Be Kind Movement was invited by Ark Priory Primary Academy in Acton, London to deliver a Kindness workshop to a small group of Year 6 Students.
Students watched the film Itsy as a way of introducing the theme of kindness, identified the central message of the film, explored and reflected on how they could be kind to others and shared their feelings on the one thing they would take away from the class.
The children were enthusiastic about watching the film, had a visibly high level of engagement with the film and appeared to be delighted and amused at the attendance of the filmmaker in the classroom. The following comments were expressed on the message of the film by the students:
Togetherness
Friendship
Kindness (‘she made a plastic house for the spider’)
Empathy (‘I feel sorry for the woman’)
Towards the end of the workshop, the children were asked the question: Who can you show kindness to and this is what they shared:
‘To my teacher - if teacher trips, I’ll help him’
‘Friend - if my friend is sad maybe I can play with him to make him happy’
‘Girls - I can invite girls to play football’
‘Mum - I can cook at home to help mum’
The evaluation form also contained two open ended questions that elicited responses offering a glimpse into their reflections of the Kindness workshop. The children wrote the following:
What one thing will you take away from the workshop?
Always be kind to anything
Learnt about kindness
I learnt how to be kind
Respect Kindness
What makes today’s workshop different to the other classes you’ve attended before?
It taught me stuff
It was fun
It’s (about) kindness
It’s more helpful
This group of students was selected by the school as particularly lacking in confidence, high levels of disengagement with a poor attitude towards women, and therefore the most likely to benefit from such a workshop. The teacher expressed concern that childrens’ issues at the primary school stage, when not managed at an early age, manifest into more complex and deeper issues as they transition into secondary school by which time interventions ‘are too late’.
The teacher commented on how wonderful it was for the children to see positive Muslim characters on screen and the diversity offered in such an educational resource. It was also appreciated how well the workshop was received by the students and the suggestion to host a 30 minutes workshop at the assembly for the whole school.