Healthy Minds Compact Nursery to Year 6

First Steps introduces psychological fitness through play, stories, movement, modelling and shared everyday experiences. Children begin to notice feelings, practise kindness and listening, recognise strengths and explore simple ways of responding when things feel difficult.

The emphasis is on experiencing, noticing and practising rather than remembering lots of new vocabulary.

Children learn through five sessions: 1. Kind Hands, Kind Words Recognising and practising kindness through everyday actions. 2. Listen With Care Beginning to understand that listening helps us understand other people. 3. Name That Feeling Recognising familiar feelings, noticing simple body clues and beginning to think about what or who might help. 4. I Can Shine Noticing strengths through everyday actions and recognising that strengths can grow. 5. We All Shine Recognising and celebrating strengths in ourselves and other people without comparison or ranking.

Developmental focus Experience it → Notice it → Practise it

Children begin to notice what is happening inside and around them and experience helpful ways of responding.

This resource is supported by a recorded CPD series giving teaching professionals the core psychological ideas, developmental approach and practical teaching principles behind Healthy Minds Compact from Nursery to Year 6.

Growing builds on children’s early experiences by giving them simple language for psychological fitness skills and more opportunities to practise them intentionally.

Learning continues through stories, play, movement, modelling, conversation and repeated classroom experiences.

Children learn through five lessons:

1. Kind Hands, Kind Words Discovering how kindness appears in the things we say and do. 2. Listen With Care Practising giving someone attention and responding to what they have communicated. 3. Name That Feeling Developing emotional vocabulary and beginning to understand feelings as signals. 4. When I Shine Recognising strengths through what people actually do. 5. The Things That Make Me Shine Recognising, sharing and developing strengths in everyday life.

Developmental focus Experience it → Name it → Notice it again

Children begin to connect their experiences with simple psychological fitness language and recognise skills when they appear in everyday life.

This resource is supported by a **recorded CPD **series giving teaching professionals the core psychological ideas, developmental approach and practical teaching principles behind Healthy Minds Compact from Nursery to Year 6.

Building develops children’s growing ability to notice what is happening inside themselves, understand other people’s perspectives and recognise connections between thoughts, feelings and actions.

Children move beyond simply recognising skills and begin to understand, practise and choose between different ways of responding.

The seven core lessons are: 1. Kindness in Action Understanding kindness as something we can notice, choose and practise. 2. Name That Feeling Developing emotional vocabulary and recognising emotions as useful signals. 3. Active Listening Learning to listen to understand rather than simply waiting for a turn to speak. 4. Choosing What We Notice Learning to widen attention when thinking becomes stuck mainly on difficulty or what might go wrong. 5. Choosing Helpful Stories Beginning to separate what happened from the interpretation the brain adds and considering what else could be true. 6. Me at My Best Recognising strengths through evidence and understanding that strengths can be practised and developed. 7. My Happy Helps *Understanding positive emotion as one useful psychological fitness resource rather than something we should feel all the time.

Building also includes a: Regulation Skills Toolkit

Children practise a growing range of regulation strategies, including: • body skills • breathing and intentional stillness • distraction skills • connection skills • talking and spending time with other people • gratitude.

Children learn: Notice what is happening → Choose a strategy → Try it → Notice what happens

The emphasis is not on finding one technique that always works. It is on building a bank of possibilities and learning to choose thoughtfully.

Developmental focus Notice it → Understand it → Practise it → Use it Children develop greater awareness, flexibility and choice.

This resource is supported by a **recorded CPD **series giving teaching professionals the core psychological ideas, developmental approach and practical teaching principles behind Healthy Minds Compact from Nursery to Year 6.

Strengthening reflects an important developmental shift.

As children become increasingly able to think about their own thinking, consider different perspectives and understand situations in greater depth, they move from learning individual psychological fitness skills towards greater reflection, agency and application.

The ten lessons are: 1. Strengths: Me at My Best Recognising strengths through real evidence and considering how they can support future situations. 2. Understanding Emotions Developing emotional awareness and understanding how emotions can appear through body sensations, thoughts and behaviour. 3. Listening to Understand Practising listening as an active psychological fitness, communication and relationship skill. 4. When Are Emotions Helpful or Unhelpful? Understanding emotions in context and considering what an emotion may be communicating. 5. The Stories Our Brains Tell Separating observable facts from the interpretation the brain creates and checking thinking against evidence. 6. Choosing Optimism Practising realistic optimism by considering other possibilities, useful next steps and what is within our control. 7. Celebrating My Strengths Recognising strengths as resources that can be used deliberately in different situations. 8. Sleep and Mental Fitness Understanding how sleep supports learning, memory, emotional regulation, growth and recovery. 9. Create a Mental Fitness Campaign Bringing psychological fitness learning together and using it to create something useful for others. 10. Share a Mental Fitness Campaign Using collaboration, communication and pupil voice to share psychological fitness learning beyond the individual.

Developmental focus Awareness → Understanding → Flexibility → Choice → Agency → Application

Children increasingly understand themselves, make deliberate choices and apply psychological fitness in the world around them.

This resource is supported by a **recorded CPD **series giving teaching professionals the core psychological ideas, developmental approach and practical teaching principles behind Healthy Minds Compact from Nursery to Year 6.