Kindness plays a big part in the lives of children at Newington Community Primary School in Ramsgate.
And as part of their Easter celebrations boys and girls reaffirmed their understanding of what it means to be kind to others and how it can bring sunshine, happiness and hope to their days.
The Year 3 group wanted to celebrate the fabulous sense of togetherness the children have shown since returning from lockdown a month ago.
Head Teacher Cliff Stokes explained: “Showing the school values and being kind is a ‘given’ at Newington and to recognise the efforts children go to, Easter eggs were awarded to the ‘Kindness Champion’.
“This was decided by observing children not only demonstrating acts of kindness but deciding in the first place what a ‘Kindness Champion’ looks like.”
Meanwhile the mysterious Easter Bunny paid a secret visit to children in the Reception year group – pupils found bright green pawprints in their classrooms when they arrived and saw a video of the mischievous creature preparing a special Easter hunt for them, which they solved by finding eggs with letters on them to solve the hidden message.
Class groups also showed their creativity in decorated hat and Easter garden competitions with eggs awarded to those judged the most imaginative.
It was a difficult task to select the winners with hats of all shapes and sizes featuring colourful eggs, spring lambs, bunnies, chicks, ribbons, bow and large floppy rabbit ears. The mini gardens ranged from detailed entries with a pond, bridge, and creatures in a spring meadow to the simple idea of two bunnies snuggling up in a nest.
Children were shown a special ‘Easter Cracked’ video that explained and celebrated the Christian beliefs behind the festival. They also enjoyed a virtual assembly linking Easter to their own lives and how things might be different this year due to the pandemic.
And the final singing assembly of the term celebrated all things Easter and spring with a collection of popular hymns and songs including Give Me Oil In My Lamp, Water Of Life, Morning Has Broken, Lord Of The Dance and He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands.
Each pupil was given a cream egg or similar as a little gift to wish them a Happy Easter as they headed for their school holidays.
Mr Stokes added: “Kindness and caring, thinking of others, demonstrating creativity, celebrating the Easter religious festival, enjoying a sing-along, and generally having a fun time – it was a lovely way for our school community to celebrate our special togetherness at Newington.”