Mindfulness Programme
We are delighted to announce that our school is running a mindfulness wellbeing programme as part of the Learn Together curriculum during the months of October and November. The programme runs twice per week, over six weeks where an experienced mindfulness teacher will come into the classroom and teach our young people the skills of mindfulness.
What is Mindfulness?
Mindfulness is an education into how to take control of your own mind rather than being controlled by your impulses, desires and senses. It is a way of paying attention to what is happening in the present moment, instead of worrying about the past or the future. It trains us to respond skillfully to whatever is happening now, helping our children to become more aware of their thoughts and feelings, so that instead of becoming overwhelmed by them, they can manage them better.
Benefits of Mindfulness:
Better focus and concentration
Increased sense of calm
Decreased stress & anxiety
Enhanced health
Improved impulse control
Increased self-awareness
Skilful responses to difficult emotions
Increased empathy and understanding of others
Development of natural conflict resolution skills
Applications of Mindfulness
Mindfulness gives children access to some of the same techniques that the world’s top athletes, speakers, and musicians use to perform at their best under pressure-filled circumstances like:
- Test Taking
- Public speaking
- Sports
- Music
- Peer Interactions
- Family life
Shared Learning Experience
We are very excited to invite you to share the mindfulness learning experience with us. Our teachers and staff members are participating in mindfulness training, and we would like to extend the offer to yourselves, as parents and guardians too. The training for parents is offered every Wednesday at 12.10pm for 6 weeks starting on Wed 8th October. Please do come along, if you can, and share in this important learning experience.
Important Research Study
We are delighted to be partnering with the School of Psychology, University of East London to conduct a research study on the benefits of mindfulness for young people. Children who are aged 8 years by the 1st Oct 2014 are eligible to participate in the study. The children will have an important role in helping researchers discover in more depth the positive benefits of mindfulness training, and we have the honour of being the first school in Ireland to be involved in the research. The research part of the programme is completely voluntary and if you choose not to consent, that will not effect your child’s participation and learning of mindfulness.
Parents who consent to the research will receive a separate letter and consent forms for participation in the study. The study involves children and parents completing a few short questionnaires on their experiences of mindfulness. We would like to encourage you to participate in this important research and are very grateful for your help with this project. If you are happy for your child to take part in the research please fill out the consent form and have it back in the school by Wednesday the 1st of October.
Tara Killen, our co-ordinator, will be attending the Parents Assembly on the 3rd of October to speak about the benefits of the training.
If you would like to learn more about mindfulness here is a link to a documentary that explains why it belongs in education.
http://www.mindfulschools.org/resources/healthy-habits-of-mind/
(copy and paste this link into your browser)