Mindfulness at Garnteg Primary School

“It calms my nerves before my big singing competition so I can sing with everything I’ve got”

“When I get into a bit of a mood I can use one of the practices to calm me down.”

“It’s changed me a a person. I used to be angry but now I can calm myself.”

“It’s made me a nicer more compassionate person”.

Some of the feedback from Y6 pupils at Garnteg Primary School in Garndiffaith where Years 5 and 6 have been part of a research project with the University of Derby trialling compassionate mind training for pupils, Wellbeing: Our Brains Our Bodies.

The lessons included understanding of emotion systems of the brain and body, including processes of emotion regulation to inform a child’s emotional literacy, as well as practices to aid coping with difficult emotions.

A further aim of the lessons was to introduce pupils to the concept of compassion and how this involves self-compassion, accepting compassion from others and engaging in compassion towards others, with practices introduced to increase all of these flows. 

The trial was designed to explore the implementation and effectiveness across several wellbeing parameters including anxiety, compassion, perfectionism, moods and feelings, self-esteem, emotional literacy and prosocial behaviours. 

Pupils reported positively on their experiences of the CMT lessons and you can hear four Y6 pupils talking about their experiences and how it has benefited them in the video link below.  The research shows benefits for pupil and classroom behaviour, including improved emotion regulation, kindness to others and feelings of inclusion. Benefits were also found to extend to the class teachers.

Commenting on the impact of the lessons, Liz Williams, one of the Mindfulness Wales trainers who is currently working with Garnteg Primary School, said: “The 9–11-year-olds I’ve been teaching have been excited, and even relieved, when they recognise that how they are feeling is part of how their minds and bodies work. This gives them a basis to be kinder to themselves and apply the practices they’ve learned.”

Wellbeing: Our Brains Our Bodies has been developed by Professor Frances Maratos, University of Derby. The programme was taught at Garnteg Primary School to Y5 and Y6 as part of a research project with the University and Mindfulness Wales to trial compassionate mind training for pupils