Community Archives - Mindfulness in Schools Project

What is the MiSP Pathways Portfolio?

Elinor Brown — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 08:33:41 +0000

The MiSP Pathways Portfolio helps you keep a record of the wide range of development work you have done, personally and professionally, to create a sustainable mindfulness approach in your school/setting.

If at some point your setting applies to Step 5 of the Pathways to become a MiSP Beacon School, the Portfolio can be submitted to support your application.

In the Hub, click on the Pathways logo for each step and in the Portfolio templates at each Step level you will see suggested detailed actions/activities that will support introducing mindfulness in your setting.

These ideas are just a suggested starting point and we welcome settings choosing other ways of getting things started.
We recommend building the Pathways Portfolio on whichever platform is most suited to/already used by your setting, ie. Googledrive, Microsoft, Thinkific, Padlet etc.
Feel free to use a range of different ways of recording evidence of the work you are doing; for example:- photos, videos, audio interviews (please get permissions for sharing any photographs or videos of students or staff), written work, artwork, displays, Class Impact survey results, staff questionnaires, research, policy documents, certificates or other evidence to show related CPD (for example, attending MiSP support sessions; retreats, group mentoring, practice sessions, Schools Sits and Skills workshops)

More detailed information for each Step is or will be available in the Hub. However, here is an idea of the sorts of evidence you could collect at each Step:

Step 1 – Explore – Evidence of research using undertaken i.e. evidence of attendance at an information webinar, a Mindfulness in School action plan, a photo of attendance at a School Sit etc

Step 2– Introduce – Evidence of introductions to mindfulness for staff and students i.e. photos of student assembly on mindfulness using Step 2 resources, photo of a staff mindfulness display board, photo of a staff taster session, certificates of attendance of practice sessions, retreats, Step 2 Skills workshops etc

Step 3 – Develop – Evidence of courses being offered to students i.e. photos or video clips of dots, Paws b or .b classes, photo of a student mindfulness display board, notes from Staff and/or Student mindfulness working groups, certificates of attendance or other evidence to show attending Group Mentoring sessions, Step 3 Skills workshops etc

Step 4 – Embed – Evidence of courses being offered to staff, parents, governors and wider development work exploring how mindfulness approaches might inform/support other areas of school life i.e. photos of course, video clips of adults in setting talking about the benefits of mindfulness, policy documents that show influence of mindfulness approaches.

Also, evidence that the School Mindfulness Lead is supporting their own practice and development i.e. certificates of attendance or other evidence to show they are receiving supervision, attending Group Mentoring sessions, Step 4 Skills workshops, retreats etc.

We hope this helps and, if you have any questions or further ideas for development, please contact enquiries@mindfulnessinschools.org.

Please join us on this journey by exploring ‘The Pathways’ today!

The post What is the MiSP Pathways Portfolio? appeared first on Mindfulness in Schools Project.

Join us at the International Conference on Mindfulness 2024

Elinor Brown — Mon, 15 Jul 2024 08:35:50 +0000

We are delighted to be facilitating a one day workshop as part of Bangor’s post-conference day on Tuesday 6 August 2024 9am for 9.30am until 5pm.

We would love to see you there online or in person. If you are unable to attend on the day, we have heard from the organisers that a recording will be available if you have signed up for a pass.

The workshops are in collaboration with key contributors to the field of mindfulness in education:

(Left to right)

Richard Burnett (Co-Founder of MiSP)
Esther Ghey (Director of Peace in Mind)
Faiy Rushton (Education Training and Development Manager for MiSP)
Sarah Silverton (Director of The Present Courses CIC)
Emily Slater (CEO of MiSP)
Jason Steele (Founder and CEO of Raise the Youth)
Professor Katherine Weare

Plus a chance to hear from the children and young people who are benefitting.

We are excited to be sharing:

The latest research overview from Professor Katherine Weare

Insights from children and young people themselves

An overview of lessons learnt in the development of school-based mindfulness

MiSP’s new framework for educational communities offering diverse entry points and a range of paths to introduce and sustain mindfulness in your settings and intentionally develop a whole school culture that embodies the values, qualities and attitudes of mindfulness.

Esther Ghey will be joining us with reflections on her recent inspirational work, to fund the mindfulness training of a teacher in every school in her late daughter Brianna’s home town of Warrington, as well as raise awareness of mindfulness with media and decision makers.

Plus:

Experience tasters of MiSP’s newest curriculum for 3-6 year olds and The Present for Schools, with an opportunity to hear directly from The Present Director and curriculum author, Sarah Silverton, as part of sharing a new official collaboration between the two organisations.

We would love to see you there!

Until now, International Conference on Mindfulness (ICM) conference organisers needed people to commit to all 5 days. However, there is now the option to attend the MiSP-facilitated day only, either via livestream (£50) or in person (£100). Please note your ticket can be used for one of three workshops that day and “Mindfulness for Future Generations'”is the MiSP-facilitated one to select.

TUESDAY 6th August 2024, 9am for 9.30am-5pm (UK time)

Book an online 1 day post conference workshop pass

Book an in person 1 day post conference workshop only pass

Book a 5 day conference, workshops and retreat pass 2-6 August

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Meet our Together for Wellbeing London 10k Runners

Elinor Brown — Thu, 04 Jul 2024 08:11:42 +0000

We are so grateful to the runners taking part in the London 10k to raise funds for our Together for Wellbeing Campaign. Read on to find out more about them and their inspirational reasons for taking part.

Hi, I’m Lucy. I was a class teacher for 25 years and during this time began to notice greater & greater levels of anxiety arising in the school community – from the pupils themselves through to the staff and parents. I felt very passionate about wanting to make a change in whatever way I could and so trained with the MiSP in 2013. I was so inspired by the likeminded people I met during this time that I decided to bite the bullet – resign from teaching and set up my own mindfulness company www.mindfulspace.me

I haven’t looked back. Over the past 11 years I have delivered .b and paws.b packages in a range of primary and secondary schools across Hertfordshire. The children are so engaged with the sessions and are able to create such empowering strong silences when they are practicing mindfulness. They have said things like “If it wasn’t for you teaching me how to be mindful I wouldn’t come in to school” and “It makes me feel so safe and steady.” I also support staff who have said things to me like “Every time I see you around school I remember to pause and breathe” … one teacher even used her 7/11 breathing technique to help her through the pain of a lumbar puncture!

Throughout my training for the London 10k I keep picturing all the children, staff and parents who I have helped deal with a range of situations which his has been so motivating – the only thing that has got me through some of the runs in fact! I’m not a natural athlete! Next month as I pound the pavements of London alongside my MiSP companions I will be running for every child. In every school. Because mindfulness is for everyone. If any of you are coming along to support us on July 14th please shout words of encouragement on as we splutter over the finish line! (Mindfully of course!)

You can support Lucy here

Hi, I’m Nat and I am very proud to be taking on the London 10k in order to raise funds for the Mindfulness in Schools Project (MISP).

I have been a trustee of the charity for almost 2.5 years and the purpose of MISP is one I feel very strongly about having seen and experienced the impact mental health challenges have had on myself and my close family in recent years. I have a 3 year old daughter and feel passionately about contributing to the future support she receives during her pathway through school and the many influences that now surround growing up in our society. The MISP courses and training provide teachers, children and the wider school community with the structure and basic skills to build focus, resilience and a more thoughtful and sustainable response when everything surrounding young children today seems pretty chaotic – a mandatory part of any curriculum in my view.

I’m excited to join my esteemed colleagues at MISP for what will no doubt be an uplifting day and a chance to celebrate the impact they have together…now I’d better get stuck into that training plan!

You can support Natalie here

If you would like to get involved you can find out more about how you can support MiSP here

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Our mindfulness journey in Wales

webmaster — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 14:58:51 +0000

Liz Williams

Guest blog by Elizabeth Williams, Chair of Meddylgarwch Cymru (Mindfulness Wales) and Associate Trainer for MiSP

Early in our mindfulness journey in Wales, as a group of educators and mindfulness practitioners, we asked ourselves “What could mindfulness do for learners in Wales?”. We ended up with four solid aims – mindfulness can help our learners cope, connect, flourish and empower change.

There’s a strong message here – it’s so important that we help children cope, but mindfulness is about so much more. It’s about enhancing children’s lives, helping them not just survive but to thrive.

The new Curriculum for Wales

Fortunately, this is the message underpinning the new Curriculum for Wales (CfW) with its 4 purposes for our learners to be:

ambitious, capable learners
enterprising, creative contributors
ethical, informed citizens
healthy, confident individuals

Better than that, the new curriculum includes an Area of Learning and Experience explicitly for Health and Well-being. The MiSP Mapping shows how dots (30 session mindfulness curricula for age 3–6), Paws b (12 session curricula for age 7-11), .breathe (4 session mindfulness-based wellbeing curricula to support transitions for age 9 to 14) and .b (10 session curricula for age 11 to 18), can make a significant contribution to enabling children in Wales to realise the aims of CfW. The context and policy framework are all we could wish for in Wales and there is already a lot of good practice, so our next challenge is to spread the word.

Mindfulness is a journey

Even with such a supportive policy framework, introducing mindfulness is definitely a journey rather than an event. I’ve been working in one local primary school in Torfaen for about 5 years and over that time nearly all the staff have completed .b Foundations (an introductory 8 week mindfulness course for adults), several staff have trained to teach Paws b, and mindfulness has been woven into the curriculum in every year group and every class. I’m currently teaching dots in Y1 while they get a teacher trained – that’s an extra bonus for me as it’s such fun. Mindful activities are built into the school day in all classes, all children do Paws b in Y4, and in Y6 they are currently doing individual projects to enhance their own mindfulness practice. Staff didn’t need any convincing that what they do makes a significant contribution to the Descriptions of Learning at each Progression Step but having the MiSP/CfW Mapping has enabled them to articulate more specifically what they are doing in their curriculum development and schemes of work. Mindfulness is built into the school development plan, and they are looking at the MiSP Pathways model to help take this forward. The school is in a really challenging area and I’ve been so impressed with the attitudes and application of Y6 when I’ve been teaching them this term.

At secondary level, a community comprehensive in Neath Port Talbot, teaches .b to all Y7 pupils and follows up with a Mindfulness Club for pupils as they move through the school. Conscious of the evidence of the contribution mindfulness can make to the learning and wellbeing environment, several teachers, plus teaching assistants and dinner supervisors, have been involved in the mindfulness developments, and plans are afoot to involve the senior management team. The MiSP/CfW Mapping is now being used to maximise the influence on the Health and Well-being Area of Learning and Experience.

The tip of the iceberg

These examples are the tip of the iceberg and as Mindfulness Wales, a small charitable organisation set up to spread mindfulness to help Wales become a more compassionate, kinder, fairer and more sustainable society, we’re hoping to undertake a survey of mindfulness practice across Wales to help inspire others with examples of good practice.

We recognise that schools can do amazing work in the comparatively short time children are with them. Mindfulness Wales is working with partners to develop Mindful Communities so our schools can be held in an environment where mindfulness can support everyone. So, watch this space as we continue on our mindfulness journey in Wales…

About Elizabeth Williams (Liz)

Liz is passionate about the potential of mindfulness to help staff and learners in all sectors of education to cope, connect, flourish and empower change. She teaches mindfulness to children and adults with a particular focus on education, building on a long career in education starting as a primary teacher and headteacher and ending as Head of Children and Young People’s Strategy in the Welsh Government. It’s a real privilege to be part of this team helping to make a difference to the mental and emotional health and wellbeing in schools, colleges, youth settings and families.

Liz is proud to be Chair of Mindfulness Wales, a charitable organisation set up to enhance and encourage mindfulness across sectors in Wales https://mindfulness-wales.org, and is also involved in a research project with the University of Derby on Compassionate Mind Training for Schools.

As an associate of Mindfulness in Action she is part of a team developing and delivering Mindfulness for Education Leaders in partnership with the National Academy for Education Leadership Wales’ Innovation Programme.

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Speaker Event 22nd November 2023

webmaster — Thu, 05 Oct 2023 08:52:30 +0000

Mindfulness in Schools – What we’ve learned &
where might we go next?

A perspective from Professor Katherine Weare

22nd November 2023 – 7pm to 8pm UK time

Watch the recording of this event here.

What to expect?

We are thrilled and honoured that Professor Katherine Weare will be sharing what for her have been key learnings for mindfulness in schools over the years and what the future may hold…

There will also be an opportunity for Katherine to answer questions. If you personally have a question for Katherine, please email support@mindfulnessinschools.org one week before the event (i.e. by 15th November). We will try to ask as many of these as possible during the session.

This session is set to provide thought provoking reflections from one of the most informed and preeminent mindfulness in schools experts. It will be a chance to come together as a (global) community, including warmly welcoming any familiar and newer faces!

Who is invited?

The webinar is open to ALL so please do invite colleagues and friends.

We are very grateful to Katherine for donating her time to support this MiSP fundraising Speaker Series.

BOOK TICKETS HERE

Watch the recording of our previous event, “Mindfulness in Schools Project: How it all began” here.

About the Speaker

Professor Katherine Weare is a highly influential international figure in the field of mindfulness, wellbeing, mental health and social and emotional education, framed by a whole school approach. Her work has been described by Professor Mark Greenberg as ‘always ahead of the curve’. She is lead for Education at the Mindfulness Initiative, and co-author, with Adrian Bethune, ’Implementing Mindfulness in Schools: an evidence based guide’ to which Jon Kabat Zinn responded with a “deep bow of appreciation for this incredible, elegant and balanced work.” She is Professor at the University of Southampton, where she developed high impact national and international programmes and research projects and advised policy makers, agencies and educators across the world. Her book, ‘Happy Teachers Change The World: a guide to cultivating mindfulness in education’, was co-written with world revered zen master Thich Nhat Hanh, and is an educational best seller that has been translated into 7 languages.

This event is part of a Speaker Series we are running in 2023/24.

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Speaker Event 20th September 2023

webmaster — Mon, 14 Aug 2023 08:56:41 +0000

Mindfulness in Schools Project: How it all began

20th September 2023 – 7pm to 8pm UK time

Watch the recording of this event here.

For the first time since the inception of Mindfulness in Schools Project (MiSP) in 2009, we invite Chris Cullen and Richard Burnett, MiSP’s co-founders to share those early days – what gave them the idea to set up MiSP, where their personal mindfulness journey started from and where has it taken them to this point…

Whether you are keen to find out more about the process of how that first curriculum was put together or even how Chris and Richard met, please join us for what promises to be a fascinating look back to MiSP’s origins and a chance for us to come together as a community.

If you have any questions about the history of MiSP, please email enquiries@mindfulnessinschools.org by 13th September 2023. We will try to answer as many of these as possible during the session.

BOOK TICKETS HERE

About the Speakers

Chris Cullen is a trainer for the Oxford Mindfulness Centre, teaching on the Master’s programme in Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy at Oxford University. He has a psychotherapy practice in Oxford, and is also on the team at the University of Oxford Counselling Service. Previously he taught in secondary schools, and with Richard Burnett, co-founded the Mindfulness in Schools Project in 2007. Between 2013 and 2020, he ran the mindfulness teaching programme in the UK Parliament, and co-founded the Mindfulness Initiative.

Richard Burnett is co-founder of Mindfulness in Schools Project and his TEDx talk helped define the landscape of mindfulness in education. He co-wrote .b, as well as other MiSP curricula, and was an expert witness at the All Party Parliamentary Group on mindfulness. Richard is a teacher at Tonbridge School, the first UK school to put mindfulness on the curriculum, and has taught it to well over a thousand adolescents, as well as to school staff and school parents.

This event is part of a Speaker Series we will be running in 2023/24.

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MiSP in the Netherlands

webmaster — Tue, 16 May 2023 09:38:12 +0000

Mindfulness in Schools Project is delighted to have agreements with a small number of organisations to run our courses outside of the UK. We have worked closely with these international organisations to ensure that they are able to maintain the integrity and quality of our courses and that they have a suitably qualified, professional local training team. Whilst we retain a close relationship with all our international partners, they run courses independently from MiSP.

Guest blog by Eva Kam

For the last seven years, Cathri Verkleij, Ernst Koeleveld and I (Eva Kam) have been teaching the .b curriculum in Dutch Schools. All three of us are teachers in different High Schools and each of us has been ‘caught’ by the power of mindfulness in our personal lives and experienced how powerful and joyful this can be with students.

We were all trained by MiSP-approved b Teacher Trainer, George Langeberg. George has been a Trainer in the Netherlands since 2012, and was one of the founders of the Centre of Mindfulness in Amsterdam. Involved in the training of many teachers, George helped to create a sustainable teaching community here in the Netherlands.

Back in around 2018, George began looking for someone who could continue the relationship between MiSP and the Centre of Mindfulness – taking care of the .b teacher training in the Netherlands and its community (as he was focusing primarily at that point on his separate acupuncture activities). This was the beginning of us forming a team at the Centre of Mindfulness, and we joined the MiSP .b Trainer Pathway so that we could start delivering the .b Teacher Training in the Netherlands. We are thankful for the great support and guidance that MiSP has given us to support our learning.

In the years that followed, we became more aware of the needs of the Dutch .b teacher community and wanted to support them in any way we could. We thought the best way to do this is by starting a foundation in the Netherlands. In the autumn of 2022, the three of us started the foundation Stichting Mindfulness Based Trainingen voor het Onderwijs.

What are the Foundation’s Goals?

The Foundation has three main goals:

educate
connect
support.

Educate teachers who want to bring mindfulness in their schools; connect the mindfulness community of teachers in the Netherlands; and support the teachers that bring mindfulness to their schools.

Bringing mindfulness into schools has its challenges, of course, including in the Netherlands. We are thus particularly grateful for the international mindfulness community to share, inspire and support us.

How can you find out more?

If you would like to see more information about the foundation, please visit their website, and if you or anyone you know would like to apply for Train to Teach .b course in Dutch, please see here.

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How to support MiSP online (without spending a penny)

webmaster — Thu, 23 Mar 2023 08:57:13 +0000

Thank you for engaging already!

A massive THANK YOU to everyone who already engages with our social media channels by tagging us in their posts and through liking, sharing and engaging with our posts. This really helps get the word out about what MiSP offers and encourages new schools and teachers to consider mindfulness for their settings.

What can you do to encourage more schools to adopt a mindful approach?

We would really appreciate it if you could:

Let your network know about your experience of MiSP training courses. Word of mouth goes a long way!
Tag us whenever you post about your MiSP curricula teaching and use #MispCharity.
Follow and share our Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn pages.
Like, comment and share our posts with your friends, colleagues and followers.
Join in and share your School Sit.

Got ‘Three Good Things’ to share on a Friday?

Three Good Things on Facebook every Friday

You may have noticed that we are trying out different approaches to what we are sharing online, and we have more ideas in the pipeline!

See our MiSP Three Good Things template for you to use with your students and come and join us on our social media channels every Friday and share your Three Good Things.

Noticing the good in our lives is one way we can practice mindfulness and gratitude; turning our attention towards what’s working well for us and savouring it.

We know how lucky we are to have such a wonderful community of MiSP trained teachers and are keen to connect and share the fantastic work we are doing together. If you have any suggestions for other ways to do this, please get in touch.

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Jockey Club “Peace and Awareness” Mindfulness Culture in Schools Initiative

webmaster — Fri, 10 Feb 2023 09:20:54 +0000

Mindfulness in Schools Project is delighted to to have agreements with a small number of organisations to run our Teach .b and Teach Paws b courses outside of the UK. We have worked closely with these international organisations to ensure that they are able to maintain the integrity and quality of our courses and that they have a suitably qualified, professional local training team. Whilst we retain a close relationship with all our international partners, they run courses independently from MiSP.

Our Partner in Hong Kong…

The Jockey Club “Peace and Awareness” Mindfulness Culture in Schools Initiative (JC PandA) aims to promote a mindfulness culture in Hong Kong schools and focuses on the mental health of students, teachers and the general public.

This six-year project, running from 2019 to 2025, is funded by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust and organised by the Faculty of Social Sciences of The University of Hong Kong. JC PandA is one of the pioneer large-scale projects in Chinese societies that explores the benefits of mindfulness for students and teachers in school settings.

The project’s research findings and experiences will shed light on how mindfulness could be applied in the education sector, and enable educators in Chinese societies to apply mindfulness to building a healthy and flourishing school culture.

How can I find out more about this project?

WATCH THE SUBTITLED VIDEO: 賽馬會「樂天心澄」靜觀校園文化行動

You can find out more by visiting the project’s website.

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Nuria’s journey: community, connection, and translating MiSP’s curricula

Amy Tubb — Tue, 13 Dec 2022 10:41:23 +0000

Mindfulness in Schools Project recently spoke with Escuela Oficial de Idiomas Navalmoral Headteacher, Nuria Cabellos González, about her mindfulness practice, how she discovered our curricula, and the benefits she has seen from it personally and professionally.

Tell us a little about you…

My name is Nuria Cabellos and I work in a languages college in Extremadura, a region in central-western Spain.

I came to this area about a decade ago and I am enjoying the wonderful countryside, personal and professional development and my job in the area. Having worked in a much bigger school in Madrid, coming to a smaller area closer to nature, is allowing me the possibility to slow down and have a greater balance between life and work.

Mindfulness has had a great impact on my life and it has helped me to connect with nature, myself and others in a way that I had not been able to do so before I learnt about it.

Nuria Cabellos González

How did you hear about Mindfulness in Schools Project (MiSP) and what have you gained from your practice?

I discovered MiSP while researching ways to develop my mindfulness practice and completed the .begin, Paws b and .b courses. I wanted to share the positive effects that mindfulness has had on me and wanted to share it with others.

In my last course at .b in Leeds, by chance, I met Isabel Rubió Gavidia, a psychologist and fellow Spaniard who was also working with MiSP Curriculum in her practice. After the course, she proposed that we revised the Spanish translation for .b courses and translated the videos. Translating and dubbing the course has been a mindful project where we also wanted to integrate the curriculum as part of our practice.

Nuria and Isabel meeting over Zoom to discuss translations

We have been meeting regularly online for the last couple of years to translate and dub the curriculum videos. Thinking of which term fits best for an accurate practice has been stimulating. It has been a challenging task too, and one which we both have enjoyed. MiSP has brought us together from different parts of Spain and we are now great friends.

How does the MiSP curriculum benefit your day-to-day?

The MiSP curriculum really helps me both in school – as a teacher and school manager – and outside school too.

The language I use to talk to myself and others has been a process of discovery and reflection! Stopping and doing a .b when things get busy, beditation (or ‘camitación’ as we translated it!), and savouring the good are practices that I have recommended to my students and colleagues in my school.

WATCH: Beditation by MiSP

Implementing the MiSP curricula certainly increases the relevance of mental health in the educational community. This is paramount in the challenging times that we live in as a society. Having a national and international community of MiSP amigos/amigas is wonderful!