Wellbeing

Our senior students are leading the way with our focus on Empathy this term. 

Feelings are okay, make someone else’s day.

Building Empathy in the Classroom

What is Empathy?Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another person. It involves putting ourselves in someone else’s shoes and responding with kindness and care. By practicing empathy, students learn how to better support and connect with their peers, fostering a more compassionate and inclusive environment.

Year 5’s engaged in an exciting activity focused on understanding empathy—an essential skill for fostering kindness, connection and understanding.

We kicked off the lesson with a "graffiti wall" exercise. For this activity, students were invited to write down everything they already know about empathy on a large sheet of paper, creating a collaborative and thought-provoking display of their knowledge. This page is now up on a wall within our classroom and students are encouraged to look at it as they move around the learning space. Students have also been encouraged to continue to add to this "graffiti wall" as they continue to learn more about empathy during the term.

Year 6

In our Year 6 classrooms, empathy is an integral part of our daily routine, fostered through the use of GEM (Gratitude, Empathy, Mindfulness) chats. Each day, students engage with cards that prompt them to reflect on the positive aspects of their day, whether it's something they’ve accomplished, an act of kindness they’ve experienced, or something thoughtful they plan to do with their families later. These moments of reflection help our students cultivate empathy by recognising the good in themselves and others, embedding a mindset of gratitude that extends beyond the classroom.

Incorporating Empathy at Home

Through The Resilience Project, we emphasise the importance of empathy in everyday life. Here are some simple ways you can encourage your child to practice empathy at home:

• Active Listening: Encourage them to listen closely when someone is speaking, without interrupting, to better understand what the person might be feeling.
• Acts of Kindness: Guide them to look for small ways to help family members, like offering a helping hand with chores or asking how someone’s day went.
• Sharing Feelings: Create an open space for them to talk about their own emotions and to ask others how they’re feeling. This builds understanding and trust.
• Model Empathy: Show empathy in your interactions with others. When children see empathy in action, they learn how to practice it themselves.

By incorporating empathy into daily life, students will strengthen their ability to connect with others, both at school and at home.

Dreamer Time: 

We all know life can be full-on sometimes and Australian statistics highlight this further in showing that, on average, 1 in 5 Australians will experience a genuine mental health concern this year and that 1 in 2 Australians will face a genuine mental health concern during the course of their life.

So, with RUOK day still in the rearview mirror and October being Mental Health Month in Australia, the Dreamers will be hosting a wellbeing session for school Dads – across both Brighton Beach & Brighton Primary - to get together and share & learn more about Mental Health and how to support each other in ‘putting on our own oxygen masks first’.

The 90 minute session will be held on Tuesday the 12th of November from 7pm at the school (BBPS) and will be facilitated by one of our own, Tom Ruijs (Dutchy), who is qualified and works extensively in this field.

To register your interest and for more information, please email bbpsdreamers@gmail.com and we will add you to the distribution list for this and other Dreamer events.

Cheers,

Tom & the Dreamers committee