Throughout the year we have engaged with yoga and mindfulness sessions with ‘Once Upon the Mat’. These sessions have been developed around a short age appropriate story linked to our PSHE library and are planned to support the children in answering their PSHE question for the term.

Children have participated in a fun and engaging yoga lesson where they will be given the opportunity to build confidence & self-esteem, learn breathing and calming techniques to help with anxiety, build emotional resilience and start to develop a tool-kit of yoga poses and sequences.

Children also engage in partner yoga, yoga games and songs to focus on positive physical and mental wellbeing.

As well as this we spend the first five minutes of each PSHE session participating in a mindfulness exercise, this ranges from activities from the ’60 mindful minutes’ programme, to mindful breathing or focus tasks.

Pupil Voice –

I felt so calm during the yoga sessions – I do not always feel calm in school, so this was really helpful for me.

I loved the colour monster story and toe-ga mindfulness.

I find it very easy to focus in yoga sessions.

Yoga makes me feel calm but is also fun!

Breathing helps me to feel safe.

If I get angry I need to remember my breathing.

I found it hard to say to everyone what I was good at, I said it at the end.