FRIDAY – TO GIVE
Give for mental wellbeing
As members of our school community you are already aware of the importance of giving. Small acts of kindness towards other people give us a purpose and make everyone involved feel good.
Although most of you have not been in school, your teachers have continued to work hard to provide virtual lessons and ensure you are safe. On the final day of this academic year it would be a nice gesture to email a teacher who has made a particular difference to your school experience and thank them for their hard work and dedication. I am sure this would mean a great deal to them.
In addition, continue to thank those who have looked after you over the past few months by helping around the house with chores.
Finally, enjoy your summer break and THANK YOU for all of your hard work. You should all be very proud of yourselves! 😊
This week you could suggest an ‘at home picnic’. You can help with organisation and the preparation of food, drinks etc, then roll out the picnic blanket in the sitting room or garden 😊 You may even choose to go to the local park now that restrictions have been altered. Please note: remember the advice around social distance.
Before your picnic, you may wish to try this recipe for tear and share cinnamon rolls. Great for any occasion and as the name suggests …… perfect for the act of giving.
If you’re looking for more inspiration, watch this short video from BBC Bitesize. Acts of kindness in lockdown features young people from around the UK sharing their own acts of kindness.
This week take responsibility for your own acts of kindness. Create a timetable for the week ahead consisting of acts of kindness you can carry out. You may wish to get siblings or other family members involved too. There are some ideas on the template below, should you wish to use them.
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
| Contact a relative you haven’t seen for a while | Wash the dishes |
Why not write an acrostic poem for someone you live with or a family member/friend you’ve missed during lockdown? You could post it, leave it on their doorstep or give it to them in person if this is allowed. Please note: remember the guidelines on social distancing.
An acrostic poem is a type of poetry where the first, last or other letters in a line spell out a particular word. The most common form of an acrostic poem is where the first letters of each line spell out the word. See the examples for KINDNESS and FRIEND below:
Kindness creates happiness
If someone has fallen, help them up
Never give up being nice
Do something for someone else
New ways to be kind are always allowed
Everyone can help
Sharing is a perfect way
Say nice things
Funny
Real
Interesting
Enjoyable
Nice
Delightful
Putting a smile on somebody’s face during this time is invaluable. There are a number of ways you can do this!
This week gives you the opportunity to develop your own acts of kindness. You may do this alone or with other members of your household. Your task is to come up with an act of kindness for each letter of the alphabet, e.g. the letter “B” could be to “bake a cake for a neighbour”. When you have an idea for all 26 letters, carry out as many acts of kindness as you can. Good Luck!
Continue to give thanks to those in our community who are working hard during the pandemic. Leave a thank you note and/or treat outside for postal workers or refuse collectors. Alternatively, Royal Mail are asking for people to give a ‘thumbs up’ to your postie from a safe distance.
Spend time with members of your household, give your time to a family household project. An example might be to help paint a shed or plant some flowers.
Take the opportunity to give your time to members of your household. Switch off your mobile phone and take part in a fun activity with your family such as hosting a costume night or dress up with members of your family and watch a film together.
Alternatively, why not turn household chores into a fun game? Try the ‘escape room chore challenge’ for a different way of tidying. Consult with your family and allocate each family member a specific room to clean. Add a timer – you can adjust the times based on room difficulty levels. Have your family race against the clock and escape the tidy room! If they cannot escape by the time the buzzer goes off, create a forfeit.
Continue to show kindness to others by checking in with friends or family over facetime, whatsapp or skype to ask how they are and let them know you value them. You could also send a motivational text to someone who may be struggling right now or why not arrange to watch a movie at the same time as a friend? This can make you feel like you’re doing something together whilst being apart.
To continue to show our appreciation to NHS staff, carers and all key workers, you can draw, colour and display posters to make someone smile on their way to work.
Putting a smile on somebody’s face during this time is invaluable. There are a number of ways you can do this as there are many different acts of kindness. You can make it fun by placing a number of ideas in a jar or box and taking a lucky dip to determine what act of kindness you carry out. To help with ideas, there is the beginning of a list of kind ideas below:
- help your household cook a meal
- tidy your bedroom
- contact a relative to ask how they are
- donate to a local foodbank *Please note: Only donate to a local foodbank with the permission of a responsible adult.
- put the clean laundry away
- tell a member of your household something you are grateful for
- contact a friend and ask how they are
- if you know a key worker, contact them and say, ‘thank you’.
- wash the dishes/fill the dishwasher
Embrace your creative side and make an ‘Acts of Kindness’ fortune teller. This allows you the opportunity to make a choice on which kind of activity you would like to complete. Alternatively, you could make the fortune teller with someone in your household, giving them the choice of activities for you. You will find a template complete with instructions here.
Joining together and supporting one another as a community is even more important at this present moment in time.
Today marks the official 75th anniversary of V.E. Day. You can give thanks to those who lost their lives and those who returned from World War 2 by colouring in the poster below and displaying it in your window. Remember also Captain Tom Moore, who raised £29 million for the NHS, and also served in WW2. He celebrated a very special 100th birthday recently.
Alternatively, you could make a friendship bracelet for someone you are missing right now. You could post it, leave on their doorstep or hold onto it for them until lockdown restrictions are lifted. Follow the link, fishtail friendship bracelet to get started.
Have you ever thought about writing a poem for someone you live with or for someone you can’t see right now because of social distancing? Writing a poem for someone can be a great way to make them feel loved and appreciated. Note: Please remember social distancing guidelines and either give to someone in your household or leave on the doorstep for a relative or friend.
Poetry can help in language development, writing skills, creativity, self-expression and in the development of natural rhythms. Poems can be silly or serious, they can have patterns and can rhyme and they are a great way of letting someone know how you feel. Click on the link Introduction to poetry to learn a little more.
If you’re a fan of Dr. Seuss then there’s a little inspiration below to help get you started:
Don’t give up!
I believe in you all!
A person’s a person,
no matter how small!
You can read some of Dr Seuss’ best poems here.