The Global Empathy Awards 2022 - Sara Village School, Saudi Arabia

Empathy at Sara Village School

Ashwaq - I really enjoyed the story ‘The Go-Away Bird’. This story is about a bird who is a little bit grumpy and wants to be alone and so he tells all of his friends to “go away!” His friends are not happy about this and it makes them feel unloved, however they still try to include him in their fun. At the end of the story, a bigger bird wants to attack the Go Away Bird, but his friends help him to chase the bigger bird away. This makes the Go Away bird feel happy and loved and also a little bit guilty about being so unkind to his friends. This story teaches us how we should treat each other with kindness, and to help those in need. It also teaches us to be more aware of how our words and actions might affect others. For example, if we use unkind words to someone, then these words could make them feel sad. We should always try to use kind words to make others feel happy.&nbsp;

Saudi National Day at Sara Village School

Saudi National Day is an important date in the year when Saudi Citizens can show their pride for their country, culture and heritage. It is a huge celebration where people can dance, sing and decorate everything with the Saudi flag. At school, we like to dress up in green and white, which are the colours of the Saudi flag.

Akua - Saudi National Day is celebrated every year on 23rd September. It is important to celebrate this, not just because we live in Saudi ourselves, but it is also important to show respect, support and appreciation towards the people who come from Saudi and the area we live. It shows that no matter where you come from, it does not make you any better or worse than anyone else. We can take our empathy skills and try and look at how anyone from Saudi is feeling on this day. They might be feeling proud, and celebrating this day with them will make them feel proud of their heritage and where they come from. This counts for everyone who comes from anywhere. Being kind and understanding of people and their nationalities can boost confidence by a remarkable amount.

Nafeesa - I think the school is very supportive when it comes to Ramadan. As I have to fast, I am allowed to stay inside at breaktimes so I don't get too thirsty in the heat. I do have fun playing games or reading, but if I’m tired or my stomach hurts, then I can rest and sit quietly. I love that everyone, including other children and our teachers respects and understands this special time for me.

Ramadan is a celebration that is observed by Muslims worldwide. It is traditionally marked by a month of fasting, prayer, reflection and community. As Saudi Arabia is a Muslim country, it is especially important that we respect and support this time in the Islamic calendar.

Empathy at Sara Village School

Empathy is our ability to understand and share someone else’s thoughts feelings and perspectives.&nbsp;It is made up of three important elements: feeling, thinking and acting. Feeling: when we understand that someone is having thoughts or feelings that may, or may not, be different to something that we have previously experienced. Thinking: when we are able to use previous knowledge and experiences to gain an insight into how that person may be feeling now. Acting: when we use our understanding of the other person's thoughts or feelings to help, support or guide that person. Sara Village School is a small primary school based in Saudi Arabia. We have a very diverse but transient community which means that our student population is regularly changing. We have been working on strengthening and developing the empathy skills of our students in a number of different ways. We hope you enjoy looking at the incredible work that our students have created over the last few months.

Evie - When I first came to SVS in Year 4, I was nervous because I had not met anyone that already lived in Saudi, but by the end of my first day I had made lots of friends and couldn't wait to go to school again. At the end of Year 5, I unexpectedly left to go back to England. During this time in the UK, I didn’t contact many of my friends, so I didn’t know how they would react to me once I returned back to Sara Village. However, all of my classmates made me feel welcome and lower years said hello. I think the people at this school are very good at welcoming new people no matter if they are completely new or are coming back after a few months or years.

Daniel - I love to see everyone wearing their traditional dress and sharing stories about their food, culture and religion. It is a really special day where everyone feels proud of where they have come from in the world and we get to celebrate our difference and see our similarities.

The Transient Community at Sara Village School

Akua - Our school is a very welcoming place, because we always get new students coming, and multiple people leaving. Everyone has grown into the habit of welcoming people warmly into the school. Making new students feel welcome and bringing them in with a smile helps them feel comfortable and more at home. If the new students are greeted roughly and treated badly, they’ll think the entire school is like that, and not open up to anyone. Having somebody to open up to is one of the most important things in life, and if you don’t, you might just pass an entire lifetime alone. If you put yourself in that person’s shoes, you would understand how nervous they would feel, or worried. In all concepts of life, welcoming new people into a community is an act of kindness and empathy. Being kind and empathetic are the two best ways to make somebody feel welcomed in a community. The worst thing to do is not to include somebody in something is to discriminate them from things they have no control over, like race, or how they look. Another terrible thing to do is to discriminate against them based on their choices, like religion, or education. Being kind in any situation is an extremely important thing.

Muhammed Ibrahim - I loved reading ‘Lost and Found’. This is a book about a lost penguin. He arrives one day at the house of a little boy who doesn’t want to let him in his house. The penguin comes back the next day, still lost, and the boy eventually lets him in. The boy tries to take the penguin home, but he doesn’t know where he lives. The little boy goes to the library to find a book on penguins, and discovers that the penguin lives in the Antarctic. The boy gets an umbrella from his home along with a paddle and sets off from the shore to the Antarctic. The boy and the penguin arrive at a huge iceberg filled with lots of penguins. The boy talks to the penguin, gives him a hug and then leaves him with the other penguins. On the way back home, the boy realises that the penguin wasn’t lost at all, that he just wanted a friend. The boy goes back for the penguin who is waiting on the iceberg for him. The penguin stays with the boy and he brings him back home to live. This story has taught me to always be kind to people, even if you don’t know them or their language, as they may just want a friend.&nbsp;

Empathy Project 2022 Sara Village School, Saudi Arabia

Building Empathy Skills at Sara Village School

Khadija - As a Head Pupil, I have been reading stories with my friend Jasmine to the Key Stage One children at lunch time. Some of the stories are sad and some of them are happy but the children love them all! In the story sacks there are teddies which help to make the stories come to life. All of the stories help to teach the children a valuable lesson like how to treat others and how to be kind. After reading the stories to them, we ask them what they liked about the tale and what they would do if they were in the story. This helps to build on their empathy skills.

In a world where you can be anything, be KIND!

Fatima - I love ‘Giraffes Can’t Dance’. This story is about a Giraffe who went to a Jungle Dance. He was a bit nervous about going because he didn’t know how to dance. When he got on the dancefloor he found that all the other animals were brilliant dancers and they laughed at Gerald and his wobbly legs. This made Gerald feel nervous and sad. However, one of his friends encouraged him to carry on dancing to a different tune. All the other animals heard the music and saw Gerald’s fabulous dancing and they loved it. This story has taught me that you should never judge a person until you have walked in their shoes. You should always be kind and friendly to others.

Building Empathy skills in the Playground

Dillon- Being an Empathy Ambassador means helping others. I think this is a really important role because you have to take care of others inside and out of the school building.We have to be a role model to the younger students to show how they should behave towards their friends, and we help to resolve any issues that might occur on the playground. When we are playing with friends at break times, we also make sure that everyone is included, so that no one feels left out or lonely. We look out for others and help them if they need it.

Being an Empathy Ambassador is an important role within SVS, and one which I am very proud to be doing. I like to think of myself as a role model for the younger children, who look to me to see how I react to different situations. I am able to help the little ones on the playground to sort out any problems that might occur and getting each child to see both sides of the story.

The students at Sara Village School are incredibly kind and empathetic. They are very intuative about each others emotions, and they know when another child is in need of an act of kindness. We love to celebrate it when they have been 'caught being kind'. 

I think I have a very good understanding of how my friends are feeling most of the time. Our empathy sessions have helped to develop my empathy skills further which has given me a greater understanding of what its like to 'walk in someone else's shoes. 

Scot - World Book Day at Sara Village School is a day when we can celebrate our favourite books. We themed our World Book Day this year around the books that we have been reading in our Empathy lessons. These books have taught us a lot about understanding the thoughts and feelings of others.

Ellie - My favourite book was Elmer. This story is about an elephant who wants to fit in, and he does this by changing his style and skin colour by rolling in berries so that he is the same colour as all the other elephants. Although Elmer felt happy when he was the same, he didn’t really feel like himself, so he was happier when his skin started to return to its normal colourful self.&nbsp;This story has taught me to always be yourself and not to be like anyone else. It has also taught me to support everyone who is different to you because it is kind.&nbsp;

Evie - I think that empathy is important at school because it teaches us about feelings and that it's ok if we’re sad. I believe this helps us because it makes us more confident to talk about our feelings with our parents if we were scared to at first. Empathy also teaches us to not judge people by what they look like or what they believe in and that you should be friends with everyone you can. I think we should have empathy lessons in all schools across the world because it teaches you about different cultures and things going on around the world. In empathy we talk about why it’s important to be kind to everyone because it makes other people feel bad and can damage their mental health. We read books that can display empathy in some way like Giraffes can’t dance or Ish. These books teach you different things like that in Giraffes can’t dance that everyone can do everything just in different ways which you have to respect because we’re all unique and different from everyone else.

Akua - Empathy is important in our school and our community because it can help you not to judge any other person just because of their outward ways or personality. It is important to practise empathy because of how it impacts on first impressions and how it is important. Trying to get to know somebody and putting yourself in their situation should be the first thing you do when making a new friend, and if they’re hanging with the wrong people, it doesn’t mean you should not be kind to them. Empathy is not commonly practised in most schools, which could be part of the reason why there are so many unkind and unsympathetic people all around the world.&nbsp;A part of living a happy and satisfactory life is being kind to others, and having others be kind to you. If the whole world put everything that they were doing down, and turned a glance to empathy, it might just be a kinder place.

Phillip - The ‘Go-Away Bird’ was my favourite book. This story is about a bird that learnt his lesson. He learnt that although it was OK to be alone and to be by himself in his tree, it is better to face something with someone or a group of friends.&nbsp;I learnt from this book that you should always be kind towards someone that wants to play with you, because they could be bored or just want to run about and play. I also liked that the smaller birds realised that the ‘Go-Away Bird’ had made a mistake and they forgave him for his behaviour. They also realised that maybe he was just in a bad mood or just didn’t want to play that day. This has taught me to always be kind and to let others choose the games that we play in the playground, so that it is fair.&nbsp;

Daawud - I really enjoyed ‘The Go-Away Bird’. In this story, there is a bird that is a bit grumpy and he always tells his friends to ‘go away’ even when they are being kind to him. This makes his friends feel sad. In the middle of the story, the ‘Go-Away Bird’ needs help when an eagle tries to catch him. All of his friends came to help him even though he had been rude to them. This makes the ‘Go Away Bird’ feel happy and also a bit bad for being mean to his friends. In the end, all of the birds are friends and they play together. This story has taught me to not be mean to others and to always be kind and to help those who need our help.

During our empathy lessons, we have been able to learn about ourselves and evaluate our own empathy skills. We have been able to look at what makes us a more empathetic person and how we can become more sympathetic, compassionate, caring and sensitive. We have been looking at, analysing, evaluating and building on our own empathy skills each week.

Rhian - I really liked ‘Ish’. This book is about a boy who has an older brother and a younger sister. The boy loves art and is always drawing. One day, his older brother says that his drawing doesn’t look like a vase and it makes him feel sad. The boy continues again and again to draw the vase, but he gets frustrated and screws up his drawings every time. Without him knowing, his sister had been collecting all his screwed up drawings and he found that she had hung all of these pieces of art on her bedroom wall. This made the boy feel happy that his sister liked all of his drawings so much, and it made him find his love of drawing again.&nbsp;This story has taught me that not everything has to be perfect, and if someone doesn’t like what you have done, it doesn’t mean that it is bad. It has also taught me that we should always use encouraging and kind words when looking at others' work because if we are mean then they might feel sad and could use mean words to describe someone else’s work.

The Smile

What if we all tried for the next little while, To pause on our paths and pass along a smile. To people we see who look a bit down, Or sad or alone or are wearing a frown. Just a smile and a nod and maybe even say, ‘Hello!’ or ‘How are you?’ or ‘Hope you have a good day!’ People might not respond, might be taken aback; But maybe, just maybe, they might smile back, And be grateful for a moment to feel their mood lift So let’s give this a go, your smile is a gift!

Jasmine- ‘There’s a Boy just like Me’ is story about two boys who love to do the same things. They both play, be silly, climb trees and most importantly, they have fun. They both have brown hair, gaps in between their teeth and have ten fingernails with dirt underneath. They both wonder what their future will hold and how it will begin. You realise as you read the story that the although the boys are exactly the same in what they enjoy, they are completely different in their life circumstances. The first boy is just like us, here at SVS, the second is a refugee. A refugee is a person whose home has been destroyed by a drought or a war so they have to go to different countries so they are safe. This book helps us to realise that we should have a greater understanding of those who are less fortunate than us and that we should be grateful for everything that we have.

Hermione - ‘Giraffes Can’t Dance’ is a great book about a giraffe that feels like he can’t dance when he goes to the Jungle Ball. Every animal at the dance laughed and pointed at him. This made Gerald the Giraffe feel very, very sad, so he went home. On the way home he saw a cricket that told him that “everyone can dance, you just need to find the right music”. The cricket then got out his violin and started playing and Gerald then did the most amazing thing: he danced! It was so amazing that all the animals came to see and he danced and danced and danced with glee. This story has taught me that you should always encourage your friends when they can’t do something that everybody else can, and you should always use kind words.

Dillon - I really enjoyed Dogger because it was about a boy named Dave who took his dog teddy everywhere. Dave would take him to the bath, to bed, and outside. But one day he lost Dogger. Dave was very sad that he looked everywhere. His family noticed how sad he was so they tried to find another teddy that he would like. But Dave just didn't like them, they just weren't like dogger. But one day they went to a school because there was a fancy dress party with a lot of prizes. His sister Bella won a huge teddy bear. Then Dave spotted a dogger at a teddy sale. But he was too late because someone had already bought one. Dave tried to tell her that it was his but she wouldn't listen but then his sister Bella gave the girl her big teddy bear just so her brother could be happy and be reunited with Dogger again.

If a refugee joined Sara Village School, how could we make them feel welcome?

learn how to say 'hello' in their language

Year 1 - Practising some meditation to help them calm down

Empathy in Reading at Sara Village School

Displaying empathy is about showing that we have a real understanding of others and their thoughts, feelings and opinions; even if they are different from our own. All of our Sara Village School students have been exploring a number of different story books that have helped to develop our empathetic skills and to ultimately put ourselves in another's shoes! We have had a number of interesting discussions over the past few weeks based around these books and what lessons they can teach us about the way that we treat and look out for others.

As well as strengthening empathy through reading with our students, we have also helped to develop these important skills through a number of different activity days. These events have given our students time to stop and think about their own lives as well as time to reflect and consider the thoughts and feelings of others.   

Hermione - World Book Day is a day when we celebrate books, especially our favourite books. At school, we complete book based activities and we dress up as our favourite book character. This year, some of our teachers and friends dressd up as characters from our empathy stories. My mum dressed up as Elmer.

Dillon- For World Book Day this year, we dressed up as characters from our favourite empathy book. World Book Day is important as it helps to show us how fun reading is, but also it introduces us to some characters that we may be able to relate to in the books that we read.

Learning in Lockdown at Sara Village School

'Learning in Lockdown' was a real challenge for some of our Sara Village Students. As well as dealing with the anxieties about COVID, our students had also lost the regular interaction with their friends and teachers, which some children struggled with. However, although we were not allowed to be physically in school, this did not stop us from giving our students a wide range of lessons and experiences to help them on their learning journey. We used this time as an opportunity to try different teaching practices and to engage our students in a range of different ways. It was important to use our empathy skills so that we had a good undertanding of how our students were feeling at this time, so we could guage how much learning they would be able to undertake at home. We also made sure that our regular tutor meetings kept the students upbeat and happy durning this unknown time, as well as giving them an opportuntiy to talk about how they were feeling.

Sian - I hated being in lockdown and away from my friends during COVID. It was quite a lonely time, but seeing my friends online with my teachers every day made me feel better and cheered me up. It has made me have a better understanding of what people who live on their own, like old people, go through and how they must feel when they don't have friends or family visit them.

Walkathon at Sara Village School

Khadija and Nafeesa - We raised money for our caretaking staff by walking around the compound. The caretakers clean and look after our school and that’s why we want to repay them by walking in the Walkathon and raising money for them. I think this was a good thing to do as we realise that we are lucky that we have been born into a good situation.

Cael - Sara Village School has a very diverse population, with students joining our school from all over the world. International Day is a day where we can celebrate, respect, embrace and enjoy the different cutures and religions that are represented within our school. It is important to do this, so we have a better understanding of one another.

Raees - The story that I have enjoyed the most was ‘Ish’. This was a story about a boy who thought he was bad at drawing because his brother kept on making fun of his pictures. He eventually gave up drawing. His sister saw all of his scrunched up pieces of artwork and stuck them all over her bedroom wall like a gallery. When the boy saw the gallery of his artwork on his sister's wall, he felt motivated to keep on drawing. This story has taught me to never give up and to keep on going with our passions no matter what! Never give up.

Azra - It is really important to always listen to your friends so that you can understand how they are feeling. If the boy had asked the penguin how he was really feeling and then listened to what he had said, then the boy would have realised that all the the penguin really wanted was a friend and someone to love.

Jasmine- The Azaylia Foundation is an amazing charity that we have decided to support, which helps children and their families through the battle with cancer. This is important charity to support because cancer is an illness that will affect many people, and even some within our school. As a school we will be taking part in a non-uniform day where we will be wearing orange for Azaylia, and donating money to this amazing foundation. Azaylia was a fearless little girl and was only 8 months old when she passed away. The doctors said she wouldn’t be able to get through the first round of chemotherapy and she did. She was a fighter and very brave, like a lion, which is why we have made lion badges to wear in support of this beautiful little girl.

If you're feeling 'fuming' like Fergal, what can you do to calm down?

Arabella - Fergal is Fuming is about a dragon that is constantly getting angry. Unfortunately, when he gets angry, he burns everything around him. Everyone in town has had enough of his burning spree. One day his Mum felt empathetic and told him how to calm down by counting to 10. After that, his friends told him other ways that they like to calm down, such as looking at wildlife, just in case counting to 10 didn't work. Once he had so many different ways to calm down, his burning spree stopped because he could calm down. He found out that his fire could be used for better things than anger. Fergal is Fuming teaches us that we should think about how our actions can affect other people. It also teaches us that we should try and understand when someone is angry and how we might be able to help them calm down.

Benedict -Fergal can go and play with his friends to make him feel better

Hugh - Fergal needs to relax and go to sleep

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