Exploring mental well-being through the experiences of military veterans and their families
This learning resource is intended for use by KS3 & KS4-level students and we have tailored the content to be apropriate for this age group.
The resources have been produced in partnership with KS3 & KS4-level students and teachers from 3 participating London secondary schools:
Convent of Jesus and Mary Language College (Brent)
St. Matthew Academy (Lewisham)
St. Thomas More Language College (Kensington & Chelsea)
We have included the original content from veterans, that the students were given to work from and to respond to and have included links to additional content in the form of the Combat Stress 100 film and Combat Stress 100 Podcast Series. The student-made resources are primarily audio-based with accompanying text transcriptions to aid accessibility and are grouped thematically.
Learning Resource 8 contains links to complimentary resources available on the National Army Museum website.
*Covid-19 greatly affected this final part of the Combat Stress 100 project and although the students at both the Convent of Jesus & Mary Language College and St. Matthew Academy, spent many weeks working with us online via Zoom, many were unable to complete their final pieces.
Partnership School:
St. Thomas More Language College, Kensington & Chelsea
Participating Students:
Christina, Daniel, Melanie, Sebastiano, Sonny, Sophya, Vent, Victoria
Co-ordinating Teacher:
Christine Graham
LEARNING RESOURCE 1a
PTSD & MENTAL HEALTH - Combat Stories
Students were given texts (transcriptions) of veterans describing the combat situations which they have now identified as being either a primary or major contributing cause of their PTSD. Students re-voiced the veterans' texts.
Audio transcription: CS100-LR1a-CombatStories.pdf
LEARNING RESOURCE 1b
PTSD & MENTAL HEALTH - Letters Home
Students made further responses in the form of an imagined 'letter home' to relatives, written the day/night before being mobilised for combat.
Audio transcription: CS100-LR1b-LettersHome.pdf
LEARNING RESOURCE 2a
PTSD & MENTAL HEALTH - How PTSD affects Families
Students were given two accounts (as texts) where family members describe the affects that their relative's PTSD had had on them and their lives. The students then voiced these texts.
Audio transcription: CS100-LR2a-AffectsOnFamilies.pdf
LEARNING RESOURCE 2b
PTSD & MENTAL HEALTH - PTSD Diaries
Students further responed to the texts by writing and voicing their own PTSD diaries, imagining what it would be like to live with a relative suffering from PTSD.
Audio transcription: CS100-LR2b-PTSDDiaries.pdf
LEARNING RESOURCE 3
COVID-19, PTSD & MENTAL HEALTH - Thoughts about the Pandemic
Students were asked to think about their own mental health in relation to the Covid-19 pandemic and the effects of lockdown.
Audio transcription: CS100-LR3-Covid19.pdf
LEARNING RESOURCE 4
PTSD & MENTAL HEALTH - Thoughts about the Project
Students recorded their thoughts about working on the project and their learning experience.
Audio transcription: CS100-LR4-Thoughts.pdf
Partnership School:
Convent of Jesus and Mary Language College, Brent
Participating Students:
Blean, Gemma, Hannah, Lily, Ruby, Victoreena
Co-ordinating Teacher:
Sharon Aninakwa
LEARNING RESOURCE 5a
PSTD & MORAL INJURY - Davina & The Bosnian War
Students met with and interviewed Davina - a veteran of the Bosnian War 1992-1995. They were asked to focus their questions upon the theme of 'Moral Injury' - where we find ourselves in situations over-which we have little or no control or ability to affect the outcome.
Audio transcription: CS100-LR5a-Davina.pdf
LEARNING RESOURCE 5b
PSTD & MORAL INJURY - Thoughts & Poems
Students recorded their thoughts and responses on the topic of 'Moral Injury', through poetry and prose.
Audio transcription: CS100-LR5b-MoralInjury.pdf
LEARNING RESOURCE 5c
PSTD & MORAL INJURY - A Visual Response by Gemma
Read Gemma's
thoughts about making her painting:
CS100-LR5c-AVisualResponse.PDF
Click image to view enlarged version
Partnership School:
St. Matthew Academy, Lewisham
Participating Students:
Abolaji, Abida, Bess, Cassel, Chemazu, Deborah, Dylan, Gracie, Hawa, Jamai, Jhett, Layla, Matheus, Samuel
Co-ordinating Teachers:
Michael Cameron, Charlotte Heyward
LEARNING RESOURCE 6a
PTSD & MENTAL HEALTH - Enlisting & Basic Training
Students were given texts (transcriptions) where veterans describe their experiences of enlisting and basic training - often at a very young age. Students then macde their own responses to these texts.
*Covid-19 greatly affected this part of the project and although the students at St. Matthew's spent many weeks working with us via Zoom, the majority were unable to complete their final pieces.
Audio transcription: CS100-LR6a-EnlistingStudents.pdf
LEARNING RESOURCE 6b
PTSD & MENTAL HEALTH - Enlisting & Basic Training
Excerpts from Veterans' original interviews, where they describe their experiences of enlisting and basic training.
Audio transcription: CS100-LR6b-EnlistingVeterans.pdf
LEARNING RESOURCE 7
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL - Combat Stress 100 project
'The PTSD Stare' a poem by Pete
Audio transcription: CS100-LR7-The PTSDStare.pdf
Combat Stress 100 film
Duration: 62 mins / Subtitles
* The film contains occasional use by veterans of explicit language and some descriptions of violence and distress.
Combat Stress 100 Podcast Series
6 Episodes ranging from 10-31 mins in duration
The episodes that relate most closely to this learning resource are:
EP1.
What causes PTSD and what does it do?
EP5. What is Moral Injury and what causes it?
EP6. PTSD What families experience
https://combatstress.org.uk/combat-stress-100-podcast
LEARNING RESOURCE 8
NATIONAL ARMY MUSEUM
You will find lots of useful resources to explore on the
National Army Museum website: https://www.nam.ac.uk/
together with
resources designed specifically for schools:
https://www.nam.ac.uk/schools
resources of particular relevance to Combat Stress 100:
A Timeline of Medical Innovations & the Army
https://www.sutori.com/story/a-timeline-of-medical-innovations-and-the-army--n9jmKwqWCe9HqL3UxpuTXUgw
Conflicts directly referenced in Veteran interviews
https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/british-army-and-falklands-war
https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/troubles-1969-2007
https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/war-afghanistan
https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/bosnia
All resources - flims, images, texts and archive documents for
'Combat Stress 100' by Age Exchange are licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://www.age-exchange.org.uk
