Raising standards of mental health for children
With the support of the Chancellor’s fund Mary was able to pay for a course through the Mindfulness in School Project (MISP). The Paws b is a leading mindfulness curriculum for children aged 7 -11 in schools. The course was is attended by many psychologists, head teachers, SENCO’s and classroom teachers.
Studies have shown that mindfulness can reduce negative emotion, enabling a happier state of mind. Mary wanted to use this course as an intervention within a primary school to see if there is a link between mindfulness and resilience as well as academic function.
She delivered a 6-week intervention within a local primary school. Each week Mary gave them different coping mechanisms that will enrich the children’s ‘toolbox’ of skills which they can draw upon in times of stress or difficulty.The children received it very positively. They said that the course has made them more aware of their feelings and it was clear by the end of the project that some changes were starting to take place.
There is no way I would have been able to afford this training if it had not been for the Chancellor’s Fund. I am a big step closer to achieving my dream of improving mental health for our children.
This is the first study of it’s kind to be conducted on children of such a young age, measuring resilience, emotion, and academic function. Mary has already decided that this will be a large part of her future once she completes her degree.