Assistant Principal's Report

The Resilience Project – Empathy

As you would already be aware, this year we have commenced our partnership with The Resilience Project. Across the whole school we continue to learn about and practise the principles of GEM that are embedded throughout the program. 

We continue to see teachers and students engaging in lessons to build their understanding of how we can become more resilient through practicing the principles of Gratitude, Empathy and Mindfulness. Today, I would like to take a deeper dive into Empathy and how we can demonstrate this principle inside and outside of the classroom.

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.

Classroom Activities.

Please find photos of some of the work of our Year three and four students as they explore the definition of empathy, make pledges to be more empathetic, spot character strengths in themselves and others and ‘fill the buckets’ of their peers through small random acts of kindness.

Whole Family Activity:

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.

Feel free to do more than one and spread the kindness even further! Report back to each other in one week and share how your acts of kindness were received, and how doing them made you feel.

Family Habit Builder:

Every night at dinner, have each person thank another family member for something they have done or said today, or give another family member a compliment.