.begin is an 8-week mindfulness course that allows you to learn mindfulness for yourself and to develop your own practice. The course is for those who are employed by a school or work within an educational setting on a regular basis or are the parent or carer of a child still in education. School Governors and those who volunteer regularly in a school (including parent volunteers) are eligible to apply. You are also eligible to apply if you have an interest in supporting your own wellbeing even if you do not work in an educational setting or do not have a child in education.
.begin combines the convenience of an online course that you can complete in the comfort of your own home with the intimacy of live, face-to-face delivery.
The benefits of mindfulness for school staff have been well researched. See Professor Katherine Weare’s paper Evidence for Mindfulness: Impacts on the Wellbeing and Performance of School Staff. In particular, reported benefits of mindfulness include:
- a reduction in stress, burnout and anxiety
- a reduction in the sense of task and time pressure
- an improved ability to manage thoughts and behaviour
- an increase in coping skills, motivation, planning and problem solving
- an increase in self-compassion and self-care
Apart from the benefits you might find in practising mindfulness, those who complete the .begin course and continue to practise mindfulness on a regular basis can then qualify for further training to enable them to learn to teach mindfulness to children by completing our Teach .b course to teach 11 – 18 year-olds, Teach Paws b to teach 7 – 11 year-olds, Teach dots to teach 3-6 year olds or The Present for Schools . For more information about .begin please click here.
MiSP is accredited as a CPD provider by the CPD Standards Office, and .begin has been rigorously assessed as providing 13 hours of CPD.
After a 45-60 minute orientation on Wednesday 5th June 2024 at 7:30pm (UK time), .begin takes the form of 8 weekly sessions of approximately 90 minutes, from Wednesday 12th June 2024 at 7:30pm – 9pm (UK time). There will also be home practice of around 20 minutes per day
As an online course, it is crucial that you ensure that you attend the training …
- In a quiet space where you will not be interrupted, and not sharing a laptop or being in the same room as someone else attending the course (this is to avoid audio feedback issues).
- Having checked all technology is working to a quality that allows for full engagement with the taught course. It is the individual’s responsibility to ensure that the technical requirements are working in advance of this course.
- Please note that you are required to have your camera switched on, unless advised otherwise during the course (e.g. during lunch breaks).
- Using a PC/laptop/Mac with reasonable broadband and a webcam. Each lesson will take place on Zoom – please ensure you check the technical requirements for Zoom on their website. You cannot join the course using a mobile device or tablet as these may have limited functionality when using Zoom.
- Taking part in the training as you would if the course was happening with everyone in the same room. This means stepping away from distractions (technology, work commitments etc.), and fully committed to engaging in all taught sessions and activities.
- Having access to the course reader, Mindfulness: Finding Peace in a Frantic World. This is available as an e-book for under £5.
N.B. If you have no alternative but to attend the course from your workplace, please ensure that your colleagues understand that you will not be available for work-related tasks or responsibilities such as supervising students or attending meetings.
If you agree to the Terms & Conditions for booking and attending a .begin course, please complete the application form below.
Please note that the contents of this form will be treated as confidential, however, they will be viewed by the MiSP administration team and your course instructor. We take privacy seriously and will only use this personal information to administer your account and provide the products and services you have requested from us.