Resource development
Developing new resources is a central feature of the LearnHappy service. Through work with schools, organisations and visionary individuals, I’ve had the opportunity to work on a number of projects to help develop and promote good physical and emotional health. Here are a few examples.
LearnHappy Creating a Culture of Wellbeing in Schools is a practical resource for settings that wish to improve wellbeing in a meaningful and sustainable way. The resource guides users through a simple process that will uncover pressure points and will scaffold schools in addressing identified needs in a way that is both manageable and sustainable.
Visit the Services & Resources page to download the PDF guide.
Good for Children is a framework and record of a project carried out on behalf of The Curriculum Foundation. The work focused on the simple theme of ‘what is good for children’, looking at the varying factors that shape a child’s educational experience. Projects were school specific, focusing on areas of significance including school experience for children, school experience for adults, wider community and curriculum with the wellbeing of all stakeholders being a key driver.
LearnHappy Positive Touch is a superb addition to a school’s EHWB toolkit.
The benefits for youngsters who partake in regular Positive Touch activities are plentiful and there’s compelling scientific evidence to testify to its merits but quite simply, this initiative is just great for mental health and wellbeing as it teaches about body respect, body awareness and assertiveness through the context of healthy relationships.
Facts4Life is the brainchild of Dr Hugh Van’t Hoff, a general practitioner with a passion for promoting an understanding of health and preventable ill-health.
Facts4Life builds health resilience. Its holistic approach teaches people to ride the ups and downs, the normal changes in our health as we go through life; to keep balance because we can expect to recover from most illnesses through our own resources; to smooth the path by looking after our health and maximising our body’s chances of responding to life’s challenges. Awareness and understanding of mental health is woven throughout the resources, ensuring that children and young people understand the complete picture of mental and physical health as two sides of the same coin.
We now have further supplementary materials on the themes of mental health and relationships education (formally SRE).
LearnHappy Mindfulness is a resource that is based on key principles in Mindfulness. It is written to be very user friendly so any classroom practitioner can pick it up and use the focussing techniques with their class without the need for formal training.
BuildHappy Mood Monsters is a resource that 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 recognise the part they play in shaping their own future.
We use LEGO® to build resilience and engineer purposeful conversation.
BuildHappy Living Well Activity Pack is a simple and fully accessible resource to facilitate meaningful connection and conversation between people living with Dementia and their families and carers, using LEGO. The resource is designed to be an enjoyable, positive experience and may be used with other creative media if preferred.
BuildHappy The Loss Resource is a flexible framework to help support the difficulties of dealing with the experience of loss. It is aimed principally at children of primary school age who are struggling with the changes to their familiar life brought about by the loss.
BuildHappy 5 Ways to Well-Being is a completely flexible resource to promote the development of well-being amongst children. Inspired by the evidenced based 5 Ways to Well-Being model, this resource supports practitioners with fun and practical activities that can be used with a variety of groupings.
If you are interested in any of these themes or have themes of your own that you wish to develop into a teaching and learning resource then do get in touch. LearnHappy would be glad to write for and with you, ensuring that what is created best reflects the needs of the children, young people and adults in your community.