Good Learning Co.
SavannahYear 8
← RSHE
RSHEFriendships, families and repair20 min★ difficulty

Families come in different shapes

Families look different from one another. What matters is not the shape but whether care, safety and responsibility are actually there.

Lesson overview

What you'll learn in this lesson

Understand the roles and responsibilities of different types of family and committed relationship

Key learning points

  • • Different structures
  • • Commitment in law
  • • Responsibilities

This lesson at a glance

  • 20 minutes
  • 15 parts to scroll through
  • 4 quick checks
  • Marked quiz at the end
  • Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses

Words to know

responsibilitiesfamilycommittedrelationshipstructures

Scroll down — the lesson carries on below

Part 1 of 15 · Discover7%
1

Watch & discover

Part 1 of 15

Watch first

Families come in different shapes

An English teaching video on this topic from TED-Ed. Watch it, then scroll down for the lesson.

In a nutshell

Understand the roles and responsibilities of different types of family and committed relationship

2

Learning cycle

Part 2 of 15

Learning cycle 1 of 2

Part 1 · Different structures

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

3

Explore the idea

Part 3 of 15

Learn

Different structures

Families may include two parents, one parent, step-parents and step-siblings, grandparents raising grandchildren, adoptive and foster families, same-sex parents, and extended families sharing a home. Each can provide a stable, loving upbringing.

4

Explore the idea

Part 4 of 15

Learn

Commitment in law

In the UK, marriage and civil partnership are legal commitments available to both opposite-sex and same-sex couples. Forced marriage is a crime; marriage requires the free consent of both people, who must be at least eighteen. Many couples live together long-term without marrying.

5

Quick check

Part 5 of 15

Quick check

What matters most about a family?

6

Quick check

Part 6 of 15

Quick check

What is required for a legal marriage in the UK?

7

Reset break

Part 7 of 15

Pause

That's sitting 1 of 2 done

Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.

Stop here for now
8

Learning cycle

Part 8 of 15

Learning cycle 2 of 2

Part 2 · Responsibilities

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

9

Explore the idea

Part 9 of 15

Learn

Responsibilities

Adults with parental responsibility must provide care, safety, education and a home. Children have rights too, including protection from harm and a say in decisions that affect them, as their understanding develops.

10

Quick check

Part 10 of 15

Quick check

Which is a responsibility of adults with parental responsibility?

11

Quick check

Part 11 of 15

Quick check

Do children have rights within a family?

12

Explore the idea

Part 12 of 15

Worked example

Worked example: what makes a family work

Two households: one has two parents who rarely speak kindly to each other; the other has one parent and a grandparent who share the school run and listen. Judged on structure, the first looks more conventional. Judged on care, safety and reliability — the things that actually affect a child — the second is doing the job.

13

Challenge round

Part 13 of 15

Game · Sort it

Which of these are true?

Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.

True

Not true

14

Mastery quiz

Part 14 of 15

Marked quiz

End of lesson quiz: Families come in different shapes

4 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.

  1. 1. What matters most about a family?

  2. 2. What is required for a legal marriage in the UK?

  3. 3. Which is a responsibility of adults with parental responsibility?

  4. 4. Do children have rights within a family?

15

Lesson round-up

Part 15 of 15

Lesson round-up

Ready when you are

Quiz score

Not sat

Games

Not played

Points this lesson

0

Best run

0 in a row

Luna: 0 out of 4 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?

Ask Luna

Do the work

Your written work for this lesson

This is the part you'd do in your book at school. Pick the pieces below, write here or on paper, and photograph anything you draw or work out.

Case study

The group chat

Ellie is added to a class group chat with twenty-six people in it. At first it is jokes and homework questions. Then someone screenshots a private message from a girl in another class and posts it. Several people laugh. Two people leave the chat. Ellie says nothing, and feels bad about it that evening.

The next day the girl is off school. A teacher asks the class about the chat. Nobody wants to be the one who tells.

Staying silent can feel like the safest choice in the moment. It also leaves the person who was hurt on their own.

Written for Good Learning Co.

Reading questions

  1. What choices did Ellie have at the moment the screenshot was posted?
  2. Who could she tell, and what would each of them be able to do?
  3. Write what you would do in this situation and why, in 6–8 sentences.

  • Thinking it through

    Writing

    Write what you would do in this situation, who you would ask, and why.

    6–8 sentences

Saved as you type.

Part 1 of 15 · Watch & discover

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