Fostering empathy, respect and kindness in primary classrooms

Why are empathy, respect and kindness important?

Empathy, respect and kindness are key to helping teachers create a classroom environment where children feel safe, valued and included. This allows them to develop important social and emotional skills, learn how to navigate and resolve conflict and build positive relationships. Coming to school each day to where they will be treated with respect and kindness can have a positive impact on children’s mental health reducing stress and anxiety. This in turn can have an impact on academic progress and performance as children are in an environment where they can explore and thrive.

What does an empathetic, kind and respectful classroom look like?

In a classroom built on empathy, respect, and kindness, children actively listen to each other without interrupting. As a result, they feel confident in sharing their thoughts and opinions. Children use polite language and respect each other's personal space and belongings. They celebrate each other's successes and support peers who might be struggling. They also include others in activities and group work so that no one feels left out.

Sound like a dream? It might feel unrealistic to expect your class to be like this every single day—after all, we're all human, and some days are better than others. However, by implementing some simple yet effective strategies, you can start to shape your classroom community into one where kindness and respect flourish.

• Provide opportunities for collaborative learning and teamwork, encouraging children to work together and support one another.
• Recognize and positively reinforce kind and respectful actions, both verbally and with rewards.
• Teach children conflict resolution skills and provide support with effective conflict resolution — explore our PSHE collection for helpful resources.
• Use storytelling and literature to explore diverse perspectives — our equality, diversity and inclusion resources for primary schools are a great place to start.
• Lead by example. Modelling respectful, kind, and empathetic behaviour is an excellent way to show children the importance of these qualities.

10 ideas to foster empathy, respect and kindness in your classrooms

Here we share some of our favourite activities and ideas for fostering empathy, respect, and kindness. Some ideas can be integrated into your regular routines, others into your PSHE lessons, and some are great for raising awareness among children and celebrating ways to be kind and respectful.

1. Emotion check-ins. Daily or weekly check-ins allow children to talk about how they are feeling and develop their emotional awareness. The emotions flashcards and trackers in our Self-regulation templates can support children with this.
2. Role-play scenarios. Roleplay is a great way to explore different scenarios and come up with empathetic solutions. These Dilemma dice are great for discussing ways to handle peer pressure. This Would you dare? Activity is great for helping children understand the consequences of their actions.
3. Diverse storytelling. Reading diverse stories with your class helps them to learn about diverse perspectives and experiences building empathy. You might like to try some of our book recommendations here.
4. Random acts of kindness. This acts of kindness resource provides ideas and prompts children to talk about how doing or receiving an act of kindness made them feel.
5. Practise gratitude. Encourage children to write down something they are thankful for on a daily or weekly basis either in a gratitude journal or on slips of paper for a class gratitude jar.
6. Kindness awards. Start a weekly or monthly act of kindness award that recognises and celebrates children who have demonstrated kindness or empathy.
7. Emotions dictionary wall. This A-Z of emotions is a great way to build children's vocabulary and understanding of emotions. Create a dictionary display on the wall, or use the sentence strips for a more hands-on activity.
8. Respectability raffle. Use the 'Respectability raffle' to acknowledge and reward kind and respectful actions. Children demonstrating exemplary behaviour have their names added to the raffle jar, giving them a chance to win a prize or reward.
9. Mindfulness exercises. Mindfulness supports emotional regulation, allowing children to treat each other in a calm, considerate and respectful way. This practical mindfulness guide for teachers provides ready-to-use scripts for three mindfulness activities.
10. 'In their shoes' activity. Have children consider how it feels to be in someone else’s shoes. Depending on the age of your class, this could be a discussion or creative writing activity that encourages them to use empathy to understand someone else’s perspective.

Self-regulation templates to support kindness and respect

Our Self-regulation template pack is a useful tool to help foster kindness, respect and empathy in your classroom. Here's how these templates can contribute to creating a more empathetic and respectful environment:

• The 'How do you feel?' emotion posters and flashcards help children recognise and understand different emotions. This awareness is crucial for developing empathy.
• The 'Feelings thermometer' and 'Feelings meter' encourage children to regularly check in with their emotions. This self-awareness can lead to better emotional regulation, reducing conflicts and promoting a more respectful classroom atmosphere.
• The 'Calm down breathing exercises' and 'Calm down cards' provide children with practical strategies to manage strong emotions. By learning to self-regulate, children are less likely to react impulsively and more likely to respond to others with kindness and respect.
• The 'Managing my emotions daily tracker' can help children become more aware of their emotional patterns, leading to improved self-regulation and more considerate behaviour towards others.
• The 'How do you feel?' sentence templates can facilitate discussions about emotions, helping children to express themselves more effectively and listen to others with empathy.

These versatile resources can be adapted for various primary education phases, supporting the development of emotional wellbeing and self-regulation skills throughout a child's primary school journey. As children become more adept at managing and understanding emotions, the classroom naturally becomes more empathetic, respectful and kind.

Purchase and download the self-regulation templates pack for £10 or access it for free as a Premium primary subscriber.