Wellbeing

Random Acts of Kindness

Working on empathy helps us to identify, understand and feel what another person is feeling. When we show empathy or we do something kind for someone else our brain releases oxytocin. This leads to increasing our self-esteem/confidence, energy levels, positivity and overall happiness.

This week’s Home Challenge:

Neighbourhood Kindness Challenge

As a family, choose an act of kindness from the list below that you would like to do for a neighbour or family friend. Each family member can select one to commit to, or you can choose to do one together.

• Cook them something delicious like a cake, hot bread, or cookies.
• Write a note to put in their letterbox thanking them for being a great neighbour or friend.
• Design them a Thank You card.
• Pick or buy some flowers to deliver to them.
• Choose a little plant from your garden to give them.
• Make them a gift from things around your house.
• Offer to do a job for them, like wash their car or water their garden.
• Offer to take their pets for a walk.
• Invite them over for afternoon tea.
• Invite them on a walk.
• Recommend one of your favourite books to borrow and read.
• Ask them if they need anything from the shops next time you buy groceries.
• Say hello next time you see them, and ask them how their day is going.

This week, the 3/4 Hub share how they have shown a commitment being empathetic this term.

Year 3/4

Empathy has been a consistent theme throughout the year, and the hub has embraced the school mantra. ‘Making someone’s day’ has been a focus of explicit teaching as well as a series of initiatives such as bucket filling. We have also recently been appointing ‘empathy ninjas’, whose role it is to secretly observe day to day activities and record outstanding examples of kindness that occur. When their role is revealed they then share with the group what they have witnessed. Some empathy highlights from this week include:

- Harry Mountney (3G): Was torn between leaving a handball game he was enjoying and playing football with a friend who was alone, so found a group of kids to start a football game so that everyone was included.

- Elke (3C): Going out of her way to help others with their writing when they missed a lesson and were not sure what to do.

- Harry Scotis (4R), Jack Skurrie and Sonny (4R): checking in on a student who had been absent with illness and welcoming them back.

- Lachlan (3C): cheering up people who are sad after being eliminated from a game.

When highlighting these empathic acts we are also emphasizing the flow on impact they have, by cheering up peers.