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St Roch’s Reads: June

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Empathy Day 12th June

Empathy Day is a day dedicated to celebrating and promoting empathy, particularly through the power of stories. It encourages individuals of all ages to develop their empathy skills by understanding and sharing the feelings and experiences of others.

Books and storytelling are central to Empathy Day, as reading can help individuals develop empathy by helping us to experience different perspectives. Empathy Lab Uk provided lots of free activities and resources for taking part in your school. In St Roch’s, we created an ’empathy bookshelf’, full of titles recommended in the read for empathy guide. Pupils shared author quotes on the tannoy, explaining what empathy is and the power of reading for empathy. We also had some fun class activities, creating colourful Emotion Maps to explore all the feelings that crop up in a day. 

Titles from the Read for Empathy collections are available free to download on the digital library. You can browse a selection on our library Padlet here. 

Reading Schools: Waterstones visit

As part of our Reading Schools journey, this month the leadership team went on trip to Waterstones to give pupils a chance to choose their own library stock. Pupils were given a budget and tasked with choosing new books they thought their peers would like to read. They put a lot of thought into choosing, asking classmates in advance for requests and putting their booktok knowledge to good use. It was a fantastic day out, Waterstones is a beautiful book shop with a great stock selection and very helpful staff. The reading leadership group had a great time and did a wonderful job, the books have been super popular.

Library Assistant Awards

We had our library team end of year party this month, and what a celebration it was. Pupils worked hard for months to complete tasks on their bingo sheets and I was very impressed with how many boxes were ticked! We had a prize raffle for pupils who completed a line or ten boxes and special prizes for the Bingo Champions. Congratulations to Iman and Roya for being the absolute best Bingo-ers, completing every box on the sheet.

Some pupil volunteers also received Library Assistant Awards. The awards acknowledge pupils’ commitment, responsibility and dedication to their library assistant role.  To achieve the awards they have given their time to work on reading projects, create displays, act as mentors and care for library areas. Pupils received a certificate, goody bag and a pin to reflect their bronze, silver or gold awards. Congratulations to all our award winners (particularly to Ore for silver and Iman for gold), who have now been promoted to senior assistants. You should be very proud of yourselves!

 

 

 

 

 

 

That’s it for this term, have a great summer everyone. Happy reading!

St Roch’s Reads: June

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What’s happening in St Roch’s library as we reach the end of another school year

Empathy Day

Taking place in June every year, Empathy Day celebrates and grows empathy’s power to create a better world. It shines a light on books’ role in raising an empathy-educated generation. through stories, and to put empathy into action! 

This year we marked empathy day with an Empathy Bookshelf display and  Empathy Reads noticeboard. The library volunteers did a wonderful job on their corridor display.  

Ms Wood’s S2 class also joined in an Empathy Day activity session. We listened to ‘The piano at the station’ a story by Helen Rutter from the empathy shorts collection. We then spoke in groups about the story, using conversation prompts then helped us think about the experience and emotions of characters.  Afterwards we broke out the art supplies and created colourful emotion maps, describing our own feelings from the day or imagining what the characters were feeling in the story. There are lots of great activities and samples in the annual Empathy Day resource pack and on their website including a great selection of short stories from fantastic authors.  

Storytelling group 

We also had our final story group of the year! Our groups in S1 and S2 take part in creative activities focused on storytelling which can help pupils to recognize their emotions and express themselves. 

For our last sessions pupils picked an emotion off the feelings wheel, imagined that emotion as a character and then wrote a descriptive poem. Afterwards we used modelling clay or lego to build our poem character. This session was based on poetry prompts shared by Waterstones Children’s Laureate 2023 Joseph Coelho.

Library Volunteers

As term finished, we celebrated a year of hard work from our volunteer team with a pizza party and movie screening. Everyone was a great help in the library over the year but a few pupils went above and beyond and earned their first Library Assistant Award. Well done to Raya, Ore, Rose, Ava, Roya and Msgana. And a big thank you to our HT Mr Herron for providing the pizza and snacks, which went down very well!  What a great end to the school year. 

Discovering the Power of #MuslimStories

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November is a month of immense significance, where we come together to celebrate Empathy Action Month and Islamophobia Awareness Month. These initiatives promote empathy, understanding, and tolerance towards people of all backgrounds, specifically focused on dispelling myths and educating ourselves about Islamophobia. This year, the theme for the Islamophobia Awareness campaign is #MuslimStories, emphasising the power of storytelling and reading to cultivate empathy and open-mindedness.

Stories hold tremendous potential to bridge gaps and foster empathy. They transcend boundaries, allowing us to explore the lives of others and challenge our preconceptions. By delving into #MuslimStories, we gain insights into the diverse experiences and perspectives within the Muslim community, breaking down stereotypes and fostering understanding.

In our school library, we are proud to support this cause by curating a collection of books that highlight Muslim experiences. These titles provide a platform for authentic voices, showcasing the beauty, resilience, and struggles of individuals from different backgrounds, helping us better understand their stories. As we immerse ourselves in these narratives, we begin to see beyond the headlines, beyond the biases, and into the rich tapestry of human experiences.

Reading these stories not only raises awareness about Islamophobia but also cultivates empathy within us. Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of others – a skill that can be honed through reading. By temporarily stepping into someone else’s shoes, we develop a more open-minded and tolerant perspective towards people who may seem different from us. As our empathy grows, misconceptions fade, and prejudice diminishes.

This month, let us engage in conversations that challenge our own assumptions and encourage a deeper understanding of Muslim stories. Through book clubs, discussions, and even creative writing sessions, we can create empathetic spaces where we can learn, reflect, and celebrate the vast diversity within the Muslim community.

Together, as we embrace Empathy Action Month and Islamophobia Awareness Month, let us recognise the power of storytelling and reading. By delving into #MuslimStories, we can take a step towards a more inclusive and compassionate society, where every voice is valued, respected, and understood.

This year’s Read for Empathy collection can be found here; and if you’d like to try a book that spotlights Muslim experiences, you can find some curated lists here, here, and here.