How do you want to meet what comes next?

Learning intention By the end of this lesson, students can distinguish a goal from an intention and choose a guiding quality for an upcoming activity.

Time: 40 minutes
How the room works: Individual, with optional pairs
You need: Exercise books or paper slips and a word bank
Opens with: Crossing the threshold

Before you start

Students choose the situation silently and share only a word if they wish. Do not ask for an intention about trauma, conflict or a disclosure.

Read the full safeguarding note Adapting it for your class A note home for this lesson

A person writing at a desk beside an alarm clock and a pot of pens — Illustration by RecipesforWellbeing.org, CC BY-NC 4.0

Why this matters

Many outcomes depend on circumstances and other people as well as our own effort. An intention turns our attention towards how we would like to take part: with patience, honesty, courage, care or another quality that matters. It can guide an action without making us responsible for controlling the result.

Skill in context Clarifying desired outcomes and guiding intentions before taking part in something meaningful.

On the skill of intention setting Try the interactive practice

1

Open with “Crossing the threshold”

5 min

Use Crossing the threshold to mark the movement between what came before and what begins now. Students may choose a word, keep a blank or simply take the pause.

Read aloud

Take a moment to notice the threshold between what came before this lesson and what is beginning now.

Breathe comfortably as you acknowledge what you are leaving for a while, whether it felt good, difficult or mixed.

If a word for how you would like to meet this next part arrives, let it stay with you. No word is also a complete response.

Keep the word private or share it with a neighbour if you choose.

Listen for Do not treat students who choose no word as disengaged. Keep the breath optional and avoid suggesting that an intention will determine the outcome.

2

Teacher explanation

10 min

A goal describes something we hope to reach, such as completing an assignment or performing well in a match. An intention describes the quality we want to bring while moving towards it.

Intentions can be useful because the process remains partly available even when the outcome changes. They are not a way to blame ourselves if we react differently under pressure. We can return to an intention, adjust it or decide that another quality is needed.

Questions for the room

How is wanting a result different from choosing how to take part?
Can an intention matter even when the goal is not reached?
What helps a guiding word remain supportive rather than becoming another demand?

3

Choose a compass word

17 min

Display words such as steady, brave, curious, kind, patient, focused, honest and open, while welcoming words students choose themselves.
Ask students to hold one upcoming situation in mind, such as a test, match, performance, piece of work or conversation. No details are written or shared.
Choose one word for how they would like to meet that situation and complete privately: "Whatever happens, I would like to bring..."
Take one comfortable breath or a quiet pause and repeat the sentence internally, as though arriving at the chosen situation.
In pairs, students may share the word only. Passing is always available, and no one asks what the situation is.
Students choose a private place where they could meet the word again, or decide that they do not need to keep it.

4

Private reflection

6 min

Complete privately: "One quality I would like to carry this week is..." Add why it matters only if that feels useful.

How they reflect Private journal

5

Closing

2 min

Outcomes will not always move in the direction we want. An intention can help us remember how we would like to meet the next step, while leaving room to change when the moment asks for something else.

Safeguarding

Students choose the situation silently and share only a word if they wish. Do not ask for an intention about trauma, conflict or a disclosure. Follow usual safeguarding procedures if the private reflection leads a student to request support.

If something a young person says gives you concern, follow your setting’s usual safeguarding route. This is not yours to carry alone.

Adapting it

Ages 13 to 15: Keep the word bank visible, use concrete situations and limit writing to one word and one sentence.
Ages 16 to 18: Invite an intention for a longer period, such as exams or a transition beyond school, and explore what remains within and beyond personal control.

In other settings

Form time: Use the threshold pause, display the word bank and invite one private compass word.
Assembly: Guide the pause from the front and let students choose a word without writing or sharing.
Small group: Discuss the difference between a goal and an intention, then offer an optional round of compass words.

Curriculum connections

Australia, Personal and Social Capability: Self-management: goal setting; Self-awareness: personal awarenessChecked by AI review against Australian Curriculum Version 9.0, General capabilities: Personal and Social capability, its elements and sub-elements on 10 October 2026, not yet by a human adviser.
Brazil, BNCC: Self-knowledge and self-care (GC 8) — knowing oneself; Responsibility and citizenship (GC 10) — autonomy and determinationNot yet checked against its source.
Canada, BC Core Competencies: Positive Personal and Cultural Identity — personal values and choices; Personal Awareness and Responsibility — self-regulatingNot yet checked against its source.
Canada, Ontario HPE: Personal skills — self-awareness and self-monitoring (1.1); Critical and creative thinking — planning, setting goals (1.5) · Gr 7–8: A1.5Not yet checked against its source.
Chile, Orientación: Managing learning — goals and lines of action (OA 10, 7°–8°); Personal growth — motivations and capacities (OA 1, 7°–8°)Not yet checked against its source.
England, PSHE: Living in the wider world: learning skills (KS3 L2, L3)Checked by AI review against the PSHE Association's Programme of Study for PSHE education, Key stages 1 to 5, 2020 wording (read from a school-hosted copy, 2023/24) on 10 October 2026, not yet by a human adviser.
Finland, Transversal competences: L1 Thinking and learning to learn — trusting oneself; setting goals and evaluating one's own working processNot yet checked against its source.
Ghana, Core competencies: Personal Development and Leadership — self-knowledge and self-confidenceNot yet checked against its source.
Hong Kong, Values Education: Integrity (誠信) — acting on principle, words matching deeds (言行一致, S4–S6)Not yet checked against its source.
India, NEP: Holistic development of learnersChecked by AI review against the National Education Policy 2020, final English text (July 2020, the PIB-hosted copy) on 10 October 2026, not yet by a human adviser.
Indonesia, Graduate profile: Independence (kemandirian) — initiative (berinisiatif) in learning and self-developmentNot yet checked against its source.
Ireland, Junior Cycle Wellbeing: Aware — knowing my personal values; Resilient — coping skills for life's challengesNot yet checked against its source.
Japan, Courses of Study: Moral education A — autonomy and self-discipline: acting sincerely (自主，自律); Special activities — looking ahead (見通し)Not yet checked against its source.
Kenya, Competency-based curriculum: Self-efficacy — how learners motivate themselves and approach challengesNot yet checked against its source.
Mexico, Nueva Escuela Mexicana: Building a life project — personal goals and ways of acting towards themNot yet checked against its source.
New Zealand, Health and PE: Hauora: taha wairua (values and beliefs that shape how people live) and taha hinengaroNot yet checked against its source.
Scotland, Health and wellbeing: Mental and emotional wellbeing — learning ways of managing thoughts and emotions (HWB 3-02a)Checked by AI review against Education Scotland's Curriculum for Excellence, Health and wellbeing: experiences and outcomes on 10 October 2026, not yet by a human adviser.
Singapore, CCE: SEC: self-awareness and self-managementChecked by AI review against MOE's 2021 Character and Citizenship Education (CCE) Syllabus, Secondary on 10 October 2026, not yet by a human adviser.
South Africa, Life Orientation: Development of the self in society — personal values, choices and goal-setting (Gr 11)Not yet checked against its source.
United States, CASEL: self-awareness; self-management; responsible decision-makingChecked by AI review against the CASEL Framework (2020), as published on casel.org on 10 October 2026, not yet by a human adviser.
European Union, LifeComp: P1 Self-regulation — hope, self-efficacy and a sense of purpose (P1.3); P2 Flexibility — conscious choices and goals (P2.3)Not yet checked against its source.
Middle East and North Africa, UNICEF life skills: Self-management — self-motivation: choosing how to take part, not only the outcomeNot yet checked against its source.
IB, ATL: Self-management: affective skills (mindfulness); Self-management: organisation skills (setting challenging and realistic goals)Checked by AI review against the IB's MYP: From principles into practice, Approaches to learning (for use from September 2014/January 2015, a school-hosted copy) on 10 October 2026, not yet by a human adviser.
OECD Learning Compass: Student agency and co-agency; Transformative competencies: taking responsibility; Anticipation-Action-Reflection cycle (anticipation)Checked by AI review against the OECD Learning Compass 2030 concept notes Skills for 2030 and Core Foundations for 2030 (2019) on 10 October 2026, not yet by a human adviser.
UNESCO SEL: Mindfulness (attention regulation)Checked by AI review against MGIEP's page naming the four competencies, with their definitions from summaries of Rethinking Learning (MGIEP, 2020), which could not be opened on 10 October 2026, not yet by a human adviser.
WHO life skills: Self-awareness — recognising what matters to oneself; Coping with stress — meeting pressure with a chosen way of taking partNot yet checked against its source.
Inner Development Goals: Being: Inner Compass; Being: Self-AwarenessChecked by AI review against the Inner Development Guide's 25 skills across 5 dimensions (idg.guide, 2025) on 10 October 2026, not yet by a human adviser.
Sessions for advocates, capacities: Understand selfChecked by AI review against the three capacities of Ten sessions for advocates, as the sessions on /advocates/ name them on 10 October 2026, not yet by a human adviser.