Kindness Curriculum
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TEAM Cherish
TEAM Cherish encourages students, staff and communities to contribute to a better world through a deeper understanding of ourselves and those around us. We will provide a Kindness curriculum which encourages us to:
Mental health problems affect 1 in 10 children. Research shows that kindness and giving act like a natural anti-depressant because they release serotonin in the brain. Serotonin plays an important part in learning, memory, mood, sleep, health and digestion. It provides children with a heightened sense of well-being, increases energy and gives wonderful feelings of positivity and self-worth. Research demonstrates that being kind benefits givers by not only improving well-being but, also popularity. Studies show that demonstrating kindness increases both happiness and peer acceptance. As peer acceptance is of high importance among youth, being well liked also increases feelings of self-esteem and inclusion. Studies also conclude that students who are happy and well-liked by classmates exhibit more inclusive behaviours and less externalising behaviours such as bullying. Acts of kindness can also produce oxytocin and therefore kindness can be said to be cardio protective. Research show acts of kindness can also: improve attendance, decrease incidents of bullying, improve results and decrease anxiety, low mood and depression. Given the rising number of SEMH problems within our schools, the pandemic and the impact it has had on our student’s wellbeing, kindness in our communities is more pivotal than ever. As a result, we have chosen to implement a kindness curriculum to create a culture of kindness Kindness Calendar |
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‘Spread kindness around like confetti!’
We want to encourage students and communities to contribute to a better world through a deeper understanding of ourselves and those around us. Each month our TEAM Trust schools will celebrate an element of kindness to help our students unpick and understand these attributes to enable them to respond with intelligence. Each month will be represented by a character or famous/historical figure designed by our students which they feel represents the particular element of kindness being celebrated. Each month will also be colour coded to represent which element of our resilience rainbow it builds upon.
January – self- acceptance
February - humility
March – compassion/empathy
April – trust
May – honesty
June - collaboration
July – humour
August – Listening (home learning activities to be designed for summer)
September - mindfulness
October - perspective
November - positivity
December – gratitude
We want to encourage students and communities to contribute to a better world through a deeper understanding of ourselves and those around us. Each month our TEAM Trust schools will celebrate an element of kindness to help our students unpick and understand these attributes to enable them to respond with intelligence. Each month will be represented by a character or famous/historical figure designed by our students which they feel represents the particular element of kindness being celebrated. Each month will also be colour coded to represent which element of our resilience rainbow it builds upon.
January – self- acceptance
February - humility
March – compassion/empathy
April – trust
May – honesty
June - collaboration
July – humour
August – Listening (home learning activities to be designed for summer)
September - mindfulness
October - perspective
November - positivity
December – gratitude
Kindness Café
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As part of celebrating our students successes in understanding these elements of kindness, every month a student from each class (who has demonstrated a deep understanding of that month’s element) will be chosen to attend a kindness café where they can have a ‘be kind to yourself’ hot chocolate.
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Kindness Keepers
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As the project develops children who consistently demonstrate a deep understanding of the different elements of kindness and respond with intelligence to potentially problematic situations will be chosen to become ‘Kindness Keepers’. These students will be responsible for keeping us moving on our journey to creating a culture of kindness across our Trust schools. These children will also be part of a personal development programme where they will frequently work with Manoj Krishna (Human Wisdom Project) to deepen their understanding of themselves and those around them.
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Manoj Krishna (Human Enquiry Project, Human Wisdom)
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Manoj is the founder of The Human Enquiry Project and Human Wisdom as well as an author (Understanding Me, Understanding You). Manoj will be working with our Trust Schools long term to nurture and develop their understanding of themselves and the way our minds work. Manoj will encourage our students to look within and understand ourselves which will then bring our students the wisdom to understand others. Some students will have the chance to work with Manoj in the form of dialogue groups; ultimately contributing to the creation of an app. Staff will also have the opportunity to share their thoughts on various elements such as stress, anger and anxiety.
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The Be Kind Movement
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The Be Kind Movement (BKM) promotes the development of emotional intelligence skills in children and young people through the education of Kindness and using the medium of film. The BKM believe in embedding very early on a culture of kindness in young minds to encourage them to consider how kindness (or lack of it) can affect the world around them including their peers, friends, families, and wider community. The BKM will be sharing the award winning kindness film Itsy with our students and working with them to highlight how kindness can change the world we live in.
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