VIEW FROM THE CLASSROOM
The importance of compassion in the digital classroom
I
n our View from the classroom feature this month, we’re delighted to hear from Jon
White, Development Coach at Clare Mount Specialist Sports College. John discusses the importance of building a compassionate classroom and how a free online course helped their students to build skills relevant in the real world.
Can you tell us about your school? Our school, Clare Mount Specialist Sports College, is a SEND and local authority school. The intake of our pupils is constantly growing and diversifying which means we really have to plan ahead to best support their needs. We specialise in providing additional support for our students and base our school strategy around four key priorities: Quality of Education, Behaviour and Attitudes, Personal Development, and Leadership and Attitudes.
What are some of the biggest issues being faced in the classroom right now? As teachers, it’s our responsibility to support students in overcoming barriers and some of the key values we incorporate into our school strategy includes structured intervention and a big focus on wellbeing for students and staff. Preparing our students for the future is a big focus at our school and we want to ensure our students are ready for life outside of the classroom by utilising a character education programme that encourages them to focus on doing their own personal best and transfer that into specific life skills.
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www.education-today.co.uk January 2022
To help with personal development, a strategic priority at Clare Mount, we wanted to run a course with our pupils that could help develop our students beyond traditional methods and teaching them about real-world skills. After doing some research and looking at many options, we came across EVERFI who are specialists in delivering courses that help create a more equal society by providing students with key life skills. Specifically for us, the value of empowerment and character development is where I really saw our strategy able to align alongside the benefits of EVERFI’s The Compassion Project course.
Although aimed at 7-11 years olds, the course
is flexible to use with our students to focus on their own personal best and The Compassion Project teaches children to think about different points of view, through the lens of helping others.
How has this been brought to life at Clare Mount? One of the most successful wellbeing projects we’ve undertaken at the school has been working with a food bank. It was a practical experience for students and taught them about empathy, integrity and compassion. It connects them to the
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