Mindfulness in Schools Project
For the flourishing of young minds
By Liz Lord In this first of a series of blogs looking at the essential qualities of school mindfulness teachers, Liz Lord tracks the explosion in popularity of the children’s book, The Lost Words, by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris, and explores the lessons we can learn from their experiences. I first learned of the […]
by Claire Kelly ‘Mindful’ and ‘mindfulness’ are rapidly becoming the words of the moment, a useful shorthand for ‘paying attention’ or even ‘relaxation’, but that isn’t what they mean, and it’s important to know why. As of August 2020, a simple Google search (from within the UK) for the term ‘mindfulness’ offers 268,000,000 results, indicating […]
By Chivonne Preston This week, I attended the launch of the seminal discussion paper “Mindfulness: Developing Agency in Urgent Times” by the UK’s policy institute, the Mindfulness Initiative. For those of us worried that mindfulness is at risk of being erroneously perceived as promoting passivity and compliance, this paper expertly outlines the progression from individual […]
Over the past century our understanding of how children learn has developed considerably, and whilst research continues and experts debate the mechanisms there is one unifying factor: the interactions that children have with others (‘relationships’) are key. From Sigmund Freud’s focus on childhood experiences, to John Bowlby’s attachment theory, to Albert Bandura’s proposition that learning […]
For many teachers the summer holidays this year will not provide the mental and physical break from school life that they need. Earlier this month the DfE published its guidance for the full opening of schools in September, outlining how all state-funded schools should prepare for all pupils, in all year groups, to return to […]
By Claire Kelly On a recent one-day .breathe training course (one of the first of many courses MiSP has transferred to an online format), there were some really rich discussions around transitions. The main focus was on the challenges and opportunities for the 9-14 year-old age group, including the transition between primary and secondary school; […]
We are delighted to be sponsoring the upcoming MiSP Conference and to be part of such an important debate. We are looking forward to the discussions and practice around this year’s theme of Teaching Mindfully, as now more than ever, this feels like the right time to be encouraging wellbeing and mental health, and we […]
by Jem Shackleford The human body is amazing. And it’s even more amazing that it mostly looks after itself. Whenever we get out of balance (when we feel cold, hungry or need the loo and so on), the body knows how to ‘push’ us to rebalance, so we shiver, reach for a doughnut or head […]
by Caroline Wilson When MiSP launched ‘Sit Together’, I was keen to join in. It seemed like such a great initiative and, as a MiSP trustee, I wished to be as supportive as possible of both the initiative and the amazing MiSP team setting it all up. With my own regular mindfulness practice it also seemed it might be possible to make […]
by Jem Shackleford – Mindfulness Teacher “A teenager’s brain is like a Ferrari with bicycle brakes” – Dr Justin Coulson At the time of writing we have been in lockdown for over a fortnight. And who knows how long it will be before things get back to normal? If you are sharing your home with […]