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CELEBRATING KINDNESS IN OUR PRIMARY SCHOOLS
We believe that ‘kind’ is the most important thing we can be. So help us celebrate it!
Are the children in your school friendly, generous and considerate? Is there a child or adult in your school who has gone above and beyond to show kindness? Is there a class that has done something extraordinary to help someone? Has your school worked hard to create a culture of kindness for pupils and staff?
The national Kindness Awards are free to enter and celebrate kindness in primary school communities in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. You can win prizes and celebrate inspiring individuals, classes/groups and schools!
The Awards are organised by the School of Kindness, a project of the 52 Lives kindness charity. The School of Kindness delivers free workshops for more than 90,000 children every year. We know that kindness helps to build strong, supportive school communities and is essential for everybody’s health and wellbeing.
So we want to celebrate it and would love to hear from you!
KEY DATES
Nominations Open:
13th November 2023
Nominations Close:
30th April 2024
Winners announced:
June 2024
Learn More Here...
This Outstanding Kindness Award will be awarded to an individual pupil who has demonstrated an exceptional level of kindness within their school or community during the 2023/24 school year.
Open to individual pupils from reception through to Year 6.
Nominations should provide details of what the child has done, and the impact it has had on others within their school or community.
Children may not nominate themselves, but they may nominate another child (via a teacher/parent/guardian).
Inspiration: Has someone started a kindness initiative within school that has made a big difference to other children? Perhaps they have gone above and beyond to help a fellow pupil or staff member? Have they done something extraordinary to help their local community?
Learn More Here...
This Outstanding Kindness Award will be awarded to an individual adult working within a school who has demonstrated an exceptional level of kindness during the 2023/24 school year.
Open to any adult working within a school (for example a teacher, a cleaner, a catering staff member etc).
Children may submit nominations, but it must be done via a teacher/parent/guardian. People may not nominate themselves.
Nominations should provide details of what the person has done to demonstrate an exceptional level of kindness and the impact they have had on those around them.
Inspiration: Is there a teacher who has done something special to support a colleague or pupil? Is there a caretaker who goes the extra mile? Is there a member of the catering team who has helped to create a wonderful working environment?
Learn More Here...
This Collective Kindness Award will be awarded to a class or school group that has demonstrated an exceptional level of kindness during the 2023/24 school year.
Open to any class or organised group (for example a club or council) within the school.
People may nominate their own group. Children may submit nominations, but it should be done via a teacher/parent/guardian.
Inspiration: Has your school council launched a kindness initiative within the school that has had a big impact? Has an after-school club helped a worthwhile cause? Or is there a class that has worked together to create an extra kind culture within their classroom?
Nominations should provide detail of what the class/group has done to demonstrate an exceptional level of kindness, who was involved and what difference it has made.
Learn More Here...
The Kind School Award is awarded to a school that is creating and embedding a culture of kindness, putting kindness and wellbeing at the heart of what they do.
We are looking for a school that can demonstrate that kindness is a core value, running through every aspect of the school day. This is our major award and nominations should provide details of:
- Why your school deserves to win the Kind School Award
- Why kindness is important to you as a school
- What initiatives and practices you have introduced within the school to encourage a culture of kindness among staff
- What initiatives and practices you have introduced within the school to encourage a culture of kindness among pupils
- What impact this has had on pupils and staff within the school
- How you measure / gauge the impact
Inspiration: We know there is already a great deal of kindness happening in schools but we also thought it would be helpful to provide some examples of things that might feature in a ‘Kind School.’
- Regular kindness lesson plans (including the science of kindness and benefits of kindness).
- Taking part in our Kids’ Kindness Club activities
- Taking part in our Kindness Ambassador Programme
- Having a dedicated school kindness council and / or having kindness on the agenda at school council meetings
- Regular wellbeing activities to encourage pupils and staff to be kind to themselves
- Approachable and kind leadership style within the school, where leaders and teachers model kindness and practice empathy in their dealing with one another
- Sharing a kind anecdote as a regular opener to staff meetings
- Activities to connect with and support communities outside of the school
- Activities to be kind to the planet
PRIZES
When we’re kind, everyone’s a winner! BUT we do also have some special prizes for our Kindness Awards winners.
All nominees, whether winners or not, will receive a certificate congratulating them on being nominated. All winners and runners-up will receive National Kindness Award certificates and trophies.
In addition:
- The Pupil and Adult Kindness Award winners will each receive a £50 gift voucher, a signed book bundle, and a six month subscription to The Week Junior and Happy Newspaper.
- The Collective Kindness Award winners will receive clothing from the kind people at Scamp & Dude, a signed book bundle for the classroom, and a six month subscription to The Week Junior and The Happy Newspaper for the class / group.
- The major Kind School Award winner will receive a ‘School of Kindness’ Picnic Table for their playground donated by the kind people at NBB Recycled Furniture, a plaque to display proudly in their school, the use of a Kind School Award winner logo and a six month subscription to The Week Junior and The Happy Newspaper for their school.
HOW THE AWARDS ARE MADE
The judges will choose one winner and one runner up in each category.
Winning individuals, groups/classes and schools will receive an in-person visit from Jaime Thurston and other colleagues from the School of Kindness to present their prizes.
Runners up will be announced on our website and sent their awards by post, along with a personal message from Jaime Thurston.
