Break the pattern

Over the last two weeks we have looked at breaking patterns that we don't like - changing things for the better. We started by looking at caring for people. In a couple of weeks we will look at caring for the environment in line with Conservation week.

I had a 'school kit' resource called 'Not part of my world' that was developed by educators in response to events in Christchurch this year. It is carefully put together and designed to get kids thinking about their views and actions towards others, being aware of stereotypes and biases, and ensuring we are caring for others and treating them well no matter their differences to us.Last week we looked at stereotypes with a game of stereotype pictionary eg draw a doctor, draw a bad driver, draw a rich person, draw a criminal, draw a New Zealander etc. Think about your own possible biases - do you picture a certain type of person when you think of those mentioned? This opened up some good discussions and got us thinking. All groups also looked at people who are special to them, with a circle of friends / family. We thought about how they make us feel and how they treat us and we treat them. 

This week we looked at treating others nicely, making them feel welcome. We did the compliments project. Each child wrote their name in the middle of a piece of paper, then we all went around and wrote a compliment on each other's paper. It was lovely seeing the thought that went into this, and the look of joy on their faces as they read what positive things others had to say about them. The idea was based on this video.

Here are a few comments children wrote for each other (obviously not a spelling competition...!)  We all left with a warm fuzzy feeling this week :)