Kindness Counts Week Comes to RIS

Kindness Counts Week - 13 to 17 November

Across the school, we have had a wonderful week in which kindness has been a focus for everyone. In a range of ways, we have explored Random Acts of Kindness; the importance of active listening; expressing gratitude to people who help us; having empathy for those who are different to us; and celebrating our differences. 

Student Wellbeing Ambassadors

Our team of Student Wellbeing Ambassadors have been brilliant in only their second week in the role. They are: Gabrielle Mazingaizo (Y7), Cristina Cirianni (Y8), Nina Asci (Y11), Thato Mtsweni (Y11), Luca Formichella (Y12) and Adriana Vavrova (Y13). They decided the Kindness Counts focus for Middle and High School, creating and sharing slides with their Form Tutors for the week, encouraging students and staff to take part. Their commitment and involvement have been admirable. Thank you, Wellbeing Ambassadors! 

 

Assemblies and Kindness Counts Initiatives

Elementary School

Our Elementary children met for assembly, learning about the power of small acts of kindness through this video. Please watch it again with your child(ren) to reinforce the message, practising acts of kindness as a family and talking about how they impact us and those around us. 

The children then learnt all about the importance of showing empathy by listening actively when someone is feeling sad, watching a clip from ‘Inside Out’, a wonderful film that helps children explore and understand their emotions. Led by the enthusiasm of Year 6, they also sang the Boundary Song that raises awareness of setting boundaries and showing kindness by respecting them. 

All of these themes teach children about the power of kindness, to others and to ourselves and research has shown this can be highly beneficial for our wellbeing.  During the week, children followed this up with a variety of activities to promote kindness, finishing with wearing odd / silly socks to celebrate all of our differences. 

Middle and High School

Last week, Ms Rodas launched our Kindness Counts week with an assembly about the role we can all play in ensuring that there is no bullying at RIS, including avoiding banter that might seem harmless but can negatively impact others in ways we don’t realise.

This week, our Middle and High School assembly was largely led by the Student Wellbeing Ambassadors. They shared photos of Kindness Counts initiatives from the week, including the importance of small gestures, welcome posters to help everyone feel a part of the class, random acts of kindness and gratitude notes to students and staff. They also promoted our Form Wellbeing Board competition – displays that students are developing in their classrooms to promote awareness of wellbeing and to share strategies for how we can look after ourselves and others. 

On a more serious note, Mrs Phillips showed a video to promote awareness of autism and to begin a conversation about demonstrating empathy and understanding towards those who may be different to us. It’s a powerful short film that is a strong reminder that we don’t always know what is going on in people’s lives and therefore should always show kindness. 

Logo Competition 

We announced the winners of our wellbeing logo competition. Students designed a beautiful variety of logos. The winning one will be shared with you once it has been digitized by a team of our First and Second place winners. The winners were:

4th place: Irene M.

3rd place: Giorgia C. 

2nd place: Nina A. and Thato M.

1st place: Cristina C. 

Finally, our Prefects read our a few Appreciation Cards that were written by staff and students, distributing an enormous pile of them afterwards during Form time. It was delightful to hear how much people within the community appreciate one another, as well as to see the gratitude of those who received them. 

It’s been fantastic to see so many people involved with this initiative. Let’s remember that Kindness Counts every day and that acts of kindness have a huge impact – the ripple effect is real! * 

- Mrs Phillips, Wellbeing and Positive Education Leader

* Watch this video to learn more about the science behind it.