Same storm, different boats – navigating lockdown with school aged children

I saw a quote on Facebook that was something along the lines of 'we're not all in the same boat but we are in the same storm' and thought how true that is. People often say 'we're in the same boat' with good intentions of illustrating our togetherness but actually, our experiences of this pandemic are going to be different, wildly so in some ... More

Why I love a bit of mindfulness

In my teaching career, one of my work friends affectionately referred to be as being a bit ‘Hippy Jo Jo’. I’ll take that, I always have kept an open mind when it comes to introducing an approach that may be seen as alternative. It was the same friend who put me on to mindfulness some years back, ‘See what you can find out, Kel, it ... More

Consent – not just for teenagers

A few years ago, I was involved in writing some teaching materials on the theme of consent. It was a useful resource and well suited to the target age group but was very much aimed at teenagers; now, that’s fine if the issue of consent started and ended there. It doesn’t. Consent is an essential concept that needs to be explicitly taught ... More

What does school uniform teach our girls?

So, I have this thing about school uniform; with school shoes in particular. I don’t feel that they are an appropriate choice for children. I have two daughters at primary school and throughout their time so far, their shoes generally get trashed within a few weeks of buying them, not because they don’t care about their belongings, not ... More

It worked for me… Mindfulness

Dear Kelly I wanted to write and let you know about the success we are having at St Lawrence with ‘Focused for Learning’.  After taking part in your seminar on mindfulness during the conference last year, I began introducing the Mindful approach with my class of Year Five children.  They responded really well.  This year I am able ... More

BuildHappy The Loss Resource

The resource is aimed principally at children of primary school age who have experienced a loss of their familiar life through experiences such as separation, imprisonment of a parent/carer, bereavement, gender-reassignment of a parent/carer, job commitments of a parent/carer or indeed any other significant event that has disrupted the life ... More

It worked for me… Mood Monsters

Hi Aly and Kelly, I just wanted to thank you for your 'BuildHappy Mood Monster' course. I am delighted to say that since your training in March this year I have been able to use my new skills using Lego with a selective mute child in Year 2, which has had successful results! This child was unable to access the phonics Test Assessment ... More

Mindfulness Resource

New resource and training available now! This handbook has been developed to be a 'teacher friendly' resource with activities set out step by step. I've worked with a number of schools on this theme and it has proven to be valuable for the teacher and students alike. For more information, please contact Kelly@learnhappy.org.uk More

Positive Touch Resource

New resource and training available now! In the 2016 Mental Health and Behaviour in Schools guidance from the Department for Education we hear of the escalating problems with poor mental health. It clearly states that: “In order to help their pupils succeed, schools have a role to play in supporting them to be resilient and mentally ... More

BuildHappy Mood Monsters

New resource and training available now!   This resource has been designed for use within primary education as a specialist intervention to help children identify the range of emotions they experience, to understand how these emotions can affect them, to support the development of strategies for managing these emotions and to ... More