Sebastopol Primary School pupils all have Smiling Minds this year.
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Every day, between lunch and maths classes, all the pupils and teachers spend six minutes doing mindfulness exercises via the popular Smiling Minds app.
Stretched out on the classroom floor, the pupils do deep breathing and relaxation exercises which principal Michelle Wilson said promoted clearer thinking and calmer playground conflict resolution.
“It was piloted in prep/grade one classes last year,” Ms Wilson said.
“I was aware of research about how clear thinking and being in the moment helps clarity and perspective for the challenges we all face every day.
“If we can teach them that straight away, they’ve got it forever.”
Teacher Grant Smith said he noticed the pupils settled into the next task much better after the mindfulness break.
School captains Jessica said it made her focus on her work better while Jake said he found it “calm and relaxing”.