The initial five weeks of the programme is merely the introduction to mindfulness, which like riding a bike will only develop with regular practice. It is therefore very important that children are given the opportunity to develop their own personal practice and become more skilful in recognising when particular mindfulness tools might be helpful to them.
To enhance the whole school community involvement, we suggest the following actions:
Staff meeting. Hold a staff meeting so that all staff have some awareness of mindfulness, the tools and signs to look out for
Parent letter / meeting so that parents and carers are aware of mindfulness and how to support the children.
Posters relating to mindfulness and its tools may be placed around the school to raise interest from pupils and provide reminders.
Mindfulness is not a universal panacea and will not be suitable for some. For those children who decide not to engage perhaps provide an alternative activity which can still be mindful. For example, mindfulness colouring/using plasticine to model/looking for patterns such as word searches or maths quizzes. This then becomes their mindfulness tool.
Developing Practice - Invite the children to explore other methods of being mindful that they already use, perhaps in sport, in making things, in walking their dogs and modelling/art.
