In the recent issue of School News Magazine, Nigel shares with the teaching community his views on the importance of this simple but effective strategy for building resilience in our tamariki.

Nigel is not alone however in his belief that mindfulness strategies are an important if not essential skillset that our young people require in order to be prepared to step out into the new world that awaits them.

Sir Peter Gluckman, the Prime Minister's chief science adviser, produced a report last year on New Zealand's appalling rates of youth suicide.  One of the key messages to come out of the report was that youth suicide prevention begins with building resilience young.

The benefits of Mindfulness Programmes in schools are well documented by several New Zealand  studies which are published in academic, peer reviewed journals.  These benefits include:

- increased calmness

- improved focus and attention

- enhanced self awareness

- improved conflict resolution skills and positive relationships

- reduced stress for teachers

- statistically significant increase in well-being

Mindfulness practices are already in place in many of our classrooms here at Westburn with teachers using simple breathing and relaxation techniques activities to start the day.  Many of our teams also use the Sparklers resource - a tool for building resilience and positive well being in our school.

Wondering what you can do at home to begin developing life-long strategies to help your tamariki manage stress and anxiety? Try these simple but effective ways as a starting point:

1. Breathing Exercises Make these activities into a game and watch kids start to self manage when they feel stressed.

2. Play 'My Favourite Place' Game - everyone closes their eyes and imagines they are in their favourite place.  They can talk/describe their place in detail so that others can experience it or each person in the family can just 'be' in it for themselves. 5 mins of this is usually enough to break into a good 'space' after a stressful time.

3. Create a free-play art session where children get to express exactly what they are feeling, free of judgement.

4. Use MUSIC as a stress reliever either to calm combined with closed eyes time or to create an upbeat, happy dancing time together.

5. Blowing Bubbles - better than you might think.  It's hard to think bad thoughts when you are concentrating on the breathing and rhythm required for making the perfect bubble! Its an instant stress reliever for kids.

6. Get outside in the fresh air - rain , hail or shine! Movement and activity promote well-being and provide instant stress relief.

Below are links to Sparklers for Parents resources I have suggested in previous newsletter articles which are jam packed full of wonderful suggestions for keeping kids calm, helping kids manage their worries, feel good and most importantly HAVE FUN !

https://allright.org.nz/media/documents/Sparklerworksheets_KeepKidsCalm_1.pdf

https://allright.org.nz/media/documents/how_to_help_kids_manage_worries.pdf

https://allright.org.nz/media/documents/how_to_help_kids_feel_good_and_have_fun.pdf

Ka kite koutou, look after you.