Pupils at St Mary’s Catholic Primary School in Chippenham have been putting kindness into action by taking part in a special skipathon as part of the national Great British Skip campaign.
The school, which is part of the Dunstan Catholic Educational Trust, joined the campaign to support Captain of Kindness Krish Patel, who has completed an extraordinary 900-mile journey from Land’s End to John O’Groats, skipping the equivalent of 40 marathons in 40 days.
St Mary’s is an official Kind School, joining 1,500 schools recognised through the School of Kindness initiative. Kindness is also closely linked to the school’s Catholic Christian values of love, forgiveness, respect, resilience, curiosity and stewardship, which are reflected throughout school life and the curriculum.
Taking part in The Great British Skip gave pupils another opportunity to put those values into practice, while thinking about how kindness can help people feel connected, included and supported.
Krish was inspired to take on the challenge after seeing children skipping while volunteering in schools in Uganda and Manchester. During his journey, he also collected stories of kindness from people along the way. The challenge supports the charity 52 Lives and its School of Kindness programme, which provides free kindness workshops for children and young people.
Lucy Buckland, Headteacher at St Mary’s Catholic Primary School, said, “Kindness is at the heart of our school and our Catholic Christian values, so it was wonderful to see our pupils putting those values into action through the skipathon. They had great fun taking part, but it was also a chance to think about how small acts of kindness can make a real difference to someone else.
“As a School of Kindness, we want our pupils to understand that kindness is something we can all show every day, and that each of us can play a part in creating a kinder school and community.”
Helen Taylor, CEO of the Dunstan Catholic Educational Trust, added, “Kindness is such an important part of school life, and it was wonderful to see St Mary’s pupils putting it into action. Their enthusiasm shows how small acts can make a real difference.”
For more information, visit St Mary’s Catholic Primary School or the Dunstan Catholic Educational Trust.
