The Duchess of Cambridge will lead an assembly on kindness on Thursday morning, speaking to pupils about ways they can carry out small acts of kindness in their day-to-day lives.
In a teaser video posted on the Oak National Academy social media accounts, Kate says, “Today I wanted to talk to you about the importance of being kind and looking after one another. I’m now going to go and join a Zoom call with pupils from Waterloo Primary Academy in Blackpool to find out what kindness means to them.”
The video then shifts ahead to Kate and a few pupils from the school talking about kindness, with one student replying to Kate’s question—what does kindness mean—with, “Treat people how you want to be treated.”
The students are children and relatives of frontline carers who have been working through the pandemic.
In her message, Kate says: “Talking to someone, whether it’s a friend, family member, or teacher, is something you can do to make yourself feel that little bit better. And you can also play your part in helping others to feel better too, whether offering a friendly ear, or helping someone in need. Small acts of kindness can go such a long way. But as we help others, we mustn’t forget to nurture ourselves, by taking the time to focus on the things that make us feel happy too.”
The students will also show Kate some of the photographs that they have submitted to her Hold Still photography project. The photos were taken using one of the project’s main themes: Acts of Kindness.
Kate’s assembly on kindness was developed from a lesson plan created by Place2Be, one of her patronages, and will be available on the Mentally Healthy Schools Initiative website, another project she helped launch as a legacy of the Heads Together campaign, with support from the Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families (the charity also administers it as well, and is another one of Kate’s patronages), and Young Minds.
The Oak National Academy is an online classroom that was set up to help with home schooling during the coronavirus pandemic. It provides lesson plans and support to teachers, parents and students across the UK in a wide range of subjects. Since its launch, the Academy has provided lessons to over 12 million young people. It also features a weekly assembly in association with Tes.
“We’re thrilled that The Duchess of Cambridge was able to lead this week’s assembly on acts of kindness,” said Matt Hood, the principal of Oak National Academy in a statement. “Being kind and considerate is a vital lesson for children at any time, but especially so in the current pandemic. We must encourage young people to talk about their feelings and to know that it’s normal to feel a bit anxious or upset right now.”
Kate’s video assembly will be posted on the Oak National Academy website and on social media on Thursday morning from 11am.
