PSHE Workshops, Displays and Assemblies

Body Confidence and Self-Esteem

At Manor Wood Primary School we value and celebrate the uniqueness of each of our children. We want all of our children to be happy and confident in their own body, so we decided to partner up with Dove to teach about the importance of self-love, body confidence and self-esteem.

At Dove, they believe that no young person should be held back from reaching their full potential, but in the UK, 9 out of every 10 girls with low body esteem put their health at risk by not seeing a doctor or by skipping meals. Since 2004, Dove has been building self-esteem in young people, and by 2020, they’ll have helped 40 million through their fantastic educational programmes.

The 'Dove Confident Me' workshop has been evaluated by the Centre for Appearance Research, University of the West of England. It showed that children who participate in the workshop had improved self-esteem, had a more positive self- image, and felt more confident to participate in social and academic activities.

Our Year 5 and Year 6 children participated in the Dove Self-Esteem Project, through their 'Confident Me' workshop. The workshop was excellent and addressed key topics including media influence, peer pressure and strategies for promoting body image and self-esteem. The children learnt through class discussion, small-group activities, videos and activity worksheets.

The key learning from this workshop will be consolidated in their ongoing PSHE, Mindmate and Restorative Practice lessons.

Resources for Parents and Carers

As a parent or carer, it’s natural to want the best for your child – for them to be happy, healthy and confident individuals. But that’s sometimes easier said than done, especially during the teen and pre-teen years when their bodies are changing, their self-confidence is fragile and they are trying to make that tricky transition out of childhood.

How do you help your daughter or son maintain a positive body image and find their sense of self when their world is filled with unrealistic images of physical ideals; one dimensional, ‘flawless’ beauty, and narrow messages about the ‘perfect’ lifestyle? How do you help her deal with the pitfalls of teenage life such as appearance related bullying or keep them eating healthily and enjoying exercise (without getting hang-ups about food and body shape)?

In creating 'Uniquely Me' and the expert articles available on the Dove Parents Hub (see link below), Dove have gathered advice on some of the key topics that they know impact on young peoples’ self-esteem and body confidence, from media, peer and cultural pressures to teasing and bullying about appearance.

The Dove Self-Esteem Project global experts from the fields of psychology, body image, self-esteem, eating disorders and media representation have worked together to create a resource for you that is focused on advice and action.

Use the articles and activities in the guide to help you identify any self-esteem issues you think may be affecting your child and begin to tackle them head on. Each section includes an action checklist – pointers to help you make positive changes or initiate conversations with your child about things that may be troubling them or unhelpful messages that they might be receiving. Their research tells them that by reading and acting on the issues in this booklet, you will have a significant positive impact on your child’s self-esteem as well as your own.

They start with the most important influence in all of this: you. What is great to know is that you can use the resources here to be a role model and learn to love yourself, too!

Dove Self-Esteem Project- Resources for Parents and Carers

Videos from the 'Dove Confident Me' Workshop

The following videos are those that your child watched in their workshop. You could watch these at home with your child and use them to initiate discussions around body confidence and self-esteem.

Dove Evolution

A video highlighting how photoshop techniques can distort original images.

Watch the Evolution video with your child.
Talk about your reactions to it. Are there any changes in the process that surprise you? How does it make you feel when you realise how much the images we see in the media are manipulated?

Look at other media with a critical eye
Look at magazines or watch music videos with your child. Discuss whether the images you're seeing are 'real', and how much money, and how many people, are involved in producing them. Can you see any tricks from the Evolution video here?

Broaden the conversation
Talk to your child about whether images in the media are representative of the people they know and love. What does real beauty mean? Would they like to see more real beauty in the media?