Ryan smiles as his teacher tells him he does not have any friends. “That’s not true, because I went round to my mate’s house the other day to watch a video,” he replies. Another gibe about his lack of commitment to school is seen off with equal vigour as the rest of the class look on. It may sound like an exercise in public humiliation, but this is “hot-seating” and part of a programme being piloted in schools to improve children’s wellbeing and help them to develop resilience. As well as learning to deflate negative comments by stating positive alternatives, pupils also discuss their problems and ways to overcome them.

The Resilience classes have been dubbed “happiness lessons”, but they are not about teaching children to wear perpetual smiles, says Rhodri Bryant, headmaster at Longdean, in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, one of the first schools to adopt the programme. “Being happy is a prerequisite for a successful school and any human being, but the programme is only partly to do with happiness,” Mr Bryant says. The aim is to develop children’s “emotional intelligence”, he adds, so that they can become attuned to other’s needs and feelings, as well as their own.

The course, developed in Pennsylvania and being piloted in 22 British schools, was designed to prevent adolescent depression. It now has a broader remit and the goal is to improve psychological wellbeing, and potentially behaviour, attendance and academic achievement.

By 2011, all pupils in England will receive lessons in emotional skills and happiness under plans brought in by Ed Balls, the Schools Secretary. Ofsted is also about to start rating schools according to pupil wellbeing.

About 60 per cent, of children surveyed for an initial study of the pilot, said that the lessons help them to feel happier in life.

Sam Luscombe-Green, 12, uses what he learns to help him at home. He said: “Before, if I got into an argument with my parents, I used to be very aggressive. I would shout, but now I can be calm and that’s because I’m thinking about Resilience.”

The motto on his blazer reads “Rejoice In Thy Youth” and echoes the programme’s intention to teach children, before they encounter teenage angst, how to cope with complex emotions and difficult situations.

Hilary Kidd runs the Resilience programme at Longdean. She says that the 11 and 12-year-olds who take the course are mainly worried about falling out of friendship groups. “But we are hoping that we are going to be able to give them the confidence to cope with all sorts of situations so that when they are older they can deal with them positively,” she said.

An interim report on the scheme by the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics found a significant positive impact on pupils’ wellbeing as measured by depression and anxiety symptom scores. The greatest improvement was noted in those pupils with the lowest grades and the worst scores for symptoms of depression or anxiety, at age 11. A total of 84 per cent of teachers think that the programme has improved pupils’ psychological wellbeing.

Bethany Hutchins, 12, says that Resilience helps her to put things in perspective. “We write down our own problems and how we would sort them out and we read them out if we choose to,” she said.

Ryan Austen, 12, said: “We ask, ‘What’s the worst thing that could happen? What’s the best thing that could happen?’ and say what kind of problem it is. So swine flu is a ‘catastrophe’, but forgetting your homework is a ‘minor problem’ and [in that case] the best thing that could happen is that you get a supply teacher that day!”

Emotional literacy is central to the course and pupils reel off multi-syllabic words with ease. There is some concern that the concepts may be too difficult to grasp. So do they know the meaning of the words? What about resilience for example?

“Bouncing back,” says 12-year-old Connor Griffiths, without hesitation.

His school, one of the most improved in the country last year, is doing just that. Since Resilience was introduced in 2007, pupil attendance has risen from 88 per cent to 93 per cent and suspensions have dropped by half. For the first time in many years, there have been no expulsions.

Mr Bryant said: “The measures of impact are quite tenuous because schools do lots of things to support children’s needs. I’m not going to sit here and say it has reduced bullying or improved their attendance or behaviour, but it has supported our work as a school.”

The course has been so successful that Longdean is to offer it to parents. Those who teach it say that it has made children happier. “But not in a cheesy way,” says Mrs Kidd, who reports feeling more positive herself since teaching the course. “It’s about confidence.”

Bethany Kirby, 12, says that opening up in the lessons has helped her relationships with friends and family. But she admits: “It’s kind of scary in case Mrs Kidd phones up my mum and says, ‘Did that really happen?’. But we can trust her.”

Back in Resilience, pupils begin to role-play planning an assembly and negotiate over what should be included. So have the lessons made them happier? “Yes”, they all chime at once. On this, there is no need to negotiate.

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