Mindfulness

“You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.”

Jon Kabat-Zinn

I am a trained ‘dots’ and ‘Paws b’ teacher which are mindfulness based curricula from Mindfulness in Schools Project (MiSP). ‘dots’ is for three to six year olds and ‘Paws b’ is for seven to eleven year olds.

I would recommend embedding Mindfulness throughout the school and for EYFS and Year 1 this would mean a 10 to 20 minute session slotted easily into their weekly timetable. I will teach them the ‘dots’ curriculum throughout the course of one school year, to give the children time to complete the course.

I would recommend teaching the ‘Paws b’ course to Years 2, 4 and 6 with each session lasting between 20 and 30 minutes depending on time available.

As a teacher, I understand the constraints on class timetables but I believe that by embedding Mindfulness into your school, your children will benefit from:-

  • links with PSHE curriculum
  • increased concentration and attention
  • increased awareness of wellbeing and mental health
  • increased self-regulation of behaviour

Your staff will also benefit from attending each session and supporting the children by revising some of the mindfulness practices throughout the week. Last year, three member of staff went on to complete training with MiSP and now have their own personal mindfulness practice.

Click below to download a Year 2 Class Impact Presentation which was collated by Mindfulness in Schools Project (MiSP) after the children independently completed a questionnaire after completing the Paws b course with me.

Year-2-Class-Impact-Presentation-Paws-bDownload

What can I offer your school?

  • Experienced and effective teaching of the ‘dots’ and ‘Paws b’ curricula
  • MiSP have created curricula maps exploring the relationship between the concepts covered in ‘dots’ and ‘Paws b’ courses and the links with Personal, Social and Health Education
  • Tailored timetable of sessions for your school
  • Classroom based sessions with children from Nursery to Year 6
  • Photographs and notes provided/uploaded after the sessions for social media, Instagram, Seesaw or Tapestry.
  • A brief 30 minute introduction to ‘dots’ and ‘Paws b’ for your staff

What is needed for each session?

  • For all ‘Paws b’ sessions, I will need access to a computer and an interactive white board. (This is not required for dots sessions)
  • Staff attendance is compulsory for each session
  • I will provide all of the other resources needed

‘dots’ Curriculum for 3-6 year olds

The ‘dots’ curriculum consists of 30 sessions throughout the school year with each session lasting between 10 and 20 minutes. I have taught these sessions to Nursery, Reception and Year 1 classes.

‘Paws b’ Curriculum for 7-11 year olds

There are twelve lessons as as part of the ‘Paws b’ curriculum and from my experience most of these lessons should be taught over two weeks. This gives the children time to understand the concepts and ‘have a go’ at the practices taught each week.

Next steps

Please do make CONTACT with me to see how I can personalised a plan to bring mindfulness to your school and provide tools for children to navigate their feelings and emotions through awareness and understanding.

Useful links