The children in the Pre-Prep at Cargilfield love it when Mr Taylor pops in for an assembly and mentions his three school rules. Everyone from Primary One to Primary Three choruses Rule 1-Be kind, Rule 2-Be kind, Rule 3-Be kind.
For teachers of young children there are few more important rules to teach to any age of child.
Be kind to the other children in your class. You will make more friends if you behave like this and you will feel really good about yourself.
Be kind to other children in school including brothers and sisters! Treat other children the way you would like to be treated yourself.
Be kind to adults who work in school. Be polite, friendly and helpful to grown ups who work with you and you will find life will go more smoothly.
Be kind to mum and dad. You love them, so show it with your behaviour to them. Try to do what they ask you to do and see if there is anything you could do to help them to make their life easier. Just give them a hug now and again!
Be kind to yourself. Get enough sleep, don’t spend too much time online, eat healthily and play outside often.
For teachers of young children there are few more important rules to stick to when working with any age of child. This doesn’t mean spoiling the children or excusing unpleasant behaviour, but dealing with issues and talking them through instead of just reprimanding pupils when things go wrong. Children usually misbehave for a reason, whether it is boredom, frustration, reacting to another’s behaviour towards them or just waking up in a bad mood.
Be kind to the children in your class. Body language, tone of voice and eye contact are so important to demonstrate to the children that you are really listening to them and that what they say and think really matters to you. They may be young, but they can tell if you are really fully engaged in their communication. Greeting them in the mornings and having an individual conversation makes them feel an instant connection each day.
Be kind to the children you come into contact with each day. In the same way engage with other children in the school, comment positively on behaviour, uniform etc and develop a positive relationship with others. If you can’t say something positive try to use constructive criticism.
Be kind to your colleagues and ancillary staff. However busy you are, make the time to socialise at some point in your working day. Find out a little about your colleagues so that you understand what they are dealing with when they leave school each day –young children, older relatives, medical issues or financial problems.
Be kind to the parents of children in your care. Be understanding if they are grumpy or have forgotten their child’s kit and homework for the third time that week. They may be juggling other children, stressful times at work or difficult emotional issues. Keep them informed of school events coming up and give them honest feedback about their child regularly making sure they are aware of day to day activities in class.
Be kind to yourself. Make sure you have time for yourself and have life outside school. Whether you choose to pamper yourself at a spa, push yourself physically with sport or exercise, singing in a choir, playing in an orchestra, watching a movie, climbing a hill, reading a bestseller, having a great meal, knitting a jumper or retail therapy. It makes such a difference if the teacher comes in fresh each day with a positive response to their day in the classroom.
Leading by example is essential of course-be kind, be kind, be kind.
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Welcome to Cargilfield! We hope this short film gives you a glimpse of what life is like for the girls and boys at our school. We would love to welcome you in person to tour Cargilfield and explain more fully exactly what makes a Cargilfield education so special and so different. Please get in touch with Fiona Craig, our Registrar if you would like to find out more; her email address is [email protected] or you can telephone her on 0131 336 2207.