Shared Education Mindfulness Programme - Unity Through Diversity

Over a 6 week period in May and June 2017, 25 Year 10 Students from Down High School and St Patrick’s Grammar School met in the St Patrick’s Centre each Thursday morning to take part in a Shared Education Mindfulness Project.

Mindfulness involves training our attention to experience the present moment with greater curiosity and kindness. The aim of this programme was to help the students develop their sense of gratitude for what is going well, and to develop techniques to help them respond more skillfully to life's inevitable challenges. This training was done through a variety of forms including: mindful awareness of breath and posture; mindful eating; mindful colouring; mindful walking; and mindful movement.

The sessions were facilitated by Mrs Hilary McGuire (Down High) and Mrs Patricia Gallagher (St Patrick’s Grammar School) who are both accredited Mindfulness teachers trained to deliver the Mindfulness in Schools Project (MiSP©) programme. They were assisted by local artist Mrs Laura McClean.