Fundraising Term 2

Canteen Meal Deal Offer

A reminder that the due date for the next Scholastic Book order is this week, Thursday 18 June.

Parking at the end of the day

Just a reminder to please obey the road/parking rules and regulations when collecting your child at the end of the day. Unfortunately, we have too many driving over the footpath to park under the trees, some parking in the disabled bays and others accessing the turning circle through the Staff Carpark; all of these are open to fines from the Police or the Local Government. Thank you for addressing this concern for the safety of our students and for the well-being of your wallet.

The Danish Way of Parenting ‘E’ for Empathy

Every time I take a new family through our campus, I always reflect on our school core value of Service with them, emphasizing that this core value enables students to develop Empathy (something much needed in our world today). In my nineteen years at St Stephen’s School, I have seen extraordinary moments of Empathy in action through the many Service Learning opportunities our school offers our students. This is why St Stephen’s School is such a special place to be 🙂 .

Empathy is the ability to recognize and understand the feelings of others. It is the ability to feel what someone else feels – not only to feel for him but feel with him. Empathy cannot be taught like Maths or English, it needs to be felt and experienced in order to understand it. Danes have a fundamental belief that caring about others’ happiness is crucial for their own happiness, something that resonates really well with me. Here are some pieces of advice found in the book in relation to

Empathy:

• Understand your own empathic style. Remember that children are mirroring you… as parents and educators, we have a responsibilty.
• Understand others. Practise understanding others instead of shaming them. Help kids to do that too.
• Help kids see the good in other children. See the behaviour being affected by circumstances rather than labelling other children as mean, selfish or obnoxious.
• Notice an attempt to identify emotions. Help your child see others’ emotions as well as experiencing his own without imposing your judgement.
• Read, read, read. Read books that encompass all emotions, including negative and uncomfortable ones. Dealing with reality, even at the level kids can handle, is honest and authentic and is proven to significantly improve empathy.
• Improve meaningful relationships. Try using emptahy to patch up some of your own relationships… Meaningful friend and family relationships are the most important factors determining true happiness, well above having lots of money!
• Be vulnerable. Try to be a better listener and don’t be afraid to be vulnerable. Being vulnerable and having empathy brings us closer together.
• Seek out empathy in others. Surround yourself with friends and family who want to practise empathy.

I really enjoyed the section of The Danish Way of Parenting that explores the importance of Empathy and would like to end this week’s Blog with this quote from Daniel Siegel, clinical professor of psychology at UCLA:

“Empathy is not a luxury for human beings, it is a necessity. We survive not because we have claws and not because we have big fangs. We survive because we can communicate and collaborate”.

Madame Pilote