Next Thursday 6th September is the first day of the autumn term and we begin the new academic year with an ongoing commitment to exploring mindfulness practice within the school.
Our three staff inset days next week (Monday to Wednesday) will be centred around mindfulness, integrated as part of our wider commitment to Buddhist principles; we will be preparing classrooms and work plans for the coming term, but also spending time together to look at how we can develop our own mindfulness practice, as a group and as individuals, and integrate the benefits of mindfulness more fully into lessons and play for our pupils. (More will follow in future blogs about the various ways we are implementing this).
As you may be aware, Mindfulness in Education is a growing movement in the UK and beyond, so as well as focusing on the practice of mindfulness within the school, we’ll be looking at how we can contribute and collaborate in this developing field. Over the coming months we’ll be connecting with key organisations and individuals and raising awareness of the school at major conferences, festivals and events, e.g. International Mindfulness in Schools Conference 2013.
We will also be developing projects locally that reflect the school’s ethos, including an ongoing evening meditation group (open to all), a public talk and series of workshops on Mindful Parenting (led by our Head Teacher, Peter Murdock) and a ground-breaking child-centred Med Mob event in the spring of 2013. There are also plans to produce another short film about the school (this time focusing on how mindfulness is integrated into the school day and its benefits) which can be used online and at conferences and other key events.
We will keep you up-to-date with all that’s going on in this sphere via this blog and our News & Events page. We also intend to use this space to connect more deeply with the experience and practice of mindfulness, by providing observations and insights from our pupils, staff and the wider community.