Children taught new breathing techniques to boost their wellbeing

The Take Five at School Programme organised by Nottinghamshire County Council has been a tremendous success since being piloted in 2015.

Around 8,000 pupils across the county have learnt the breathing techniques which bring calm to the classroom and help them build resilience.

Today (Friday, July 27), 10 children from three schools in Bassetlaw were due to represent their peers and demonstrate their new skills.

The children aged between eight and 11-years-old, from St Edmund Hillary Primary and Nursery School, Worksop Priory Church of England Primary Academy and Sparken Hill Primary Academy, also received certificates for their work on the project.

Phil Abbott, headteacher at Worksop Priory CE Primary School, said: “The Take Five concept is one that children find far easier to understand the benefits of than quite a few adults.

“This included myself in the early days. I think that from here the important factor in moving forward is that we give the children the opportunity to educate adults from their point of view, directly talking and sharing their experiences, so that decision makers and people in authority, or people who can help develop this plan further and more widespread, can truly see how children’s lives have been impacted in a positive way.”

Coun Stuart Wallace, committee chairman for Adult Social Care and Public Health said: “As a county council we have commissioned the Take Five project in a number of schools in the county and it has had a real impact in helping children to build their inner resilience.

“These are simple breathing techniques but they have a real benefit in all aspects of these children’s lives.”