SPARK is for primary and secondary age children. It can be completed at school in 20-minute bitesize chunks within tutor time, or in 50-minute PHSE lessons. SPARK aims to help young people understand more about their mind and gives them strategies to deal with difficult thoughts and feelings, creating a solid foundation from which to thrive.
SPARK gives children and young adults a head start with understanding their own thoughts and emotions, realising how important good mental health is and having strategies they can use to deal with complex thoughts and feelings. It offers children a chance to consider who they are and what they enjoy in life, creating a solid foundation from which to thrive.
SPARK has been developed by psychologists and educational specialists who understand how the brain develops during youth. The course is informed by neuroscience and provides young people with a safe space and platform from which to talk about their hopes and dreams, struggles and worries. It focuses on tangible and practical strategies that every young person can use to learn, grow and fulfil their true potential.
By investing in the early years, we can create a world populated by thoughtful, healthy, high performing people who care about each other and the planet.
Who’s it for?
Key Stage 2:
Right from the word go, children are learning about themselves and their place in this world. Through play and exploration, they discover their own needs, thoughts, feelings, likes and dislikes, as well as learn about relationships with others. Research tells us that during these early years, it’s particularly important to focus on the development of positive relationships, including broadening and deepening friendships. Our Key Stage 2 SPARK course nurtures these skills.
Key Stage 3:
With some significant life transitions taking place, the first few years of secondary school are the perfect time to build and consolidate resilience and mental well-being. Students of this age tend to be positive, engaged and open to interaction, providing an opportunity to capitalise on this momentum and engage them in conversations and activities about their personality, values and individual challenges.
Our KS3 programme focuses on helping children learn how their brain works, building their confidence using a strength-based approach and giving them practical strategies to apply into their own lives.
Key Stage 4:
In early to middle teenage years, young people start to feel more unsafe, isolated and disengaged with learning. They have great capabilities but don’t necessarily know how to apply them, meaning they can fall short of their full potential. These years are a time of maximal neuroplasticity, making it a critical time for developing mindset strategies, investing in genuine relationships and maintaining positive relationships and learning how to effectively handle a range of complex emotions. Our KS4 SPARK course focuses on these unique challenges and opportunities, dispelling the myths of the teenage years.
What’s involved?
SPARK is run in the classroom in 50-min PSHE sessions, or flexible 20 minute bite-sized sessions for tutor time,
A combination of videos, quizzes, games, activities and discussions bring the content alive in a way that keeps children and young people engaged throughout.
Sessions are easy to deliver, with no additional time or knowledge required from teachers. Each session is full of brilliant insights and simple strategies that can be applied immediately.
Topics include:
• Understanding what’s going on inside your head
• From worry to wellbeing
• Coping when anger shows up • Facing into failure
• Building your tribe
• Being your confident best
• Dream big!
Contact Us for pricing
in primary settings
The best thing I learned from spark is...
“You don’t fail, you just learn”
“It’s OK to feel how I feel”
“How my brain does things”
“That I can do anything I put my mind to”
“It’s normal to have worries”
Now I’ve completed SPARK, changes I’ve made are....
“Sharing my worries with people I trust”
“I love myself a bit more every time”
“Work harder for things. It’s cool to care!”
“Take deep breaths when I’m angry”
“Thinking about Blue & Red brain to help me be me”
I enjoyed SPARK because...
“It helped me understand my feelings”
“I got to talk about things I need to out-loud”
“I learnt new things about my brain”
“It was fun!”
“It made me more positive about myself”
“Its showed me that people care about me”
in secondary settings
“I cannot stress suciently how impressed I am with the quality of this resource. Teachers will just love using it. I found it helped me to reflect on my own awareness (both as a child and as an adult)”.
Sue Jones, Former Primary School
Headteacher and Trainer at Values
Based Education
“I always look forward to SPARK sessions. I’m learning about where my thoughts and feelings come from and how to be happier and more confident in life.”
Student, anonymous
We have been so lucky to bring SPARK into our school. It created a dialogue that should be part of every curriculum. There were some really magic and humbling moments along the way, as well as fun and laughter. The care and thought that has been put into this course is utterly remarkable and I would highly recommend it as a real game-changer for schools.
Jo Halliday, Headteacher, Theale Green School