Balancing Your Bucket
Stress Awareness Month
by Claire Law
Suitable for Whole School (Sec)
Aims
Preparation and materials
- You will need the PowerPoint slides accompanying this assembly (Balancing Your Bucket) and the means to display them.
- You will need the YouTube clip ‘CAMHS Tips: How to Deal with Stress’ and the means to show it. this can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QT9MtK1rFJY
Assembly
- Show Slide 1.
Welcome the students to the assembly. - Explain that you are going to show some images of people in various professions. You would like the students to work out what they all have in common.
Show Slide 2.
Here we can see people representing the teaching, midwifery, prison officers and firefighter professions.
What do all of these have in common?
Listen to a range of suggestions. - Perhaps it would help if I said we could also include people working as solicitors, in the finance industries and people working in recruitment.
It might surprise you to know that these professions have all been named by the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) as the most stressful industries. People working in these industries have the highest rates of self-reported work-related stress, anxiety, or depression. - Some of us might think that there are other people missed off this list of high stress!
Show Slide 3.
Maybe people whose job it is to go to high school should be included - students! - Research carried out in the UK in 2025 suggests that stress is an issue for many high school students. Intense exam pressure, heavy workloads, financial worries, and the lingering impact of the pandemic are thought to be some of the causes.
- We need to remember that not all stress is bad. When we encounter a deadline or a challenge, our body is stimulated to produce stress hormones. This response helps us to respond quickly to dangerous situations and big challenges. The resulting feeling of ‘pressure’ can help us to push through situations that can be nerve-wracking or intense, like running a marathon, or giving a speech to a large crowd.
- However, we know that when stress gets out of control, and we feel under too much pressure, for too long, without enough resources to support us, the consequences can be serious. Stress can increase the risk of heart disease. It can affect our ability to sleep well and can weaken our immune system.
- This April is Stress Awareness Month. A month focussing on the simple steps we can take to help us manage stress and find ways to cope with the challenges of life.
- Show Slide 4.
One way to think about managing stress is to find more balance between the number of demands upon us, and the resources we have to cope. We need to consider the question, is there a way we can reduce the demands? If not, we need to consider if there is a way we can increase the resources we have available to us. This could be by building in more relaxation or reaching out to a friend and talking about things etc. - Show Slide 5.
Another way of thinking about handling or coping with stress is the ‘Stress Bucket’. As our stress bucket fills, and perhaps starts to overflow, it is important to find ways to release the pressure, and drain away some of the stress. Things like hobbies, exercise, talking about how we feel and spending time with friends and people with whom we feel at ease, can be ways to help take some of the water out of the stress bucket. The overall goal is to have a balanced bucket where we can contain the amount of stress in the bucket to a manageable level. - Let’s find out a bit more about ways young people can find ways to stop stress being overwhelming as we watch the following clip. Let’s consider how knowing our limits, knowing our tools and knowing our people can help with managing the inevitable stress of life.
- Show clip ‘CAMHS Tips: How to Deal with Stress’. This can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QT9MtK1rFJY
Time for reflection
Let’s take a few moments now to consider what lessons or insights we can take from today’s assembly that apply to us. This will be different for each of us. We all face different loads and pressures, and we all have different resources available to us. The size of our stress bucket varies from person to person.
Let us pause for a moment to consider our own limits.
What does it mean for you to ‘know your limits’ when it comes to stress?
Pause to allow time for reflection.
Let us pause for a moment to consider our own tools.
What does it mean for you to ‘know your tools’ when it comes to stress?
Pause to allow time for reflection.
Let us pause for a moment to consider our own people.
What does it mean for you to ‘know your people’ when it comes to stress?
Pause to allow time for reflection.
Let’s also take the opportunity to reflect upon a Bible verse which reminds us that, despite the many pressures, stresses and difficulties, a belief in a loving God is one of the many resources to sustain us in times when we feel overwhelmed.
Let’s consider what this Bible quote might mean to each of us.
Show Slide 6.
Read the verse: Isaiah 41:10 ‘Do not fear: I am with you; do not be anxious: I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.’
Christians believe that God is always there to offer support and help whenever we need it. When we think about ‘know your people’, Christians belove that God knows us and loves us.
Pause to allow time for reflection
Prayer
Dear God,
At times life can be very stressful.
There are some pressures we face which could overwhelm us.
We pray today for the wisdom to think clearly about the pressures we face and strength to make changes that are within our control.
We also ask today that you help us to see more clearly the resources available to us when we feel that the stress is just too much, when we feel there is nothing we can do.
Please help us to know and make use of the limits, tools and people who can help us to take care of ourselves in the face of stress.
Amen
