The daily practice of the Transcendental Meditation Technique at the start and end of the school day, in the Maharishi School, eliminates stress, improves the school’s atmosphere, and creates a happy, focused, and orderly learning environment.

Maharishi School, Lancashire, granted Free School status
from press release from the Maharishi School
26 September 2011

The Head Teacher of Maharishi School in Skelmersdale, Lancashire, has announced that the School has been granted Free School status by the Department for Education, proudly joining other state-maintained schools in England.

Last year the Department for Education reported that "Over the past ten years the gulf in achievement between the rich and the poor has widened and the attainment gap between fee-paying schools and state schools has doubled." Maharishi Free School hopes to narrow that attainment gulf.

In spite of Maharishi School being completely non-selective academically, the School has achieved the top category of “Outstanding” in reports by the Government inspectorate of schools, Ofsted, and the School’s GCSE examination results rank the School not only amongst the highest in the county of Lancashire, but also in the top 2.5% of all schools nationally. These results have been consistent since the School opened 25 years ago.

According to Dr Cassells, the School’s exceptional results are due primarily to its implementation of Consciousness-based Education, which uses the daily practice of Transcendental Meditation (as taught by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi) to achieve balance in the pupil’s physiology and perfectly complements the traditional, broad and balanced curriculum at the School which offers all of the subjects of the English Baccalaureate and more. The pupils’ instruction fees for learning Transcendental Meditation are sponsored by a charity, and are not funded out of the School’s budget.

As Ofsted reported: “The School’s focus on individuals and its use of meditation and the quest for balance underpins all that it does. Students are calm, confident, self-assured, polite and considerate. They are eager to acquire knowledge and skills and enjoy learning. ”

Dr Cassells explains: “Consciousness-based Education directly develops receptivity, intelligence, creativity, neurophysiological integration and better health in all students irrespective of their background, faith, attitudes, gender or abilities. This is because the quality of the students’ awareness is fundamental to successful educational outcomes.

“Likewise, all of the teachers at the School benefit tremendously from their morning and evening practice of Transcendental Meditation, which gives them the relaxation and alertness to manage every class effectively. It is these benefits for pupils and teachers that are inspiring schools all over the world to introduce Consciousness-based Education.”

Currently schools and universities in 50 countries, totalling over 200,000 pupils, include the students’ practice of Transcendental Meditation as part of their curriculum.

Peer-reviewed, published research substantiates the benefits for students and teachers. Studies show that children not only perform better academically, they also enjoy school more and become happier, more balanced individuals (see details of studies below). These findings reflect a fundamental concept of Consciousness-based Education, “knowledge is structured in consciousness”: how much and how deeply one is able to learn, and how effectively one applies what one has learned, depends on the quality of one’s awareness—how alert one is.

Dr Cassells is looking forward to participating in the community of schools in the UK and worldwide, and would welcome the opportunity to receive colleagues from schools who are interested in finding out more about Consciousness-based Education. “Based on what I’ve observed with thousands of pupils and dozens of teachers in the past 24 years, it is clear that Consciousness-based Education is unique in its effectiveness in systematically developing the mental and physical potential of every student. One sees them grow in the ability to fulfil their own desires while contributing to the good of everyone around them,” Dr Cassells said. “There are also many studies showing that large groups practising Transcendental Meditation have beneficial effects on the quality of life in the whole society.”

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