At the beginning of the academic year, pupils from Years 4 and 5 of Stephenson Way Academy began a project that was centred around kindness. Through this work, they explored the impact that a kind thought, word or smile could have on others and vowed to take a positive approach to every situation they met, both in and out of school.
Inspired by a local group Aycliffe Rocks, who decorate and hide beautifully designed rocks for others to find, each pupil lovingly hand-painted a rock with an image or message to promote positivity. These rocks were hidden in the local community and linked to our very own facebook page ‘Swans Rocks’ so that we could see the impact they had on others and track how far and wide our positivity spread.
Last week, our group received a wonderful message from a lady in Hove (on the south coast of England), who told us, “I found one of your beautiful stones outside Hove museum. I am really missing my husband so finding this today made me cry because it filled my heart with love. It’s amazing how something can have such far reaching effects. Thank you so much.”
The year 4 and 5 children were thrilled to discover that their rock had travelled so far and had such an impact on someone’s day. In line with the sentiments of Mahatma Ghandi’s inspirational quote, their mantra is now, “Be the positivity you want to see in the world”.
