We would probably all agree that silence is a rare commodity in most lives today. For a young person, it might only be encountered during an exam or in the reverential quiet of a visit to a museum. All the more reason, then, to aim to create opportunities for intentional silence at school, so that our young people can experience the transformative power of stillness against the increasing levels of noise in their daily lives.

As parents and teachers, we agonise about children’s mental and physical health, seeking to make all the correct interventions to promote general wellbeing. Cultivating silence is about nurturing spiritual health, something which is too often overlooked.