10th November 2009
Dear Parents/ Guardians,
I attended training on carrying out this programme with Primary School children last year. You may remember that we introduced this to our pupils in the Spring term of 2009 and to many parents during our ‘Walkabout’ evening. We are planning to start this again during our Anti-Bullying week, which starts on Monday 16th November 2009.
I will be supporting the teachers in carrying these out and will also send home an information pack on the exercises. The Massage in Schools Programme is a structured programme for 4-12 year olds introduced into many schools across the world since the early 1990s. The focus of the sessions is to promote positive touch and to develop care and respect amongst the pupils which is fundamental for healthy human relationships and fits in with our school development plan this year.
The massage sessions are run daily in class for 15 minutes, are fully clothed and will be from waist upwards, focusing on hands, arms, back and head. The children will be trained to follow out the 15 different exercises on each other with the teacher offering advice and support only. The massage is given and received with the child’s permission before they start and they say thank you to their partner at the end. There are many benefits and effects of the MISP. Some of which have been improved concentration and a child’s confidence and self esteem and there have been reductions in bullying and aggression. If you would like to research further then there is a website which may be of some interest to you, www.misa.org.uk.
If you do have any questions or concerns that you would like to discuss then please contact me through the school office.
Yours sincerely,
Mrs Hayley Durrant
Y5/6 Co-ordinator
