School Bell A.C.E

Everyone has problems, troubles, and griefs of some sort in life.

With the ever changing requirements of life with Covid-19, this has been so present in all our lives. Charity is the act of kindness to others, a conscious act of the heart, without expecting a reward. When Charity is carried out selflessly, it is a one-way act where a person gives without a need for something in return. Charity begins with the inward recognition of a need to show compassion to others. At ACE, we often see friends waiting for one another whist packing away their lunch or whilst they do up their shoelaces – these small and simple acts demonstrate compassion. People learn to downplay their own needs or problems, in order to extend compassion, kindness, and love to help others, which is in line with our vision statement: reaching out to our neighbours in love.

Cultivating attitudes to charitable and selfless activities is achieved through the home and school environment. Children are natural born helpers, we see that with our younger pupils, but often with age their eagerness to help dwindles. At home, children learn the act of giving by being active members of the household, contributing to chores or jobs around the home in order to support and help their loving parents. All without the need or expectation of getting something in return.

When it comes to teaching children to be charitable, we have found that role-modeling isn’t enough, although it does help! This is primarily one of the reasons why we had charity week last term and why we are so proud of Milly.

Milly set up the Reverse Advent Calendar a number of years ago and it has been wonderful to see how this little idea has blossomed and led to ACE families making a difference to others. Families brought in certain items to support those people who are going through more challenging times in their lives. What is wonderful is that this all began with one focused conversation.

Having focused, intentional discussions with children about charity increases the likelihood that they will give or think of others.
Charity builds empathy, which is a critical social and emotional skill. It can be argued that charitable activities are important to develop a sense of citizenship – in terms of individual engagement, participation in collective school activities, and engendering a broader sense of social responsibility. It has been lovely to see how Milly clearly has inspired so many of us to think of others rather than just ourselves.

I wonder what kind of world this could be if more people had this wonderful outlook on life?

When Charity and giving is incorporated into the curriculum and school life at all key stages, like it is at ACE, we believe pupils feel a sense of responsibility to support and involve themselves.

Cultivating kindness in the learning environment is critically important. Teachers and teaching assistants at ACE constantly praise pupils when they show generosity and empathy to others, simple things like lending a classmate a pencil or sharing words of encouragement during a learning task or sporting activity. Building a collective climate of empathy and selflessness towards our own peers and classmates is so important and we hope, during these more challenging times, everyone in our Arundel community will hold a hand out to help someone else.

Small Schools Southern Area Champions