Kindness Club
During Term 3, I developed a “Kindness Club” aimed at building empathy, gratitude and awareness for 13 Years 5 and 6 girls. The club evolved from the business manager sharing with me that there was a conflict between many of the girls in Years 5 and 6.
The club met once a week for 40 minutes and the students were provided with a journal to document topics including:
- What does kindness mean to you?
- How does it feel when someone is kind to you?
- How do you feel when you show kindness to others?
I encouraged the girls to perform at least one random act of kindness every day for a week and to write down their acts in their journal to share with the group.
We discussed empathy and understanding others, as well as gratitude and kindness.
We considered spreading kindness in the community, so I organised the Salvation Army to visit the school and share how they care for the community. For this exercise we included the boys in Years 5 and 6, and all the students packed family hampers that were donated to Huonville Salvation Army (the food was also kindly provided by the Salvos).
We discussed the importance of self-care, and I provided the girls with a self-care package of various items that young girls love, such as fragrant soaps, also donated by the Salvation Army.
My intention was for the program to last for six weeks, however the club is very much student-centered and I’m guided by the students’ needs. As such, the girls requested the club to continue throughout Term 4. The class teacher agreed to this.
The business manager mentioned that she has noticed a decrease in peer conflict since the group began. My observation is that a sense of universality developed amongst the girls last term, particularly those from broken or blended families.
The opportunity to share their feelings in a safe space has certainly been encouraging and beneficial.
Written by Christine Walker, SU Australia Chaplain.