Welcome to Mindfulness for all schools in Warrington.
The Peace in Mind campaign has raised funds to enable Mindfulness in Schools Project
(MiSP) to deliver mindfulness training to all schools within Warrington.
MiSP is running multiple .begin and Train to Teach courses aiming to have fully trained mindfulness teachers in every school in Warrington.
Apply for an Upcoming course
Please see below for direct links to upcoming courses.
You can find out more about .begin here.
If you are ready to progress to a train to teach course you can find out more about the curricula here.
IN-PERSON COURSES
If you would prefer to attend an in-person course, please see the courses below which will be taking place at Birchwood Community High School in February 2025:
- Teach Paws b (for 7-11 year olds) – Daytime – 11th, 12th, 27th and 28th February 2025
- Teach .b (for 11-18 year olds) – Daytime – 13th, 14th, 25th and 26th February 2025
LIVE, ONLINE COURSES
If you would like to attend a live, online course via Zoom, please do apply* for one of upcoming courses after agreeing the dates with your school:
Autumn Term 2024
Evening Course .begin Wednesdays 18th Sep – 20th Nov 2024 7.30-9pm
Evening Course .begin Tuesdays 24th Sep – 26th Nov 2024 7.30-9pm
Daytime Course .begin Thursdays 3 Oct – 5 Dec 9.15am – 10.45am
Teach dots (3-6 year olds)
Daytime course (4 day split course) Thursday/Friday 3rd, 4th, 10th, 11th October 2024 9.30am – 3pm
Daytime course Tuesday 12th Nov – Friday 15th Nov 2024 9.30am-3pm
Teach Paws b (7-11 year olds)
Evening course (over 8 weeks) Tuesdays 1st Oct – 26th Nov 2024 7pm – 9pm
Daytime course (4 day split course) Thursday/Friday 17th, 18th, 24th, 25th Oct 2024 9.30am – 3pm
Daytime course Tuesday 26th Nov – Friday 29th Nov 2024 9.30am – 3pm
Teach .b (11-18 year olds)
Evening course (over 8 weeks) Wednesdays 2nd Oct – 27th Nov 2024 7pm-9pm
Daytime course (4 day split course) Monday/Tuesday 7th, 8th, 14th, 15th Oct 2024 9.30am – 3pm
Daytime course Tuesdays 19th Nov – Fri 22nd Nov 2024 9.30am – 3pm
*IMPORTANT When applying, please choose the funding option “MiSP Supported Place” and enter the code “WARR”. The form will ask for details of who is paying for the place but it has already been funded by the “Peace in Mind” campaign. Please enter the following in those fields so you can submit the form: Peace in Mind – Warrington – Emma Mills – EMills@birchwoodhigh.org
Background and aims
Out of tragic circumstances, the aim of this project is to plant a seed of hope within the Warrington community. Esther Gheyʼs Peace in Mind campaign, working with the Mindfulness in Schools Project (MiSP), develops a Pathways mindfulness approach to nurturing whole school culture, offering ways of supporting communities in difficult times. The project has been generously funded by the Brianna Ghey: Peace in Mind Fundraiser so all places are being offered for free.
This project will train staff members in school so that they will:
- have an introduction to mindfulness for the purpose of supporting them in their own understanding of mindfulness and general wellbeing
- develop their own mindfulness practice for the long term
- be able to deliver a formal, age-specific mindfulness curriculum within their school
- support the embedding of a well-designed and sustainable mindfulness initiative, as part of an approach to the wellbeing of pupils and staff.
About the training
There are two stages in the training, .begin an introductory course for you followed by a Train to Teach course of your choice to equip you to teach an age-specific curriculum to the children in your setting.
All our training is live. The 8-week introductory course .begin is available online, so you can take part from the comfort of home.
.begin is an introduction to mindfulness designed to support participants’ understanding of mindfulness and their general wellbeing. It is delivered via Zoom over eight weeks via group sessions of approximately 90 minutes per week. If you have already completed an approved 8-week mindfulness course and embedded your practice for at least two months, you can progress straight to a train to teach course.
Read feedback from previous .begin participants here.
The Train to Teach courses can be done over 4 consecutive days in person, in Warrington or online in 4 consecutives days, 2 days a week split across two consecutive weeks or over 8-weeks as weekly 2hr evening sessions.
Teach dots trains participants to teach our dots curriculum to 3 to 6 year olds within their school. More information can be found at Teach dots (3-6).
Teach Paws b trains participants to teach our Paws b curriculum to 7 to 11 year olds within their school. More information can be found at Teach Paws b (7 – 11).
Teach .b trains participants to teach our .b curriculum to 11 to 18 year olds within their school. . More information can be found at Teach .b (11 – 18).
Read feedback from previous course participants here.
Read feedback from children and young people here.
What to expect on the training
Our online and in person courses are delivered in real time, in a supportive group environment, by highly experienced MiSP instructors. Online courses are delivered via video conferencing to enable interaction between you and your group.
During the 8-week .begin course you will have the opportunity to try range of mindfulness practices and other exercises and engage in small and whole group discussions. Mindfulness is about awareness, care and choice and you are encouraged to take the 90 minute weekly sessions as protected time for your well being.
The Train to Teach courses combine teaching the curricula in real-time, so you can experience the lessons, discussions about pedagogy and opportunities to practice and share experience together.
We encourage you to take care of yourselves during training and, at the same time, invite you to participate actively in all sessions in order to get the best out of them.
Our curricula have been created by teachers and mindfulness experts for educators. All of our trainers have experience of working schools and we appreciate the challenges of finding space and time for CPD and to take care of ourselves.
The requirements below apply to all of our online training. To support your learning and to obtain the CPD certificates to be able to teach the children in your setting, we require that participants attend the training …
- In a quiet space where they 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.
- With 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. 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 if the course was happening with everyone in the same room. This means stepping away from distractions (technology, work commitments etc.), and being fully committed to engaging in all taught sessions and activities.
Participants attending the course in their workplace must ensure that colleagues understand that they are not available for work-related tasks or responsibilities such as supervising students or attending meetings. It is helpful for SLT to support this. Putting a ‘do not disturb’ sign on the door of the room you are in can make a difference!
Who is eligible?
We work with everyone working in education, teaching staff, support staff and Senior Leadership Teams. Any school staff member is eligible to attend this training provided they have the approval of their SLT and are committing to both phases of training: .begin, followed by an age-specific Train to Teach course for the children they will be teaching.
No previous experience of mindfulness is required, but it is important that participants are willing to engage in mindfulness practices both during the training and beyond.
If you have already completed an approved 8-week mindfulness course and embedded your practice for at least two months, you can progress straight to a Train to Teach course.
All primary and secondary settings in Warrington can nominate a member of staff in this initial phase of the programme.
If your setting would like to train more than one member of staff, please contact MiSP to see if further places are available.
How to apply
Each individual staff member can simply click on the links to the training below. Given the invitational, voluntary nature of this training, individuals must apply directly themselves and cannot be signed up by colleagues.
This course is being funded by donations that have been made to the Brianna Ghey: Peace in Mind Fundraiser. Neither you nor your school will be invoiced for your place.
When applying you will be asked “How is your attendance being funded?”, please choose the option “MiSP Supported Place” then the code WARR.
If you have any questions about the courses or need any help applying, please do get in touch with MiSP direct through support@mindfulnessinschools.org.
We look forward to helping you implement mindfulness in your setting.