What does kindness look like through the eyes of a child? Sometimes, it’s inviting someone to play. Sometimes, it’s helping a friend with their homework. And sometimes, it’s as simple as lending someone a pencil. At Tenby Schools Setia Eco Gardens, we want kindness to be more than something we talk about. We want our students to recognise it, practise it and see the difference their actions can make within their school community. Recently, we welcomed Landon Chia, author of Bully Jungle, to speak with our students about kindness, empathy and the impact our words and actions can have on others. His visit coincided with the launch of our new Kindness Squad— an initiative that puts our students at the heart of building a community where everyone feels included and looked out for. Meet Our Kindness Squad Each week, 15 students are selected for the Kindness Squad, recognised for the kindness they have shown towards their classmates and others around school. There is no grand gesture required. In fact, when we spoke to some of our Kindness Squad members, it was the small, everyday actions that mattered most to them. Dhanshika, Year 6, shared: “I believe in being kind and helping others so we can all play together. We can also help each other with homework to be kind” When Deborah, Year 5, was asked how she could make someone's day better, she replied: “I would play with them and pay them a compliment. If someone is lonely I would ask others nicely to play with them” For Varunya in Year 4, being recognised as part of the squad was something to celebrate: “I feel very proud and awesome because I like being part of the kindness squad” And Ren, a Year 3 EAL student, showed us that kindness can cross language barriers too. He told us: “I feel happy being part of the Kindness Squad. I can help to make their day happy, I can help them understand and borrow them my pencil” Their words may be simple, but that is precisely the point. To our students, kindness is practical. It means noticing when somebody is alone, offering help, sharing what you have and choosing to include someone. Making Kindness Part of School Life Landon's visit gave our students an opportunity to think and talk about how they treat the people around them. The Kindness Squad gives them a way to carry those conversations forward long after the visit is over. By recognising 15 new students each week, we hope more children will begin to notice the everyday choices that help make their classroom and school a better place to be — not simply because there is recognition attached, but because looking out for one another becomes part of who we are as a community. And perhaps the best explanation comes from the students themselves: play with someone, pay them a compliment, help them understand, or lend them your pencil. Sometimes, kindness really can be that simple.
