Helping children see who they are shouldn't be complicated

What is Light Lens?

Light Lens is a simple, visual way of helping children notice, collect and build a fuller picture of who they are.

It gives trusted adults a shared language for noticing and reflecting that picture too, so that over time children can increasingly recognise and own their Light for themselves.

It is designed to be simple enough to remember, practical enough to use, and flexible enough to become part of the everyday relationships and routines already surrounding children.

Two simple ideas

At the heart of Light Lens are two simple ideas.

Light - Who I am.
The many things that make me me:
- my qualities;
- interests and joys;
- capabilities;
- relationships and contribution;
- values and what matters to me;
- and the ways I am growing and changing.

Stones - Things difficult things I experience.
The difficulties, challenges and experiences that are part of my life and story, but are not the whole picture of who I am.

That distinction provides the starting point for Light Lens: What happens to me is part of my story. It is not the whole story of who I am.

From there, the focus is on helping children build their Light.

Notice
Adults and children learn to notice Light as it appears in ordinary life.
Simple everyday moments, reflected to the child, can tell a child something about who they are.

Collect
Instead of those moments disappearing, children are given simple ways to collect and remember them. That might be through a hand movement, a Light page or journal, something written on their work, a shared display, or simply language repeated over time.

Build
Gradually, individual moments become something bigger: a growing picture of the child.
Who am I? What matters to me? What can I do? Who matters to me? What do I bring to others? How have I grown? What am I discovering about myself?

And as children grow, the aim is for the process to become increasingly theirs - moving from adults noticing and reflecting Light towards children recognising, collecting and drawing upon their own.

Designed to be remembered

Light Lens is designed to fit into childhood rather than requiring childhood to fit around another programme.

Its simple language, visual metaphor, embodied movement and small repeatable routines can become part of interactions that are already happening.

A teacher can notice Light in a piece of work.
A parent can notice it at home.
A practitioner can return to a child's growing picture across an ongoing helping relationship.
A young child can experience an adult noticing their Light long before they can reflect deeply on it themselves.

Different relationships and different settings can use the same simple lens.

Small enough to stay

Light Lens deliberately keeps the core small.

Light and Stones.
Notice. Collect. Build.

The practices around them can be adapted to the child's age, relationship and setting without making the underlying idea more complicated.

The aim isn't for children to memorise another wellbeing framework.
It is for noticing who they are to become increasingly familiar.
Simple enough to remember. Simple enough to use. Simple enough to grow with them.

Light Lens doesn't simply tell children positive things about themselves.
It helps them build the evidence from which they can increasingly know themselves.

Limited Company Registration Number: 13163486

15 Neptune Court, Vanguard Way Cardiff, UK CF24 5PJ