Creating Lifelong Mental Fitness

In 2025, Smiling Mind continued embedding our Mental Fitness Model across schools, homes and advocacy, providing a shared strengths based language for children, parents and educators.

Mental fitness is developed through practising the skills and habits needed to feel calm and confident, cope with life’s ups and downs, and build healthy relationships, much like physical fitness grows through regular movement.

Our model includes five core skill sets that children and the adults in their lives can practise over time.

• Live Mindfully

• Embrace Flexible Thinking

• Grow Connections

• Act Purposefully

• Recharge Your Body

When started early, these skills create a powerful foundation that supports wellbeing now and shapes lifelong trajectories.

Smiling Mind in Schools - Transforming Education

Smiling Mind’s Primary School Program continues to deliver strong evidence informed outcomes for students and educators.

In 2025,

• 75% of students said the program benefited their mental wellbeing, up from 67% previously

• 94% of educators reported seeing benefits in their students

• 81% of educators felt more confident teaching social and emotional learning

These results demonstrate how building mental fitness through everyday school practice supports wellbeing, learning readiness and positive classroom environments.

Join Our Mission

In 2025, our work continued to show something powerful. When children are supported early and mental fitness becomes part of everyday life at home and at school, their wellbeing and life trajectory can shift for the better.

Help us reimagine childhood by shifting from crisis response to prevention through skill building, so every child can grow up with the mental fitness to thrive for life.