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The BIG 5 Toolkit for RSHE

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£100.00
One time

If you have already purchased the toolkit, view it here

‘How to think, not what to think’ – facilitating ‘safe uncertainty’ without needing all the answers. 

This toolkit helps primary educators facilitate critical thinking and emotional intelligence in the classroom. It can be used to implement inclusive routines and safeguarding language hand-in-hand with any existing PSHE and RSHE provision. 

In particular, the toolkit meets the guiding principles of the 2026 RSHE statutory requirements for England, including making provision ‘relevant and responsive’ and enabling ‘skilled delivery of participative education’.

*This toolkit is designed for pupils aged 8-11, however the mindfulness tracks are suitable for ages 5+. The toolkit for ages 5-8 is in development and will be ready soon!

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Why Buy The BIG 5 Toolkit for RSHE?

  • We’ve curated a selection of the stand-alone elements of our core programme to support educators wherever you are in your journey of personal development in the curriculum. 

    The toolkit is a menu of options providing off-the-peg safe routines and a scaffolded structure to deliver RSHE, PSHE and general social emotional learning, drawing on the tried and tested routines, rituals and language from our core programme. 

  • We want to equip educators with confidence and practical routines they can start with straightaway, without taking up your time for planning or training. 

    The tools in our toolkit have been carefully curated to help educators facilitate what we call ‘safe uncertain’ spaces, where teachers aren’t expected to have all the answers, but have a scaffolded structure in which to hold space for ambiguity and complexity, and even safe disagreement.  

    These tools are about SEL skills, about how to think - not what to think - so they can complement any existing PSHE schemes or knowledge based PSHE / RSHE content. 

    Underpinning the design of each tool is an evidence base drawing on best practice in relationships education and personal development.

  • For schools in England required to implement the new statutory RSHE guidance from September 2026, the toolkit’s routines are specifically designed to enable the new guiding principles such as: relevant and responsive provision, skilled delivery of participative education, positivity, engagement with pupils and a whole-school approach.

  • No! This is for educators anywhere who want to facilitate critical thinking and emotional intelligence for 5- to 11-year-olds (or these developmental stages).

  • We are asking users for a one-off nominal fee of £100 to access the toolkit. We are a not-for-profit charity making the cost highly subsidised. Once you make a payment, you will be given a login to access the toolkit zone with all the resources listed below.  

  • On our homepage, you can download a free lesson kit which will give you a taster of all the elements of the toolkit as well as the content of these lessons. The current free kit is TRUTH Authenticity based on a story about an AI chatbot friend vs a real human friend.

  • Our subscription-based core programme uses the elements of the toolkit to frame all of our modules for KS1 (5-8 year-olds) and KS2 (8-11 year-olds) that cover a 3- year spiral curriculum fully referenced to statutory requirements.  Pre-recorded or live trainings are available 


    We also have a popular early-years programme ‘The BIG 3’ for schools and independent nurseries.  We occasionally have grant money for settings that meet specific criteria to fund a one-year subscription.

    We also offer one-off community engagement workshops to bring parents and carers together around shared values of PSHE and RSHE. 

    See here for more and contact@the-big-think.org to set up a 1:1 to find out more and receive a free 2-week trial. 

 

 See below for the resources included in the toolkit

Our Class CONNECT Code

Ground rules that build connection and a group agreement for exploring complex RSHE and PSHE topics, allowing for diverse viewpoints and managing ambiguities and complexities.

Does it work?

Safeguarding and Risk Reduction: Guidelines that establish a safe, non-judgmental environment allow children to discuss digital safety, relationships, and health choices. Studies show this drastically increases students' ability to seek help when necessary and make safer, more informed choices regarding risk.

 
“We use the CONNECT Code all the time to remind us all how to communicate in a positive way”
— Y6 Teacher, North London

Silent Sitting Mindfulness Tracks

Developed by child meditation expert Christiane Kerr, both children and adults build up their mindfulness practice over time.  

Does it work?

The largest study on the impact of mindfulness concluded that meditations that link to pupils' current learning and experience have the biggest impact on self-regulation skills. (MYRIAD research with University of Oxford and Wellcome Trust)

Featured
Accepting All Weather
Accepting All Weather
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Breathe in Peace and Quiet
Breathe in Peace and Quiet
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Compassionate Cloud
Compassionate Cloud
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Making Footprints
Making Footprints
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Over the Hill
Over the Hill
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Peace Is Right Here
Peace Is Right Here
Read more →
Respect Rabbit's House
Respect Rabbit's House
Read more →
Reasons to be Thankful
Reasons to be Thankful
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Ripples on a Lake
Ripples on a Lake
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The Courage of the Lion
The Courage of the Lion
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The Inside Smile
The Inside Smile
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The Optimistic Daisy
The Optimistic Daisy
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The Rescue
The Rescue
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Waiting For A Flower
Waiting For A Flower
Read more →
Your Special Animal
Your Special Animal
Read more →
“We like to use the mindfulness tracks as a whole-school thing after lunch to reset and refocus ready for afternoon learning.”
— Deputy Head, SENDCO and Safeguarding Lead, West London

5 BIG Skills for Life

Five of the key social emotional skills, essential for life and for the workplace, broken down into explicit and manageable steps to apply during RSHE or in the wider curriculum so they become lifelong habits. 

Does it work?

- According to the OECD, nurturing critical thinking in young students not only sharpens rational judgement but is also linked to stronger academic performance and a greater intrinsic motivation for learning.

 The Future of Jobs Report (World Economic Forum, 2025), lists analytical thinking and other social emotional skills as the top core skills that will combat AI.

“First we practise using the BIG life skills in class, then we start using them all the time until they are natural habits.”
— PSHE Lead, North London

The BIG Feelings & Life Skills Compass

A resource to name and identify a range of feelings to help regulation and awareness and acknowledge both comfortable and uncomfortable feelings. For older primary pupils, the outer ring goes further and suggests mindful choices that can be made when experiencing these feelings.  

Does it work?

- Research spearheaded by experts like Dr. Dan Siegel and Dr. Matthew Lieberman highlights that labelling emotions integrates the right (emotional) brain with the left (logical) brain and with practice, this can help to soothe the nervous system and manage overwhelming feelings.

“We also use The BIG Feelings Compass in Literacy to help broaden the vocabulary for how the characters might be feeling.”
— Y3 Teacher, Kent

BIG Stories for Empathy

Bite-size short stories with discussion questions for assembly or classroom, featuring relatable characters and covering a vast range of topics from chatbot friendships to misogyny.

Does it work?

- Rebecca Hibbin’s research (2016) indicates that oral storytelling in schools acts as a key pedagogical tool to foster empathy, develop identity, and create safe environments for exploring emotions in PSHE.

 
 
“As a Values-based school, we share The BIG Stories in our Values assembly. The children connect to the characters easily as they are the same age and experiencing similar challenges.”
— Headteacher, Reading