"As a result of Take Five the children are far more resilient, far more prepared, calmed and ready to respond to the academic challenges that they meet in school."

-Mr. Abbott, Head Teacher, Worksop Priory C of E Primary Academy  

-Year 5 Student, Church Vale Primary School

"It is an extraordinary skill to have - meaning it is a pleasure to use!... which helps people calm down and get ready to learn."

-Year 5 Student, Worksop Priory C of E Primary Academy 

"Our children find tests hard... they historically do not cope well. They do not achieve their potential and have in the past resorted to their default defeatist attitude. Not this year! The children reported using ‘Take Five’ before, during and after the tests; because of this, they were more resilient, more buoyant and then exceeded our expectations in their results... Increasing reading by 28% and bringing our school in line with national results. This was a fantastic result for this cohort of children, and we lay responsibility for this success in the way that ‘Take Five’ has changed the way our children think."

-Mrs. Yardley, Head Teacher, Church Vale Primary School

"Children were quick to engage in the activities and we could see the positive impact it was having on their wellbeing and their ability to be ‘ready to learn’."

-Teacher, St. Clare's Primary School, Belfast

"I’ve just done an analysis of behaviour and attitudes at the school. Compared from September to November, we’ve seen a 65 percent decrease in the number of timeouts – which are low level incidents at our school. So I think the impact is already there for all to see."

-Head Teacher, Forest View Academy

"Take Five is a fantastic programme and it teaches the children to relax, breathe slowly and regulate their emotions. I would highly recommend this programme to other schools."

-Mrs. Boyd, Principal, Holy Trinity Primary, Belfast 

"It all feels like we’re really, really, really good friends and it feels like we’re family kind of because we know what everyone else feels like."

-Year 6 boy, Sacred Heart Primary Boys School, Belfast

"It's helped me in football to calm down so that I don't have a go at people and get into trouble,... before Take Five I used to get angry and have a go at people and then get told off, then banned and it helps me with calming down, taking myself away from the situation."

-Year 5 boy, Misterton Primary School

-Head Teacher, Elizabethan Academy

“One of the significant skills that the students have learned through Take Five is the power of empathy. And I think, not only does it make them think about themselves and how they’ve reacted, but also the impact they may have in a positive or negative way on someone else before an event or something occurs. And I think that’s very powerful because it actually helps avoid certain negative situations and will help them promote more positive interactions between each other as students and also between the students and staff."

-Head Teacher, Kirkby College

"It is something that helps you achieve your potential."

-Year 5 girl, Worksop Priory C of E Primary Academy

"I think that finding a skill that you can manage yourself, that when things get tricky, things get tough, that you move back, look in, move forward, enables you to be a better student; a better person… I think as teachers as well, we sort of take it on and we use it ourselves; it's a skill; it's a life skill that these children will have when they go to whichever Secondary School they go to and they will use it, as and when they need to, and I think it will make them better citizens I'm sure."

-Mrs. Goodhall, Assistant Head, Morven Park Primary School

"The Ambassadors like the responsibility. They like the responsibility of being able to be trained up as specialists and also being able to support and help lead.. and that’s key for me.. leadership. They lead on the breathing activities, supporting classes – not only classes but I think it's really nice that they can support the teachers and the adults in the school."

-Head Teacher, Forest View Academy 

"Individually, pupils describe how they now use Take Five outside school to cope with their team losing a match, calming after an argument at home or when doing something they are nervous about. This shows the pupils have developed a Life Skill they can use to manage their emotions. They have learned to be more resilient and more confident when facing challenges, especially coping with feelings when they have worries, stress or anxieties."

-Mr. Birt, Vice Principal, St. Clare's Primary School, Belfast

"It has helped me very much with my confidence, because I wasn’t a very confident person when speaking in front of lots of people, and I think Take Five has really helped me with this because I have had to speak in front of the whole school."

-Year 6 girl and Take Five Amabassador, Misterton Primary School

“I’ve actually seen… a Primary 7 boy who was a bit stressed and his friend telling him to do a practice, which he did, and they both did it together. They both started breathing and I just couldn’t believe it. And the boy did calm down. It's actually really something else. It's something really, really special." 

-Teacher, Sacred Heart Primary Boys School, Belfast

"Take Five has helped me feel more alive because before I used Take Five, I was a bit shy and then I started using Take Five and I got along with a lot more people because I started talking a lot more to people so I got more friends in the school."

-Year 5 pupil, Morven Park Primary School

"We had a lot of difficulties in the playground with children, and we really wanted children to manage their own feelings and to take a step back and to be able to regulate their own emotions. Take Five has managed to do this. It works in different ways for different children.  For example, there are children who have ADHD, and decreasing the energy for some of those children has been key. It also works for those children who need a wee bit more energy."

-Mrs. Stewart, Principal, Ligoniel Primary School, Belfast

"I think Take Five's really helping me conquer what has actually been happening. So, I think it has really lifted a lot off my shoulders."

-Year 6 pupil, Misterton Primary School

"And you know we could feel that tension and anger sort of leave them… and I think a lot of that “too good for school” kind of thing is where it comes from… a lot of times the children said they didn’t trust other children in the classroom. But when we started to do Take Five.. we began and they sat with their eyes closed and they could feel as though they were safe.”

-Teacher, Sacred Heart Primary Boys School, Belfast

"I use Take Five when I can’t get to sleep. It stops me panicking and helps me get to sleep."

-Year 6 pupil, St. Peters Primary School