Resources

The Culture of the Heart resources

The Culture of the Heart is a child-led scheme of work that gently and creatively helps children connect with their own voice and the shared values of the class.

Our resources are more than activities: they transform classrooms into communities of trust, kindness, and belonging.

The content has been designed around leading neuroscience, psychology and EQ, integrating coaching and therapeutic techniques that empower children to connect to their own thoughts and beliefs to help create values centred classrooms. Teachers who have used the content have seen significant behavioural change in their classrooms and in the playground. Parents have commented on the difference of their children at home.

The lesson plans are inclusive and easily adaptable for all age groups and abilities. It incorporates relational, emotional and social learning with academic and creative disciplines, resulting in independent thinking and team work. The foundation year offers seven cultures (or themes), exploring a new culture every six weeks.

Schools that have embraced this approach have seen real, lasting change as they invest in the emotional and relational culture that every child deserves.

Kate Jane Neal | Menu Demo

00

“If we want to build a thriving community, we must think profoundly about our relationships”.

Jenny Edwards CBE

Helps develop emotional intelligence, empathy and kindness.
Encourages core values and an understanding of good character.
Invests in a child’s self worth, and their understanding of the value of others.
Encourages independent thinking, creativity and teamwork.
Develops a strong and kind learning community.
Incorporates PSHE/SEL learning with creative disciplines.

01

We are all deeply valuable and our lives hold intrinsic worth.

Intentionally looks at the culture you want to create in your school/classroom.
Identifies and develops an understanding of good character.
Identifies good character in self and others.
Builds self worth and value.
Recognises the value and worth of all class members.

02

Children will look to you to tell them not necessarily what they are, but what they are capable of becoming.

Introduce the power of words using Words And Your Heart picture book.
Understand the power of words in their most relational form.
Look at words and how they can make us feel.
Healthy boundaries and the power of forgiveness.
Empower children to overcome and deal with negative words.

03

Kindness creates ripples in the fabric of culture.

What is kindness and what does it look like in practice?
Why we have laws and rules, including your school rules.
Creating a culture of kindness in the classroom and playground.
Expressing kindness in our wider community.
Develop your own classroom kindness rules.

04

I am less without you – I am more because of who you are.

What is a community and what does it mean to belong?
Behaviours that help create safe and healthy communities.
How to treat self and others with dignity and respect.
Defining and mapping your own community.

05

Gratitude has one of the strongest links to good mental-health and well-being.

Creating practical habits of gratitude.
Sharing gratitudes.
Emotional intelligence tools for staff to use with pupils.
Connecting with your wider community with gratitude.

06

“Culture does not make people. People make culture”.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Creating a classroom culture that the children feel a part of.
Exploring the way our values and beliefs affect culture.
Discus school life and the children’s beliefs about learning.
Develop a set of shared beliefs about learning and school life.

07

Together we make the world extraordinary.

Using Wonderful You picture book.
Celebrating our differences and uniqueness.
Encouraging self awareness and empathy.
Developing a habit that encourages awareness of joy & wonder.
Celebrating the individual.

08

Listening is foundational to relationship and learning.

Listening with all of our senses, encouraging empathy and kindness.
Exploring active listening and its positive benefits.
Self-awareness and our emotions.
The creative power of story-telling.
Encouraging the art of politeness and honouring.

09

“We are constantly invited to be who we are”. Henry David Thoreau

Honesty in our relationships and learning.
The value of honesty and how dishonesty affects relationships.
Being vulnerable and the braveness of not-knowing.
Growth mindsets and mistakes, successes and encouragement.

10

A good friend sticks closer than a brother.

What does being a good friend look like?
Boundaries for self, and respecting other people’s boundaries.
Understanding bad behaviour and building safe relationships.
Growth and forgiveness, mistakes and believing the best.

11

One good thought can change the world.

Encouraging self awareness.
Safe ways for children to explore their thoughts.
Recognising unhealthy thought patterns and negative mindsets.
Exploring new positive thought patterns.

12

Hope is one of the most powerful substances in the universe.

Growth mindsets and what happens in the brain when we learn.
Developing a healthy learning-community mindset.
Healthy/unhealthy competition and comparison.
Exploring hopes and dreams for the future.
The discipline of learning and growth.

What will a school receive?

You will receive access to an online portal where you will find lesson plans, resources, EQ tools, downloads and access to video training and team coaching. Each class will receive picture books, Character Cards, Emotion Cards, posters and the option to use our CotH Reading & Well-being Journals.

Our resources don’t just fill classrooms with activities – they transform them into communities where kindness, respect, and connection can grow.

Staff Training

Five minute video training sessions that support staff to understand and deliver the lessons with confidence.

Online Schools Platform

Lesson plans, illustrated worksheets, downloads, video training, activities and assemblies.

Team Coaching Activities

Team coaching activities that support your team to connect with their own values and each other.

Picture Books

All content, downloads and worksheets are beautifully illustrated, using themes and characters from the picture books.

Tools to develop EQ

Practical and easy-to-use tools & activities that can be used across your whole class, in small groups or in one-to-one settings.

Character Cards

Versatile and cross curricular, the Character Cards help children build new vocabulary and an understanding of healthy relationships.

Reading & Well-being Journals

Bridging the gap between home and school, our journals have been developed to encourage reading and healthy mental and emotional practices.

Creative Learning

Fun and child-led lesson plans, activities and teaching tools, based in neuroscience and healthy emotional and relational practice.

Family Activities

Each Culture builds content and activities for home and the wider community. This is the affirmations advent calendar in use.

The Culture of the Heart is not a single intervention but is a commitment over time to explore and develop strong and healthy values that impact whole communities.

Stories That Inspire

Real stories from classrooms and communities.

Discover their experiences