Friendship Fallout: Slow the Story Down

When friendship difficulties feel intense, pupils can find it hard to separate what happened from what they think it means. Slow the Story Down is a structured, safeguarding-aware intervention designed to help secondary-aged pupils explore one difficult moment carefully, without dismissing their feelings or rushing to decide who is right or wrong.

Across the two-part pupil activity, pupils are supported to:

• Map the sequence of a friendship incident
• Record the exact words and actions involved
• Separate observable facts from interpretations
• Identify missing information that needs checking
• Reflect on the impact of the incident
• Notice repeated patterns or ongoing concerns
• Agree a safe, realistic next step with an adult

The resource includes:

• Two linked pupil activity sheets
• A completed worked example
• A clear 45-minute staff script
• Check-in prompts covering safety, online contact and safeguarding concerns
• Think Learn Thrive branding and pupil-friendly guidance from Thrix

The accompanying staff script provides suggested timings, questions and prompts, helping adults lead the activity with curiosity and care. It also makes clear when a concern should move beyond the worksheet and into the school’s usual safeguarding processes.

Ideal for use by pastoral leaders, form tutors, mentors, behaviour teams, inclusion staff and other trusted adults supporting pupils after friendship conflict.

Suitable for: one-to-one pastoral intervention, friendship difficulties, peer conflict, restorative preparation, emotional wellbeing work and supported reflection.

Rather than filling gaps with assumptions, pupils learn to slow the situation down, check what is known and plan what to do next.