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PawSteps · Pathfinders

Life & Wellbeing Workbook

Looking after yourself, running your life, heading for adulthood · Ages 14–18+

✔ WELLBEING: anxiety toolkit · self-esteem builder · asking for help as a teen · healthy coping menu
✔ INDEPENDENCE: travel training · laundry decoder · meal planning · online safety · first aid basics
✔ PREPARING FOR ADULTHOOD (the four UK PfA outcomes):
employment · independent living · community · health & relationships
✔ Respectful, honest, never babyish
✔ Educational resource — not medical, legal or financial advice

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Pathfinders · Wellbeing 1

My Anxiety Toolkit

Name:

Date:

Anxiety is a normal body alarm — sometimes it just rings too loudly or at the wrong times. You can't delete the alarm, but you can learn to turn the volume down.

1. Know your alarm — my early warning signs (racing heart? tight chest? snappy mood? avoiding things?):

2. Know your triggers — situations where my alarm often rings:

3. Volume-down tools — tick the ones you'll actually try (be honest, not polite):

Slow breathing — out-breath LONGER than the in-breath, 5 rounds (this genuinely slows the alarm system)

5-4-3-2-1 grounding — 5 things you can see, 4 hear, 3 touch, 2 smell, 1 taste

Move — a fast walk burns off the fight-or-flight fuel

Name it — "this is anxiety, not danger" (saying it reduces it)

Delay, don't avoid — avoiding feeds anxiety; doing the thing WITH support shrinks it

Tell someone — anxiety hates being spoken out loud

If anxiety is stopping you living your life — school, sleep, friendships — that's not a personal failure, it's a sign to get support. Tell your GP, school nurse or a trusted adult. This page is a toolkit, not a treatment.

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Pathfinders · Wellbeing 2

Self-Esteem — The Evidence File

Name:

Date:

Your inner critic makes claims with no evidence ("I'm useless"). Time to be your own defence lawyer: build the evidence file.

Exhibit A — things I can do now that I couldn't do two years ago:

Exhibit B — something hard I got through (moving school? losing someone? a bad year?):

Exhibit C — what the people who like me would say I bring (ask them if unsure — really):

Exhibit D — my skills, including the uncool ones that actually matter (reliable? kind? notices details? never gives up on a game? great with animals?):

The verdict — rewrite one inner-critic line using your evidence:

The critic says:

The evidence says:

💡 Keep this page. On bad days, evidence beats feelings — that's why we wrote it down on a good day.

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Pathfinders · Wellbeing 3

Asking for Help & My Coping Menu

Name:

Date:

Asking for help at 15 is harder than at 5 — the words feel bigger. So decide the words and the people NOW, while things are okay.

My help network — one name for each:

For school stuff:

For feelings stuff:

For practical stuff (money, travel, forms):

If I couldn't tell anyone I know, I could contact: (GP, school nurse, or a helpline — keep a number in your phone)

My opener — because starting is the hard bit. Tick one to make yours:

"Have you got a minute? Something's been on my mind."

"I don't know how to say this, so I'm just going to say it."

Text version: "Can we talk later? Not urgent, but it matters."

Write it down and hand it over — completely valid.

My coping menu — healthy things that genuinely help ME (music? gym? drawing? gaming with mates? shower? dog walk?). List 5, use before things boil over:

Honest note: some coping habits feel good short-term and make things worse long-term (all-night scrolling, skipping meals, isolating for days). If your menu is mostly those, that's worth a conversation with someone on your help network.

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Pathfinders · Independence 1

Travel Training — My First Solo Journey

Name:

Date:

Independent travel is learned in stages, not leaps. Do each stage until it feels boring — boring means ready for the next one.

1Do the journey WITH someone. Notice landmarks, stops, where to press the bell.

2You lead the journey; they follow silently (they only step in if needed).

3You travel; they shadow from a distance or meet you at the other end.

4Fully solo — with your backup plan in your pocket.

My journey plan:

From to by

I get off at (landmark!):

It costs: · I pay with:

My backup plan — if something goes wrong (missed stop, cancelled bus, dead phone):

Missed my stop → get off at the next one, DON'T panic-cross roads, call/text my person

Bus doesn't come → wait for the next, or go home and rearrange. Late is fixable.

Phone dead → I know ONE phone number by heart:

Feeling unsafe → move near the driver / into a shop and ask staff for help

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Pathfinders · Independence 2

Laundry Decoder & Meal Planning

Name:

Date:

🧺 Laundry in 5 rules (this covers 95% of real life):

1Empty ALL pockets. Tissues destroy everything. Check twice.

2Split darks and lights — one red sock turns everything pink (a classic for a reason).

330°C wash suits almost everything and saves money.

4One detergent dose — more soap ≠ cleaner clothes.

5Hang or dry it the SAME DAY, or it smells and you wash it again.

Practical: do one full wash this week, start to finish. Done? ⬜ Tick when the clothes are dry AND put away (that's the real finish line).

🍽️ Meal planning — plan 3 dinners you can actually make:

Dinner	What I need to buy	Can I cook it? (Y / with help)

Starter meals worth mastering: pasta + sauce · jacket potato + filling · omelette · stir-fry from a kit · beans on toast done WELL. Five meals = you can feed yourself forever.

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Pathfinders · Independence 3

Online Safety & First Aid Basics

Name:

Date:

🛡️ Online rules for adults-in-training — tick to agree:

Photos/messages can be screenshotted and shared — send nothing you wouldn't show your form tutor

Online "friends" you've never met stay online. Meeting one = public place + tell an adult first. No exceptions.

Nobody legitimate asks you to keep an online chat secret from everyone. Secrecy = red flag.

If someone pressures you for photos or money: stop replying, screenshot, block, tell someone. It's never too late to tell, even if you already sent something — you won't be in trouble.

Passwords: long, different for each account, shared with no one (partners included).

⛑️ First aid — the five to know by heart:

1Emergency = 999 (or 112). Say WHERE first, then what happened. 111 is for urgent-but-not-emergency.

2Burn → cool running water for 20 whole minutes. No butter, no ice, no toothpaste.

3Bad bleeding → press hard on the wound with a clean cloth and keep pressing.

4Someone choking → 5 hard back blows between the shoulder blades; shout for help.

5Unconscious but breathing → roll onto their side, tip head back gently, call 999.

⭐ Worth doing for real: a St John Ambulance or Red Cross young people's first aid session — free ones run in most areas.

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Pathfinders · Adulthood 1

Employment — My First CV & Work Rules

Name:

Date:

💼 CV builder — a first CV is one page, and you have more to put on it than you think:

About me (2 sentences — reliable? practical? good with people/animals/computers?):

Education:

Experience — paid OR not: helping at home, volunteering, school jobs, caring for someone, clubs:

Skills:

A person who'd vouch for me (teacher, coach, neighbour):

Unwritten workplace rules — the ones nobody tells you, tick as read:

On time means 5–10 minutes early. Running late? Message BEFORE you're late, not after.

Phone away during work time — even when it's quiet.

Don't know how? ASK. Asking looks good; guessing wrong looks bad.

Sick? YOU call in (not your mum) — as early as you can.

Work chat: match the other person's level; when unsure, friendly and brief.

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Pathfinders · Adulthood 2

Independent Living — Bills & Where Money Goes

Name:

Date:

Nobody teaches this, then suddenly you're 18 and it's your problem. Get ahead of it now.

What living somewhere actually costs — match each bill to what it pays for:

Bill	What it is	Roughly how often
Rent	The right to live in the place	Monthly — the big one
Energy	Gas & electricity — heating, hot water, everything plugged in	Monthly
Water	Taps, toilet, shower	Monthly/quarterly
Council tax	Local services — bins, streets, libraries	Monthly
Phone/internet	Your connection to everything	Monthly contract
Food	You've already budgeted this — remember the £15 shop!	Weekly

Think it through:

1. Which bills MUST be paid before fun money? (the answer is: all of them — needs before wants, the grown-up version!)

2. If money is short, which is the worst to skip and why?

3. Who could you ask before signing ANY contract or tenancy?

💡 Good to know exists (not advice, just signposts): Citizens Advice explains benefits, tenancy rights and money problems free of charge — and helping you IS their job. An EHCP can also include preparing-for-adulthood support from Year 9.

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Pathfinders · Adulthood 3

Community — Using Services Like a Local

Name:

Date:

🏥 My services map — fill in YOUR real ones:

Service	Mine is…	How I'd book/use it
GP (doctor)		Phone at 8am or online app — use your phone script!
Dentist		Check-up every 6–12 months — they remind you
Pharmacy		Walk in — pharmacists can advise on minor illness free
Optician		Eye test roughly every 2 years
Library		Free: books, computers, printing, warm space, no purchase needed

🗳️ Citizenship quick facts — tick as read:

You can register to vote at 16 (and vote in UK general elections at 18). Registering takes 5 minutes online.

Voting is YOUR choice — but decisions get made about you either way, so having a say costs nothing.

At the polling station, staff will help you if you ask. You can bring a supporter.

⭐ This month's mission — pick ONE and do it (with support if needed):

⬜ book my own dental check-up · ⬜ join the library · ⬜ ask the pharmacist a question · ⬜ register to vote (if 16+)

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Pathfinders · Adulthood 4

Health & Relationships — The Ground Rules

Name:

Date:

Relationships — friendships, romance, family — follow the same ground rules. This page covers the ones that keep you safe and respected. Your school's RSE lessons and trusted adults cover the rest; questions are normal and allowed.

💚 Consent, plainly:

Consent means a free, happy YES — not silence, not "they didn't say no", not a yes given under pressure.

Anyone can change their mind at ANY point. Including you.

Your body is yours: nobody touches you without your OK — and the same rule protects everyone else from unwanted touch too.

Someone who really likes you accepts your "no" without sulking, guilt-tripping or punishing you.

Green flags vs red flags — sort these: writes G or R:

Celebrates your good news ___ · Checks your phone "because they care" ___ · Respects your need for alone time ___ · Says "no one else would want you" ___ · Apologises properly when wrong ___ · Wants to keep your relationship totally secret ___

My people check:

Someone I can talk to about relationship stuff without embarrassment:

If a relationship (any kind) made me feel small, scared or trapped, I would tell:

If anyone — partner, friend, family member, online contact — makes you feel unsafe: that is never your fault, and telling someone is strength. GP, school safeguarding lead, or the police in an emergency (999).

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Pathfinders · Final Page

My Pathfinder Review

Name:

Date:

Look back through both Pathfinder workbooks and rate yourself honestly — "not yet" is a direction, not a failure.

Skill	Got it ✅	Nearly 🔶	Not yet — my next step
Read a timetable & plan backwards
Fill in a form / write an email
Understand a payslip / spot a scam
Budget a shop & compare prices
Make a phone call with my script
Use my anxiety toolkit & coping menu
Travel a route independently
Laundry, meals & first aid basics
Know my services, my rights & my people

🧭 My next three months — ONE goal from each workbook:

Skills goal:

Life goal:

Who's helping me: