VIEW FROM THE CLASSROOM
technology is the way of the future and the best part about EVERFI is that it is free and targeted so it can really be a great tool in modern-day teaching. As classrooms move more and more to be online, I think programmes like EVERFI serve as a great and accessible way for parents and carers to get involved at home by offering courses like compassion that show families how they can continue these conversations and learnings at home. Lessons like compassion are universal and discussing them at school and at home can really make such a difference to wider school communities. Teaching compassion offers links to a range of
local community and really helps to foster that sense of social care that can continue outside of school and into their adult lives. While this practical experience has been a big success, The Compassion Project further supported in engaging students both in the classroom and on a virtual level to embed the learning. Home and virtual learning has become a more
prominent part of blended education and when students were forced to learn remotely we shifted to deliver our classes online like many others. It was great to see how EVERFI’s course could connect - and be accessed remotely - to the other programmes we already had in place which really made it easier on teachers, during an especially stressful time. Virtual delivery has been very key over the past 18 months with change ever present and having access to free virtual courses has been a huge win for teachers.
How important is wellbeing at Clare Mount right now? Wellbeing is hugely important at our school and we organise regular wellbeing days on Thursdays, where we consult students on what they want to focus on and what activities they want to partake in. We also run teacher wellbeing days on Fridays to ensure a whole-school approach is taken. These sessions really help to calm, alert or wake our students, depending on their needs, and gets them set up to be open and ready to learn. When I first began using The Compassion Project back in April, the first thing that struck me was how it connected to our wellbeing strategy and the messages that it looks to foster amongst school. I believe that wellbeing must be understood as
being deeply connected to physical activity. Sport and physical activity is for the brain and not just the body, and as well as running a full secondary school curriculum we have over fifty clubs that run weekly and help students with their own personal development. I know, through my experience, that students can build character through sport and it’s great to see the EVERFI platform support this with its compassion-led activities that see physical and mental wellness going hand in hand. One of the key values of our character
education programme is kindness. We take great pride in being a respecting rights school and a school of sanctuary and so we really want to build compassion into our ethos and daily practices to ensure students feel safe and protected. I can see
January 2022
The Compassion Project course being used as an essential tool for all other SEND schools in the UK as it shows the importance of seeing compassion as not just a resource but as a shared language that we can all use.
What has The Compassion Project helped your school achieve? The biggest benefit of EVERFI is its online capabilities and the platform itself. As a busy teacher, I can see the amount of work that has gone into the building of the platform and in creating value-based courses. Having worked as a teacher for 25 years, I really appreciate having ready-made lesson plans and resources at the touch of a button. This gives teachers the option to deliver the programmes in the classroom or to allow students to work through the course in their own time. The EVERFI platform works great with the other initiatives we’ve implemented at our school and, working at a special school, it’s great to see programmes that are appropriate for all kinds of learners. I’d already heard great feedback from teachers
and families about the EVERFI platform, everyone just got a password and link and were ready to go! It’s a lifesaver for the age of remote learning that we have now entered and it’s great to see us take on programmes like this and move away from paper-based send-outs that have been so common this past year. Embracing this
subjects, I see it as especially relevant to PSHE. One of the best parts of PSHE as a subject is how it gives the opportunity to teach softer skills, compassion, empathy and the like to students. These skills are especially important when it comes to employability, which is especially relevant considering that the current job market is very difficult for young people and that three- quarters of SEND placements have dropped. We often think of compassion as something inherent but it is something that needs to be taught in schools as it is one of the key skills that will help students to demonstrate key values in interviews. I find that practical examples, like our Food Bank project, really helps students to connect to compassion through real-life examples and see how they can impact and make a difference to people in their community.
What does 2022 have in store for your pupils? As we’re now in January and have returned to school, we are already looking at how The Compassion Project, and other EVERFI courses, can evolve into our school’s strategy and how we can support students with a value-driven approach to learning. As we’re still dealing with COVID-19, this means that we’ll also be looking at how we create a recovery curriculum to get our students back on track. While the pandemic has caused a lot of issues in schools across the country, I do think it has shown the need for compassion and the need for wellbeing. Schools without wellbeing strategies have really felt the effects as we all try and support our students and teachers to deal with the significant challenges we’ve faced both in and out of school this year. The opportunity the EVERFI platform has given
my school is that practical link to developing real- life skills. The course gives examples and shows the importance of key themes such as diversity and respect. The Compassion Project course is a first-of-its-kind course here in the UK and allows teachers to actively teach compassion in a structured way. Compassion works with students to help them develop their self-awareness which will have a lasting impact as they mature. I’d really recommend it to any teacher, in any school environment, looking to boost their knowledge on key and important behavior skills applicable to day-to-day life. EVERFI courses help create a more equal
society by providing pupils with life skills that prepare them for a brighter, happier, safer and more resilient future and raise their aspirations. Schools can register to access the course - and others like it – at
www.everfiteachers.co.uk. To find out more about Clare Mount Specialist Sports College, please visit
uwww.claremountssc.co.uk/
www.education-today.co.uk 17
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