Is your school looking for an effective way to enhance student well-being and academic success? A way to reduce challenging emotions, increase attendance, lower exclusion rates, raise self-esteem and create a calmer more engaged classroom?
Navigating the complexities of educating young minds is no easy feat, and I recognize the daily challenges that teachers encounter. Amidst the academic demands and pressures, it's imperative to prioritize the holistic well-being of our students, recognising that their emotional and mental health significantly impacts their academic success. That's why I offer workshops and an intervention program designed to nurture both the minds and hearts of children. Utilising our award-winning books "My Magical Garden" and "My Magical Tree," my approach combines elements of mindfulness, imagination, and guided visualization. Through these techniques, students are encouraged to explore their inner worlds, develop emotional resilience, and cultivate a sense of calm and self-awareness. By incorporating these practices into the classroom, we can create a supportive and nurturing environment where students can thrive academically and emotionally.
Mindfulness: Nurturing Focus and Resilience
The Power of Imagination: Igniting Creativity and Problem-solving
Guided Visualisation: Enhancing Well-being and Creative Writing
The approach fully integrates into the PSHE curriculum within the Health and Wellbeing core theme, by helping pupils to build their confidence, resilience and self-esteem.
In the training and workshops I offer, I provide an approach designed to captivate a child's imagination in a delightful and accessible manner. This approach isn't just about sparking creativity; it holds transformative potential, particularly for children grappling with emotionally challenging behaviors. By engaging with these techniques, children can discover a serene sanctuary within themselves, fostering a sense of tranquility and empowerment as they navigate life's challenges. Moreover, this approach isn't limited in its scope—it's adaptable to benefit the entire school community, individual students, or specialized nurture groups. Beyond promoting emotional well-being and mindfulness, it seamlessly integrates with various academic disciplines, offering opportunities for cross-curricular exploration in creative writing, drama, and art. Whether as a standalone initiative or complementing existing approaches within the school, this approach stands as a versatile and invaluable resource for nurturing holistic growth and resilience in students.
With over 10 years of experience delivering wellbeing workshops to schools across the UK and internationally, I understand the unique needs and challenges that each educational institution faces. That's why I take a personalised approach, tailoring my workshops to specifically address the requirements of your school and adapting them to accommodate diverse learning needs and styles. I firmly believe that one size does not fit all, and flexibility is key to ensuring the effectiveness of these programs.
In recognition of the varying sizes and budgets of schools, I do not have a set cost for my workshops and teacher training sessions. Instead, I am committed to working with each school individually to negotiate a price that aligns with their financial resources and provides optimal value for the services provided. My ultimate goal is to make these invaluable resources accessible to as many schools as possible, empowering educators and students alike to prioritize their well-being and unlock their full potential.
As one year two teacher recently said:
"Once you’ve got the book and done the workshop there is no further cost. It’s not a heavy resource and as Wellbeing is big on the agenda, the workshops are very good value for schools. I’m a big advocate of the book and program. It works when you invest and believe in it.
Of all the interventions that I have seen it is definitely the most worthwhile. Children can’t just verbalise how they are feeling because quite often they simply don’t know how they are feeling. With My Magical Garden you are building on something week by week and as an adult you can interpret by using what’s in the back of the book and that’s why it’s so good. It does the work for you and the child isn’t doing any work either, but without realising they are.
It’s really valuable for the child and something they can access at any time because it’s in their imagination. It allows them to tap into their own world. They need their imagination drawn out of them and this can really help them to stretch their imagination and support creative writing."
To find out how this program can support your school community please get in touch and I look forward to hearing from you.
“My Magical Garden”: A mindfulness intervention for teachers working with children experiencing challenges around anxiety, stress and self-regulation – exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, school closures and ‘curriculum catch-up’.
Author Bristol Inter-disciplinary Group for Education Research | Posted on 21 June 2022
“My Magical Garden was trialled by us as a school as an intervention to support well-being. We are a First School 5-9yrs and had found it was difficult to source age appropriate tools to support both children and parents when they were anxious. My Magical Garden was highly effective at enabling us to introduce an independent strategy that children could use anywhere, anytime. It is a guided visualisation tool essentially, with an audio element, which our children and staff really enjoyed and found useful; although the ways our children engaged with it made it into so much more. It provided a creative outlet, as we encouraged our ASC children to create their own Magical Garden and inspired creative writing skills as children talked and wrote about their gardens. We were concerned that it may suit the girls more than the boys, but actually we had great results with boys and girls, although for some the garden became a football pitch! Once it is established, it also worked as a quick emotional check in or settling tool, a simple “What’s in your garden today?” or “Why don’t you put mum in your garden if you’re struggling today?” made it quick, effective and gave staff a consistent script to use. I would highly recommend this versatile and easy to use resource as a whole school, small group or 1:1 intervention.”
The benefits of the intervention program include:
Here are some of the findings based on the outcome of the 6-month trial.
The children were able to access a calm state
They were able to self-regulate
They could focus more and access a better learning state
Boys responded as well as the girls
It increased creativity for story writing and poetry with some children
It helped with resolving and reducing conflict
Reduced exclusions (the class that trialled it had no exclusions during the 6-month period, where
previously exclusions had happened. Other classes in the school experienced exclusions during the
same period)
It helped with relationship building and connection with each other
It helped them develop their reasoning skills, their intrapersonal skills, self-awareness and being able
to explain and verbalise their reasoning
It provided the children with a chance to use their mind constructively and not destructively
Creativity was a huge benefit of this technique
It was used as a preventative and worked as a good distraction tool, putting the child in a good place
as they linked it to a positive experience
The children were more productive
It showed a different side to the child. The quieter children spoke, and the more challenging children
showed a compassionate and caring side.
It created a closer connection between the teacher and children
A useful tool for transition
Here are some of the findings based on the five-week trial
It was successfully used in the Nurture group and 1-1
A useful tool to use as an emotional check in
Children were more willing to come to school
A noticeable difference for children with separation anxiety
Gave teachers insight as to how they could support a child
Good communication tool
Helped with focus and concentration
A useful tool for creative writing
Builds confidence and self esteem
The parents found it a very useful tool to help settle their children and improve their sleep. They
found the back of the book a useful way to start a conversation
The general consensus was to make it a whole school approach. A shared platform
A simple approach for anyone to use
A daily connection to the Magical Garden is useful
When the teacher is involved with it, the children could sense the connection and support
Fits in well with existing approaches used by a school
A useful tool to distract and calm down a child, leading to a conversation about their feelings
Boys responded as well as the girls, if not better
Some staff were uncomfortable to use the appendix, but they felt the technique was the most
important part of the program. They suggested to focus on the technique and leave the appendix as a choice for each teacher
Feedback from Teacher Training
My Magical Garden Workshop
Creating a safe place
I'm excited to demonstrate how my student/teacher workshops can empower your teaching staff and assist children in navigating various stresses and emotional challenges, both within the school environment and beyond.
Feedback from the year 3 teachers at Loughton Primary after their 4 classes had experienced My Magical Garden workshop