Courtney Tulloch, Juliet Benis and deputy headteacher Sandeep McNichol with pupils at Ambler Primary School
A PRIMARY school raised £900 as part of an “empathy day”.
Ambler Primary School held the fundraiser last Friday, with children taking part in a sponsored exercise challenge led by British Commonwealth Games Champion gymnast Courtney Tulloch.
Sixty per cent of the money raised, or £540, will go towards funding an “empathy library” for the school while 40 per cent, or £360, will support emerging athletes.
The library will be stocked full of books promoting the theme of empathy.
In the wake of the pandemic, the school is re-centring its “DREAMS” learning philosophy – which now stands for Determination, Resilience, Empathy, Motivation And Self-belief – to highlight the importance of empathy.
Headteacher Juliet Benis said: “During the Covid period, when there was so much going on about everybody having a very different circumstance, a very different lockdown experience, all sorts of things came out for our families during that time.
“We wanted to think about how our children develop an understanding of other people’s lives and situations.”
She added: “This is the beginning of our launch and working towards that, so that the children really have a vocabulary and understanding of how to support other people’s situations.
“I think Covid made [the children] more aware of people’s differences and needs, and the idea of being able to label and talk about emotions and feelings.”
Mr Tulloch said: “Empathy is important because in sport and in life you have so many ups and downs and without people there to encourage you through those hard times and support you – I wouldn’t know where I’d be without that in my career.”