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Smiling Mind School Program

The Buildcorp Foundation was proud to co-fund a $2.45million investment with the NSW Department of Education to deliver mindfulness training to 445 primary schools through the Smiling Mind Schools Program.

The program aimed to equip school children with the mindfulness and foundational tools to strengthen their resilience and long term mental health using curriculum-ready tools and teacher training. A pivot to delivering the program online in 2020 Increased its accessibility and enabled us to reach a further 45 schools, which extended the program’s reach to cover 25% of NSW Government schools.

We are pleased to share highlights from PWCs independent evaluation of the program in NSW below, which completed at the end of Term 1 2021.

Currently we are funding a further 10 Queensland and Victorian primary schools in recognition of the Foundation’s interstate supporters. This cohort will expand the evaluation findings to include direct assessments of students’ own perceived impact to their wellbeing.

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Investment
Effective use
High demand, wide reach
Wellbeing & behaviour

$2.45m co-funded by Buildcorp Foundation and NSW Government

  • Teachers still using the program 4 months after completing training
  • 97% Mindful Champion teachers trained left highly confident to teach mindfulness
  • 91% schools implemented the meditation component
  • 56% used lessons from the Smiling Mind curriculum (citing this would increase in 2021 after COVID impact)

 

  • 143,826 children, 10,428 teachers, 445 schools
  • 45% schools located in regional or remote areas
  • 56% with below average index of Community Socio-Education Advantage (ICSEA)
  • Upon completion, 72% teachers had increase in wellbeing & 69% had reduced stress levels
  • 85% of teachers agree / strongly agree that the program has helped their students’ wellbeing

Investment

$2.45m co-funded by Buildcorp Foundation and NSW Government

Effective use

  • Teachers still using the program 4 months after completing training
  • 97% Mindful Champion teachers trained left highly confident to teach mindfulness
  • 91% schools implemented the meditation component
  • 56% used lessons from the Smiling Mind curriculum (citing this would increase in 2021 after COVID impact)

 

High demand, wide reach

  • 143,826 children, 10,428 teachers, 445 schools
  • 45% schools located in regional or remote areas
  • 56% with below average index of Community Socio-Education Advantage (ICSEA)

Wellbeing & behaviour

  • Upon completion, 72% teachers had increase in wellbeing & 69% had reduced stress levels
  • 85% of teachers agree / strongly agree that the program has helped their students’ wellbeing

As we complete meditation each morning, I have noticed that students are calmer and engage in their learning activities of a morning with ease and focus

Mindful Champion teacher survey

I personally enjoy how it soothes me and I feel like I am improving my understanding of the ways and tools which help me calm down and understand my emotions.

Lily | aged 8

Impact update: hear from the students at Waitara Public School

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Message from The Hon Sarah Mitchell MLC, Minister for Education and Early Childhood Development

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