At Westbourne House, we agree, so we chose kindness as our area of pastoral focus for the Christmas Term. Each Head of Year decided on engaging activities that would be age-appropriate and relevant to the children in their year groups. We also wanted the Pre-Prep and Prep school to integrate as much as possible, as we know the younger children love to see the older ones and we wanted to provide opportunities for the older children to be seen as responsible role models.
Pre-Prep
The Pre-Prep had a wonderful week and fully embraced thinking about ‘Random Acts of Kindness’: a beautiful tree of hearts was placed in the foyer to which children were added when they had performed an act of kindness. Assemblies incorporated the theme and Year 2 produced some excellent literacy work, currently on show in the Millennium Hall, focusing on ‘Recipes of Kindness’. The Reception children loved having a visit from Year 7 children and listened avidly to them reading stories during literacy lessons. Year 5 were given the opportunity to think about scenarios where a decision may be needed on the basis of what action would or wouldn’t be kind. They enthusiastically performed these plays to the Pre-Prep, who loved the idea of being taught by children not adults!
Juniors
The Junior Department sent out detectives looking for acts of kindness and they too had leaves added to a spectacular tree in the Sharman wing.
In addition, they thought about historical figures such as Mother Teresa and Gandhi, who displayed significant acts of kindness throughout their lives. Stories on the kindness theme were also read to Year 4 by Year 7 children.
Years 5 and 6
Years 5 and 6 had two form assemblies based around kindness and good manners, which included a short performance that included the whole form. Years 5 and 6 also wrote letters thanking members of the community who they felt, perhaps, were under-valued on a daily basis. The letters are very thoughtful and their display in the Sharman Wing has attracted a lot of interest from pupils.
The classic story of Room on the Broom was read in Year 5 English lessons and the children performed sketches dramatising the kindness of the main characters.
Year 5 and 6 pupils were also given a ‘pick out of the box’ activity, whereby they had to perform a random act of kindness for a member of the school community. The grounds team were thanked for the upkeep of the school, the matrons were thanked for their daily care and even the teachers were given cards to thank them for their lovely lessons! The same activity was extended to the staff, as sometimes even adults need a reminder, and an overwhelming air of positivity was generated, which hopefully made the children realise that a little thank you goes a long way!
Years 7 and 8
Years 7 and 8 decided their activity would have a community focus and decided to perform acts of kindness to the people of Chichester: four Year 7 ‘Pre-Prep Happy Helpers’ visited Howard Ward at the Children’s Unit of Chichester Hospital, where all the gifts donated by Westbourne House were much appreciated.
They then visited Westhampnett House in Chichester, an elderly care home for those suffering from extreme dementia, and the four happy helpers did an extraordinary job chatting to them and organising gifts on behalf of the school.
Finally, the team visited Woodpeckers Nursery, where the Year 7s played with the children and then dressed up in some of the fancy dress clothes that they had taken – very entertaining.
Each 7/8 form group also put together an assembly focusing on the importance of being kind to each other.
Kindness Committee
As a school, we felt strongly that we did not want Kindness Week to be forgotten, so the children wrote letters of application to belong to a Kindness Committee, which will carry on the good work every term. Mr Barker read out the names of the successful applicants in our whole school assembly and the children will shortly be awarded their ‘Kindness Committee’ badges. Congratulations to the following children who were selected on the basis of their passion for nurturing kindness in our community.
- Y2: Connie O’Connell and Freddie Simons
- Y3: Emily Stewart and Austin Agutter
- Y4: Tegan Lyne and Monty Holben
- Y5: Oscar Tallis and Jemima Whitehead
- Y6: Zac Knight and Melissa Maslin
- Y7: Jack Baird and Olly Harris
- Y8: Maddy Ross and Susannah Southall
The first committee meeting will be early next term – so keep your eyes and ears at the ready to spot aspects of kindness around our school.
