A flexible and engaging 6 lesson PSHE course for 7 – 11 year olds which introduces mindfulness skills and practices. The course fits into the PSHE curriculum and can be taught as 12 x 30-40 minute sessions, fitting easily into the school timetable.

Paws b was designed for primary school settings by teachers and mindfulness experts. Elinor trained with Sarah Silverton and Tabitha Sawyer, the creators and is now a Paws b Teacher Trainer for the Mindfulness in Schools Project.

Who is it for?

Paws b​ ​is designed for all children in a school classroom. It can be taught to the whole class or in smaller groups.

Why teach Paws b?

• It promotes wellbeing, self-awareness and self-care.
• It offers adaptive coping strategies to build resilience and help when life is challenging.
• It encourages children to treat themselves and others kindly and with respect.
• It can help foster a growth mindset and positive attitude to learning.
• It extends thinking-skills learning promoted in the national curriculum such as neuroscience and metacognition.
• It offers knowledge and skills which can help children through school and beyond.

Students can use what they learn:

• To feel happier, calmer and more fulfilled
• To get on better with others
• To help them concentrate and learn more effectively
• To help cope with stress and anxiety
• To support performance such as music, drama or sport

What do the children learn?

Paws b has 12 lessons of 30-40 minutes.

The children learn about parts of the brain shown to be influenced by mindfulness practice. They are offered skills to help them take care of themselves: how to steady themselves and how to respond rather than react in challenging situations. They learn about thinking processes and how thoughts emotions and body state affect each other. They investigate ‘fight-or-flight’ and perception. They practice training their attention and explore how mindfulness can support them in all areas of their lives. They also learn about kindness, how we can choose to nurture ourselves and others and how we can savour and cultivate happiness.