Students at a primary school in Coventry have achieved national recognition for their work in making kindness an integral part of everyday life.
St Gregory’s Catholic Primary School, which belongs to the Romero Catholic Academy, secured second place in the Collective Kindness category at the National Kindness Awards.
The judging panel commended the school’s Kindness Ambassadors for their commitment to spreading kindness throughout the school and local community, leading various initiatives designed to make people feel appreciated, helped and part of things.
Their activities have included hosting assemblies, reading stories about kindness, collecting money for 52 Lives (the charity running the awards), setting up a Friendship Bench to help combat loneliness, keeping a Kindness Notice Board with uplifting messages and acknowledgement of caring actions, and giving special recognition to students who have shown outstanding concern for others.
The ambassadors have also built a close relationship with Phil Mead House, visiting residents regularly to read, sing, take part in creative activities and enjoy time together.
These regular visits have created valuable connections between different generations, while also helping students develop self-assurance, understanding of others and a strong sense of duty towards those around them.
Within the school itself, the group has successfully made kindness a noticeable feature of daily life. They introduced a Kindness Advent Calendar, championed positive and inclusive play during Children’s Mental Health Week and took part in Positive Noticing Day, as well as reading to younger pupils and helping children understand how modest acts of kindness can create substantial change.
Their creativity has also been displayed through projects such as decorating kindness stones for staff and marking National Smile Day by giving smiley stickers to every child and adult.
The National Kindness Awards celebrate inspiring individuals, groups and schools that are helping to create kinder and more inclusive primary school communities throughout England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The awards, which are free to enter, are organised by the School of Kindness, a programme run by the 52 Lives charity that provides complimentary workshops and assemblies to more than 280,000 children every year.
Judges observed that St Gregory’s submission stood out because kindness had been woven throughout the whole school year, rather than being limited to a single event.
They were also struck by how the ambassadors’ work reached pupils, teachers, support staff and members of the local community.
Charlene Ellis, Higher Level Teaching Assistant at St Gregory’s Catholic Primary School, put forward the Kindness Ambassadors for the award.
She said the school was absolutely thrilled that their Kindness Ambassadors had received this recognition.
The children bring such warmth, energy and compassion to everything they do, and their ideas have had a genuinely positive impact on children, staff and members of the wider community.
What makes them so special is that kindness is not just something they celebrate on one day of the year. They have helped make it part of everyday life at St Gregory’s, sprinkle kindness into everything they do, and the school could not be prouder of them.
To be chosen as runners-up from so many nominations across the country is a wonderful achievement and a brilliant reflection of the difference they continue to make.
The ambassadors are now developing an annual kindness strategy to build on their successes and ensure their initiatives continue to thrive, keeping kindness central to school life for years to come.