Kristina Gray, author of Strong and Mighty Max is expanding the work of edition two by encouraging Primary Schools across Coventry and Warwickshire to sign up to the #Choosekind Award which will be officially launched at an all schools event to celebrate world kindness day on the 13th November 2019.
Every school that signs up to receiving the new educational resource pack, which compliments edition two of Strong and Mighty Max will receive downloadable learning resources (available in September 2019) to inspire schools to embody the value of kindness as an everyday life choice.
The aim is to encourage young people to empathise with others around them and engage in practical initiatives that show kindness to their peers, within their family, and to people in their local community.
Kristina Gray talks about her reasoning behind this award:
“The #choosekind award is something that every Headteacher can award to a child each term, who has stood out for embodying the value of kindness among their peer group at school. The aim is that at the end of each term a pupil is selected and praised and given this award. The hope is with more inspirational learning activities that inspire children to be kind to one another and others that it will provide a much needed social capital that will make the difference to the emotional and subsequent mental well-being of children”
The new educational resource that supports this award will build upon the principles of encouraging children to have a ‘growth mindset’ and how acts of kindness contribute to this. It is achievable by everyone when inspired by educators and the results are believed to reap a benefit for school communities.
With Mental Health issues on the rise in schools, there is a wealth of scientific research on ‘social buffering’ that can help prevent students’ emotional pain transitioning into a mental health issue. Dr Margot Sunderland, (Director of The Centre for Child Mental Health), states that countless research suggests that painful childhood experience, without ‘social buffering’ at the time, have a significant impact on children’s behaviour, attendance and learning outcomes.
Teaching the values of kindness by the example of caring and empathetic educators plays a key role in providing social support for children.
If you are a school in Coventry and Warwickshire and are interested in receiving the educational resource download and attending the launch of the #choosekind award, get in touch through the contact page of this website.
