There is more to education than English and Arithmetic and monies pledged to the school-based mindfulness program "Smiling Mind", as part of the Federal Government's mental health and suicide prevention plan, is a sure sign of things to come.
Cronulla's Sam Brown is a Mindfulness educator and has been teaching in Sutherland Shire schools for four years.
Brown did her training in the US where educators are the leaders in this field delivering the Mindful Schools program.
She is currently doing an eight week program at Woolooware Public School where students sit down twice a week for 15 minutes.
"It's a nice way for everyone to clean the mind and start their day," Brown said.
"This is my third school in the shire In the last three years and it is a very successful and practical approach to bringing mindfulness into the school environment."
Brown said a growing number of schools are turning to non-traditional lessons such as meditation and philosophy.
"Children are educated in the material, physical world but not taught about their emotional world," she said.
"We can all use our muscle of concentration - not just our physical muscles."
Woolooware Public year 5 and 6 teacher Juanita Greenstein said the school values the whole child and has been implementing the Mindfulness Program for the past two years, providing students from years 4 to 6 with the skills to gain attention control, regulate emotions and become more self-aware.
"Anxiety issues are becoming more prevalent in our society and to combat this we have decided as a school to promote a conscious effort of combating it," Greenstein said.
"We cannot hide our students from the 21st Century world they live in but we can teach them to find a place of calm through breathing practices."
Woolooware students spoke of the impact of focusing on the positives in life, often being asked during Mindfulness sessions to think of three things they are grateful for.
Year 5/6 student Ashley said doing mindfulness in the morning before school starts helps the class get ready for the day and allows students to be more focused on their work.
"I use it when I need to get something done and I get stressed out. If something is due I get stressed out about finishing it," Ashley said.
Another student Lucy said: "I just stop and take a few breaths. I have learnt to take one little step at a time and it will really help you."
Rose was more pragmatic saying using it at the athletics carnival, a couple of deep breaths was all it took to calm her nerves.
Meditation is not a new concept and is found to improve a host of academic and learning skills in students. These include faster information processing, greater focus, more effective working memory, more creativity and cognitive flexibility.