MiSP Inclusion and Support Groups

The agenda of the meeting will vary according to the needs of the group but broadly each meeting will include an arrival practice, introductions, case studies, group discussion and a departure practice.

The themes for the first year were as follows:

• Autumn 2021 – What are the specific challenges this group faces teaching mindfulness in schools? What, if anything, has changed since this group first met a year ago? Any reflections on the MiSP Conference 2021?
• Spring 2022 – What can be done to overcome some of the challenges this group faces teaching mindfulness in schools?
• Summer 2022 – Are there particular resources or activities that MiSP could develop to support this group in schools?

Once you have joined an Inclusion and Support group, you will be very welcome as all the termly meetings. Members are asked to be guided by the values of mindfulness, showing curiosity, kindness and respect to each other, and to follow the guidance of the Chair.

Each Inclusion and Support group will have a meeting Chair, responsible for opening and closing the meeting, steering the agenda, introducing each item, moderating any discussion and keeping the meeting to time. The Chair will seek to ensure all voices are heard and the meeting is conducted with curiosity, kindness and respect.

Chairs for the 2021/2022 groups:

• BAME group – Adrian Bethune

Adrian is a part-time teacher at a primary school in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire and delivers wellbeing-focused training in schools across Europe through his organisation www.teachappy.co.uk. He is also a MiSP Associate Trainer, Education Policy Co-Lead for the Mindfulness Initiative and author of the award-winning, Wellbeing In The Primary Classroom – A Practical Guide To Teaching Happiness (Bloomsbury, 2018), writes regularly for the TES and has contributed to several other books.

• Men’s group – Richard Burnett

Richard is co-founder of Mindfulness in Schools Project and co-wrote .b. MiSP’s flagship course, as well as other MiSP curricula. He is a teacher at Tonbridge School and has taught mindfulness to well over a thousand adolescents, as well as to many school staff and school parents.

• SEND group – Clare Winter

Clare leads the KS3 centre and school reintegration at Dacorum Education Support Centre where she is the School Mindfulness Lead and SENDCo. She has worked in special education in the UK for over 14 years and is passionate about helping disenfranchised young people to flourish by building resilience and positive mental health. Clare is trained to teach .b, .breathe and the .b Foundations curriculum.

• Independent Teachers group – Tim Anfield
  

Tim has a background in the voluntary sector with a focus on community engagement, health and education.  He has operated as a fulltime mindfulness teacher since 2016 working extensively with schools across South Wales in an independent capacity.  Tim is an experienced MiSP Associate Trainer and co-chair of Mindful Schools Wales.  As founder of Mindful Families Tim works to make mindfulness accessible to more people, particularly families and in deprived areas.

Each Inclusion and Support group will also have a Secretary who will maintain brief notes of the meeting, capturing key themes and any actions arising, which will be circulated to all members of the group.