Health / Hauora ā€¢ Years 7-10 ā€¢ Safer noticing before help-seeking

Concern Signs and Protective Factors Checklist

Use this page to help ākonga notice patterns across Te Whare Tapa Whā without turning a classroom task into amateur diagnosis. It supports careful observation, protective-factor mapping, and a clear next step into trusted adult support when needed.

Best for

Lesson 9, tutor-group check-ins, scenario analysis, or mentor conversations where students need to distinguish between common stress signs, concerning patterns, and moments that require adult support.

Kaiako use

Use fictional or composite scenarios first, then offer optional personal reflection only if the class is ready. This works well alongside explicit teaching about school support pathways and safe participation.

Ākonga use

Students can sort signs across the four pou, record repeated patterns, identify protective factors, and practise language for raising a concern with mana.

Free noticing scaffold, premium value when localisation matters

This version is ready to teach tomorrow. The premium workflow becomes useful when you want a scenario-only edition, school-specific support prompts, or a differentiated version for junior, senior, or high-support learners.

  • Generate fictional-case versions for safer participation.
  • Insert your kura's actual adults, spaces, and escalation pathway.
  • Save a mentor-ready version to My Kete for repeat use.
Adapt this in Te Wānanga Open Creation Studio Open My Kete

Kaiako planning snapshot

  • Use length: 20-35 minutes as a guided noticing task or conference sheet.
  • Grouping: Whole-class modelling first, then individual, paired, or scenario-based completion.
  • Prep: Have your school's pastoral pathway and named support adults ready before the task starts.
  • Teaching move: Frame this as noticing patterns with care, not diagnosing yourself or other people.
šŸ§­ Early noticing šŸ›Ÿ Trusted-adult pathway

Resources already provided

  • Whole-whare signs prompts
  • Pattern-check table
  • Protective-factor mapping
  • Concern-sharing sentence starters
  • Trusted-adult escalation flow
  • Curriculum companion for planning and reporting

The public version deliberately avoids pretending a generic national list is enough. Kaiako should insert their actual school adults and spaces where possible.

Ngā Whāinga Akoranga / Learning Intentions

  • We are learning to notice concern signs across tinana, hinengaro, whānau, and wairua.
  • We are learning to identify protective factors that strengthen wellbeing.
  • We are learning to move from noticing into safe, mana-enhancing help-seeking.

Paearu Angitu / Success Criteria

  • I can identify patterns that matter across more than one pou.
  • I can name at least one protective factor or support that helps balance the whare.
  • I can explain when a concern should be shared with a trusted adult.

Curriculum integration / Te Marautanga alignment

The curriculum companion makes the help-seeking, wellbeing-literacy, and healthy-community links explicit so this handout sits inside real NZ health teaching rather than reading like generic internet advice.

šŸ’š Health / Hauora šŸ§  Wellbeing literacy šŸ¤ Safe participation
Open curriculum companion

Noticing is an act of manaaki, not a label

A checklist like this is most useful when it helps students notice patterns, name supports, and ask for help earlier. It is not a diagnostic tool, and kaiako should keep reminding ākonga that worrying signs belong inside trusted adult pathways, not private guesswork.

If privacy or readiness is a concern, complete the task through fictional scenarios or shared class examples first.

1. Notice signs across the whare

Taha Tinana

  • Sleeping far more or less than usual
  • Low energy, constant tiredness, headaches, puku pain
  • Big changes in appetite, movement, or personal care

Taha Hinengaro

  • Heavy sadness, numbness, irritability, or hopelessness
  • Overthinking mistakes or feeling stuck in negative self-talk
  • Struggling to focus, remember, or enjoy anything

Taha Whānau

  • Pulling away from friends, whānau, or trusted adults
  • Conflict rising, shutting down, or avoiding people completely
  • Finding it hard to accept help, even when support is offered

Taha Wairua

  • Feeling cut off from identity, values, whenua, or future direction
  • Stopping practices that usually steady mauri
  • Finding it hard to name hope, meaning, or purpose

2. Which patterns matter most?

Sign or pattern Which pou does it affect? How often or how long? What next step is needed?

3. What is already helping?

Habits or routines that steady me

People who notice and care

Spaces or activities that settle my mauri

Adults or services my school wants me to use

4. What could I say if I am worried?

For myself

ā€œI have noticed some patterns that are not easing, and I think I need tautoko.ā€

For a friend

ā€œI am worried about you and I do not think you should carry this alone. Can we talk to an adult together?ā€

For a kaiako or mentor

ā€œCan I check in with you privately? I need help working out the next step.ā€

Write your own sentence starter here:

5. When should a trusted adult be told?

  1. 1
    Notice a pattern, not a one-off wobble Concerns matter more when signs are repeated, increasing, or affecting school, relationships, and daily life.
  2. 2
    Share it with a named adult Use the trusted person, dean, counsellor, whānau contact, or support space your school has already identified.
  3. 3
    Move quickly if safety is involved If someone may be unsafe, this becomes an immediate adult task and follows the school's urgent support process.

Turn noticing into a plan

A strong checklist should lead to action. Once students can identify patterns and protective factors, the next step is to name who they will go to and what that first kōrero sounds like.

Open the help-seeking plan Generate a school-specific version

Ngā Whāinga Akoranga Ā· Learning Intentions

  • Identify signs of emotional, social, physical, and spiritual wellbeing concern
  • Map protective factors that support wellbeing across Te Whare Tapa Whā
  • Distinguish between normal stress responses and patterns that need adult support
  • Use careful, non-diagnostic language when noticing signs of distress in others

Paearu Angitu Ā· Success Criteria

  • I can identify at least two signs of concern for each pou of Te Whare Tapa Whā
  • I can name three protective factors and explain how they support wellbeing
  • I can describe what a first step toward getting support might look like
  • I use observational rather than diagnostic language when discussing others' wellbeing

Hononga Marautanga Ā· Curriculum Alignment

Health and Physical Education ā€” Hauora

Level 3ā€“4: Identify and describe the relationship between feelings, thoughts, and actions; develop strategies to maintain and enhance hauora across the four pou of Te Whare Tapa Whā; recognise the impact of connections and relationships on wellbeing.

Social Sciences ā€” Tikanga ā-Iwi

Level 3ā€“4: Understand how cultural practices and values shape identity and wellbeing; recognise the role of community and whānau in supporting individuals; explore how Indigenous frameworks offer ways of understanding health that are distinct from Western biomedical models.

Aronga Mātauranga Māori

In a Te Whare Tapa Whā framework, wellbeing is not the absence of difficulty but the presence of balance across all four pou. This means a concern checklist is not about identifying what is broken ā€” it is about noticing which pou is under pressure and where the protective factors that restore balance are found. Mātauranga Māori also cautions against pathologising normal human experience: not every sign of struggle requires intervention, but noticing patterns is the first step toward kaitiakitanga of our own and others' hauora.

Ngā Rauemi Tautoko Ā· Support Materials

Tuhia ōu whakaaro Ā· Write Your Thoughts

Looking at the signs on this checklist ā€” have you noticed any of them in yourself lately? What would you do next?

šŸ“‹ Teacher Planning Snapshot

Ngā Whāinga Ako ā€” Learning Intentions

Students will engage with this hauora resource to build holistic wellbeing knowledge, connecting te ao Māori perspectives on hauora with personal, social, and environmental dimensions of health.

Ngā Paearu AngitÅ« ā€” Success Criteria

  • āœ… Students can explain key hauora concepts using their own words and personal examples.
  • āœ… Students can connect te ao Māori frameworks (e.g. Te Whare Tapa Whā) to real wellbeing contexts.

Differentiation & Inclusion

Scaffold support: Provide sentence starters, graphic organisers, and entry-level tasks to scaffold access. Offer extension challenges for capable learners to address a range of readiness levels.

ELL / ESOL: Pre-teach key vocabulary (hauora, wairua, tinana, hinengaro, whānau). Allow students to draw or respond in their home language as a first step.

Inclusion: Hauora topics can be sensitive ā€” create a safe learning environment. Neurodiverse learners benefit from choice in how they demonstrate wellbeing understanding. Use accessible, non-threatening language.