Catalysts for Kindness: the Covid-19 Cohort

Here at the Human Values Foundation (HVF) we are starting a community blog series. We will be asking Members and Friends of the HVF to share a story about one of their experiences related to the HVF and how it demonstrates the life-enriching potential of living our values.

Third in our series is a story highlighting the way we can respond with values in times of crisis, from the Human Values Foundation CEO, Rosemary Dewan. For Rosemary this story captures the values of love and openness.

Prior to the coronavirus pandemic resulting in the closure of our schools for all but a few children, teachers were wondering how to plan for the new curriculum expectations from September 2020 when Relationships Education was to become mandatory.

The imposed lockdown highlights just how much relationships matter.

People everywhere have recognised our common humanity and spontaneously reacted with amazing compassion, creativity, courage and kindness.

Schoolchildren especially are going through a turbulent, confusing and worrying time. The loss of freedom and with that, loss of structure, routines, contact with friends and even loss of loved ones, all have an impact. The Human Values Foundation and The Big Think team responded to the very deep need that was becoming palpably evident and rapidly created a programme called Circles of CARE. Based around the human values of Community, Love, Peace and Truth, it allows children to come together again with the school community so that everyone can become a catalyst for kindness.

This succinct programme focuses on four values - COMMUNITY, APPRECIATION, RESILIENCE and EMPATHY. The resource offers four sessions for KS1 and KS2 children comprising lesson plans, silent sittings, songs, and journal pages and a teacher training film. It leads participants through a safe, structured and supportive process involving six activities that mirror the key elements in all The Big Think lesson kits:

Silent Sitting mindfulness 
Values in Action guidelines
Dialogue check-in prompts
My Big Feelings compass
Journal reflection
Values Song

In groups, the children think through and discuss four Big Questions and reflect upon how they and others are feeling and coping:  

Community:
What are your hopes for reconnecting as a school community?

Appreciation:
Do you notice and appreciate anything new since being in lockdown?

Resilience:
Can you find your resilience when having a hard time?

Empathy:
Have you been able to show empathy to others in lockdown?

We hope the Circles of CARE will stimulate love, openness and support that will help the Covid-19 cohort of children on their recovery journeys and equip them with techniques that will make their Relationships Education all the more effective. 

For Rosemary this story demonstrates that even from a young age, with positive values as anchors for their thinking, choices and actions, children can be amazing catalysts for kindness.