Did you know that kindness is on the curriculum for schools in England? I didn’t, so I was delighted to find out that it is. Apparently it’s expressed differently at different key stages, to make it age appropriate.
We hear a lot about the unkind aspects of education, so I’d love the balance to be changed so that we hear about the kindness too. My daughter was telling me last week about one of her classmates who had stopped to show a year 7, brand new to the school, where their classroom was. Of course, there was an element of avoiding some of their own year 9 lesson by doing it, but nevertheless, the overall impact was kind!
I genuinely don’t know how schools and teachers keep on top of everything they are supposed to do. So I guess the level of focus on kindness is going to vary in different schools. But there is a growing recognition amongst educators that focus on children’s wellbeing, including kindness to themselves and each other, is key to their long-term success as well as happiness.
The latest What If kindness blog comes from the Head Teacher of a school that is focussing on kindness.