Hamish & Milo shortlisted for a Teach Primary Award 2026

The Teach Primary Awards recognise the most effective resources supporting teaching and learning in KS1 and KS2, with shortlisted products assessed by expert judges from the primary education sector. For us, being shortlisted means a great deal.

Hamish & Milo was created post-covid to support schools with practical, relational resources to support children’s social and emotional development. What began with a determination to help more children feel happier, heard and connected has grown into a comprehensive evidence-based SEMH and social and emotional learning programme now supporting children and practitioners in more than 850 schools.

At the heart of Hamish & Milo are ten progressive programmes covering key areas of children’s social and emotional development, including anxiety, resilience, self-esteem, friendship, diversity, strong emotions and anger, change, conflict, sadness, and loss and bereavement. Schools can use the programmes for targeted SEMH intervention or wider social and emotional learning, delivered in small groups, one-to-one, or whole class.

Our approach is grounded in relational practice and draws on attachment-aware theory and the importance of early social and emotional development. Practitioners are supported with implementation guidance, free training and ongoing professional supervision, helping schools embed meaningful social and emotional support rather than simply deliver a series of activities.

We are particularly proud that Hamish & Milo is backed by research. Our two-year research study in collaboration with the University of Bath, involving more than 1,600 primary pupils, demonstrated statistically significant improvements in children’s social and emotional competencies.

The research, aptly titled They Found Their Voice, found a 23% reduction in children scoring within the SDQ ‘abnormal’ range for social, emotional and mental health difficulties. It also demonstrated improvements in children’s self-esteem, confidence, emotional regulation, resilience, peer relationships and engagement with learning. Schools also reported fewer dysregulated behaviours and exclusions, while parents noticed positive changes at home.

Being shortlisted means the Hamish & Milo Wellbeing Programme now progresses to the next stage of judging, where the physical resources will be examined by an expert primary-sector judge. The winners will be announced in November.

Whatever happens next, we are incredibly proud to see Hamish & Milo recognised alongside other educational resources supporting primary schools across the UK.

This recognition belongs in part to the practitioners who use Hamish & Milo every day and the children who have trusted those adults enough to share their thoughts, feelings and experiences.

Helping children become happier, heard and connected has always been why we do this. Being shortlisted for a Teach Primary Award is a rather lovely recognition of how far that work has come.

Clare Williams, Hamish & Milo author and creator