2019 Mindfulness in school
Next year we will be introducing Mindfulness to the students. It will be done in small sessions at the discretion of the classroom teacher. It is non-religious and are short breathing and concentration activities to assist the students to deal with any stresses in their lives in a calmer way. We will be using the Smiling Mind programme as our basis.
Smiling Mind is series of modern meditation activities in a unique web and app-based format. It’s been developed to complement existing mental health and wellbeing/pastoral care programs, complements the General Capabilities in the Australian Curriculum.
What is Smiling Mind?
- Smiling Mind is a mindfulness tool and app
- Smiling Mind includes a specific teacher resource for introduction to your classroom
- Smiling Mind can be downloaded from the Smiling Mind website and iTunes.
Education program overview
The program is available for various ages, with different downloads relating to each age group:
- 7-11 years
- 12-15 years
- 16-22 years
- adults (can also be used for staff training).
Each age-specific program runs for an initial 8-10 weeks. The program is comprised of short mp3 audio sessions of 5-15 minutes long, introductory sessions, daily mindfulness guides and take home activities.
As a complement to existing mental health and wellbeing programs, Smiling Mind may:
- encourage participants to be focused on the present moment when engaged in set activities
- provide a grounded start to the day/session/training
- encourage focused attention
- increase levels of empathy with fellow students.
The program has been designed to be flexible in its delivery and can be used to suit the needs of the curriculum, school environment and individual student’s needs.
2019 Class model and student placement
At Leeming Primary School, I can honestly say to all parents that their child has every opportunity for a positive new year. We have great staff who work hard to provide positive experiences for students. However, some years there are some splits that are seen as a less popular option. This occurs because we cannot afford to run some small classes just to make the classes tidier. We try and keep these splits no smaller than 6, as this provides a ‘critical mass’ for the group. Although these splits are sometimes viewed as a secondary preference they have a history of working for the students involved, giving students a positive year.
I apologise to parents who did not get their preference. We considered all, but in some situations we had to prioritise other requirements.
Parent Helpers/ P&C members / School Board / Volunteers
This year we have had a very positive and successful year. Part of the credit for this comes down to the large number of community members / parents who kindly donate their time to the benefit of all children. This year we will see a number of parents who have given many years of service to the school, moving on to greener pastures. The school thanks you for your time and hard work.
Yesterday, the school held its inaugural Transition Day. We chose this date because this year we were able to match Leeming SHS’s transition Day with the majority of Yr. 6’s attending. Feedback from the students and a few parents has been very positive and I hope it sets up all students for a smooth start to 2019. We will discuss the possibility of making it a regular event and look at ways to improve. Please provide feedback to your classroom teacher if you have any ideas.
We are very grateful to the Yr 6 students who will be attending schools other than Leeming Senior High School as they worked like champions all day!