Schoolchildren go on ‘kindness offensive’
PUPILS did their school and community proud by spreading a bit of joy in a ‘kindness offensive’.
Water Primary School lifted the village’s spirits with a series of small acts of generosity - including giving presents to care home residents, delivering hampers to old folks, and presenting a bouquet of flowers to parents.
Parents were also celebrated at a ‘good news assembly’, while the school set up a wall for people to leave thank you notes and spread the word about random acts of kindness.
The uplifting week - which formed part of a health and wellbeing initiative - took on an added significance as it coincided with the aftermath of the Manchester bombing, with many parents saying it provided a much-needed boost.
Headteacher Chris Willan said it was a “completely new idea”.
He said: “It was an amazing week and just showed what wonderful children we have. Thoughtful, kind and always thinking of others. We thought we could do something different to give everyone a lift and a boost.
“The slogan that we had was ‘it’s cool to be kind’. Especially with everything that had happened and the attacks on Manchester it was really nice to see everybody working together and sticking together.
“We were always going to do something for our parents and I thought it took on a bit of extra significance.”
As part of the kindness week, pupils went into shops in Rawtenstall and Waterfoot and asked for donations of gifts.
Eight older residents from the local community received hampers of tea, coffee, scones and jam sponsored by Asda, while Lumb Valley nursing home residents were treated to chocolates and flowers handed out by the school’s young leaders.
Every parent also received a bouquet of flowers.
Mr Willan said: “We got some nice comments on Twitter and Facebook about how it made their day.”
He added: “The work was about accentuating the positives and being grateful for the things we have got. Because we rush around in life so much and it’s so fast paced, we forget the things that are important.
“We have got some fantastic children at our school - like any other school. The children have gone to a lot of effort to bring smiles to people.
“There was a real sense of everybody coming together.”
‘The children have gone to a lot of effort to bring smiles’