has an MSc in Practice Based Research, a BSc in Social Policy and Criminology, and a Post-Graduate Certificate in Education. Her published book Raise Resilience: Teach your teenager well has led to the creation of the Psychological Fitness Nana bridging old school wisdom with modern psychology for parents of the 21st century.
About the Organisation
Bounce Forward is a registered charity on a mission to transform how we think about mental health, shifting the narrative from deficit and crisis to strength, prevention, and psychological fitness. They create evidence-based programmes, curricula, and training that give young people, school staff, and the adults around children the knowledge, language, and daily habits to build genuine mental resilience. From whole-staff training to five-year school curricula, everything they do is practical, grounded in science, and designed to make a lasting difference not just in the moment, but across a lifetime.