Young People Growing Stronger and More Resilient
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Young People Growing Stronger and More Resilient Voices, Views, Experiences and Ideas from 125 Young People (aged 6 - 12 years) who are Take Five Ambassadors and Leaders at seven schools in Worksop, Nottinghamshire Take five is bought to you by: Supported and funded by: Event partners: EACH AMAZING BREATH Not for profit Community Interest Company based in Nottinghamshire Let’s celebrate! On 29th June 2016, 125 young people aged 6-12 years, from seven North Nottinghamshire schools came together at the beautiful Rufford Abbey Country Park to celebrate being Take Five Ambassadors and Take Five Leaders. They were delighted to receive an Ambassador/Leader Certificate at the event from Councillor Yvonne Woodhead, Chair of the County Council, and Councillor Sue Shaw, Portfolio holder for Community Safety, Health and Wellbeing at Bassetlaw District Council. The event celebrated the work of the children and their schools, and showcased their collaboration and training with Each Amazing Breath CIC throughout the previous school year. The children had all completed a 6 session Take Five Ambassador or Leadership training programme. Each Amazing Breath CIC partnered with The Sherwood Forest Trust, Nottinghamshire County Council and Bassetlaw District Council to run the event. This picture shows all the guests, teachers and Take Five Ambassadors/Leaders as they arrive at beautiful Rufford Abbey Country Park, in the heart of the ancient Sherwood Forest. This picture shows all the guests, teachers and Take Five Ambassadors/Leaders as they arrive at beautiful Rufford Abbey Country Park, in the heart of the ancient Sherwood Forest. About the schools involved Each Amazing Breath CIC have been working with the schools Each of the schools has worked proactively with Each Amazing involved at the event for the last 12 months. The schools are: Breath CIC to co-design a tailored resilience building approach to implement Take Five in their school. School staff were trained to • Sparken Hill Academy lead daily Take Five practices in classrooms before the Take Five • Prospect Hill Juniors Ambassador/Leader programme was run in the school. • St. Luke’s CE Primary School Each Amazing Breath would like to take this opportunity to thank • Sir Edmund Hillary Primary School all the Headteachers, Principals and staff involved in each school for • Redlands Primary and Nursery School their dedication, support and positive engagement with Take Five. It has been a pleasure to work with you. • Worksop Priory CE Primary School • Outwood Academy Portland About Take Five Take Five is a safe, universal resilience building skill set based on breathing, grounding and awareness. 2 – 3 Academic Terms School and Each Amazing School staff work with Children selected as Take Five Children Trained by Each Amazing Children lead other children in Breath co-design Plan Each Amazing Breath Ambassadors/Leaders Breath over 6 training sessions school on a daily basis ‘Let’s Celebrate!’ Event at Rufford Abbey Country Park 125 Ambassadors/Leaders Nearly 2000 children in Worksop led in a across 7 schools in Worksop daily resilience building practice by their teacher or a Take Five Ambassador/Leader About the Take Five Ambassador/ Leader programme Each Amazing Breath CIC works with each school to tailor a programme so that young people can lead Take Five practices both with their peers and, if they wish, with adults. Each programme is tailored to the age group(s) involved. In primary schools Leaders are usually called Take Five Ambassadors, whilst in secondary school they may be called Take Five Leaders (it is up to the school to decide). The programme involves a combination of the children working on their own personal practice, participating in 6-8 interactive training sessions and in the final stages of the training, sharing the practices with fellow students, and then friends and families. The programme Julie Christian, Lead UK Trainer for Each Amazing Breath training children is very practical and fun and the children are invariably excited and at Worksop Priory CE Primary School keen to be involved. The programme does require the children to be proactive, focussed and willing to participate. In most schools the Each of the 125 children who attended the celebration programme is oversubscribed. event will have worked hard, demonstrated their ability to lead practices so it really is a celebration of all their hard work and dedication. Councillor Glynn Gilfoyle, Chair of the Community Safety Committee at Nottinghamshire County Council, which part-funded ‘Take Five’, visited Take Five Ambassadors and commented: “Sometimes we all need to stop and take a deep breath before we say or do something out of character. This technique has given these young people the skill and ability to identify that moment and deal with it. It’s also given them the confidence to be able to deliver the training themselves throughout their school and has been a key asset to changing behaviours for the better, not just of the young people involved but also the adults.” Dr. Jas Bilkhu 2015/16 High Sherriff of Nottinghamshire watches Year 6 Take Five Ambassadors lead Take Five to a Year 4 class at Worksop Priory CE Primary School More information about the roots of Take Five and the impact daily practices had at two primary schools as a Home Office funded ‘Preventing Demand’ pilot, is available in the Take Five at School Impact Report. This report is viewable on the Each Amazing breath About what Take Five website: Ambassadors will do after www.eachamazingbreath.org the event Example of benefits among pupils over a nine-week period: • 88% indicated a decrease in stress levels Each of the Take Five Ambassadors is able to lead a Take Five following the end of the nine-week study practice. Many of them have been leading practices with their • 77% of students reported an improvement peers in their school for many weeks or months. At the time in concentration levels of writing this report nearly 2000 children in schools in Worksop will experience a daily Take Five practice led by • 74% indicated an increase in the level of one of their peers, their teacher or Teaching Assistant. calmness Voices, Views, Experiences and Ideas As well as the event being an enjoyable celebration, we were keen to allow the children to share their Views, Experiences and Ideas in relation to Take Five. To this end, we devised two ways to hear their voices. Firstly, we bought lots of rolls of wallpaper lining! We then posed them various questions, and made a film of the day, and interviewed them and their teachers. The film will be available in the next couple of months. The words of the children written on the wallpaper are shared in the following pages of this report. One of the children explained that she wanted to share a practice with her friend who is deaf, so Dani Harris one of Each Amazing Breath’s trainers (and also a teacher and co-founder of a classroom resilience building practice in Toronto, Canada) gave the group an impromptu lesson in how to lead a specific practice in sign language. Each of the Take Five Ambassadors/ Leaders get a chance to lead a practice at the event Why did we choose Rufford Abbey Country Park to hold the event? Each Amazing Breath CIC were delighted that Sherwood Forest Trust agreed to partner with them and Nottinghamshire County Council to help celebrate the achievement of the Take Five Ambassadors. Sherwood Forest Trust are interested in getting children more involved with the natural environment, where they can breathe and enjoy healthy outdoor activities. This project links into their work on the ‘Charter for Trees, Woods and People’ and the idea of a ‘Resilient Urban Forest’. In addition, both Nottinghamshire County Council and The Sherwood Forest Trust are involved in helping to manage and celebrate the existing ancient Sherwood Forest, to inspire the children to enjoy the natural environment on their doorsteps, including the trees and green spaces in Worksop. Calm... Aware… Standing Strong… Balanced… Calm... Aware… Standing Strong… Balanced… About the Awards Helen Whitney (photo to the left, far right), Co-Founder of Each Amazing Breath CIC was delighted to welcome all the VIPs who attended, including Councillor Yvonne Woodhead (far left), Chair of Nottinghamshire County Council and Councillor Sue Shaw (centre), Portfolio Holder for Community Safety, Health and Wellbeing at Bassetlaw District Council. The children were thrilled that Yvonne and Sue presented their certificates. In addition, Patrick Candler (photo to the right), CEO of Sherwood Forest Trust was present so that the children had a chance to understand more about the wonderful trees and forest that surrounds their home town. The children were awarded a certificate and also copies of Take Five practices cards that they had designed themselves towards the end of the Take Five Ambassador/leadership training. Take Five Ambassador and Leader Awards The children receive their Take Five Ambassador/Leader Certificate and a copy of the Take Five Practice cards they have designed from Councillor Yvonne Woodhead, Chair of Nottinghamshire County Council and Councillor Sue Shaw, Portfolio Holder for Community Safety, Health and Wellbeing at Bassetlaw District Council. Outwood Academy Portland Prospect Hill Juniors Redlands Primary and Nursery School Sir Edmund Hillary Primary School Sparken Hill Academy 2015 Sparken Hill Academy 2016 St. Luke’s CE Primary School Worksop Priory CE Primary School Thanks to: Take Five at School Programme Funders: Schools in 2014/15 • The Home Office • Bassetlaw, Newark and Sherwood Community Safety Partnership • Nottinghamshire County Council Schools in 2015/16 • Nottinghamshire County Council • Bassetlaw Public and Third Sector Partnership • Bassetlaw, Newark and Sherwood Community Safety Partnership • Bassetlaw Clinical Commissioning Group • Together for Worksop Event Partners: Sherwood Forest Trust Nottinghamshire County Council Bassetlaw District Council Schools: Sparken Hill Academy Prospect Hill Juniors St.