The current global health pandemic has been challenging for both adults and children, putting pressures on mental and emotional health, and disrupting normal routines and lives.
Circles of CARE is a comprehensive programme, especially designed to help your school community to recover and connect with each other.
It has been developed by The Big Think curriculum developer, Sarah Pengelly, and her team. In the spirit of togetherness and living our values, we are offering this programme as a free resource for schools.
The Big Think’s proven and unique approach to education combines values, dialogue and creative multi-media resources to help support both children and adults. Now more than ever we need to connect to our values to help guide and support us through these difficult and turbulent times.
The Big Think programme uses a combination of individual and group activities to support children exploring challenging issues, whilst developing essential skills such as listening, critical thinking, empathy and collaboration.
Using four of our five core values (Community, Love, Peace, Truth & Responsibility) the Circles of CARE programme asks 4 big questions:
Community:
What are your hopes for how we reconnect as a school community?
Appreciation:
Do you notice and appreciate anything new since being in lockdown?
Resilience:
Do you try to keep on going even when you are having a hard time?
Empathy?
Have you been able to show empathy to others in lockdown?
Circles of CARE focuses on 4 core values shared by the whole school to support every child in their individual process of recovering from the loss experienced as a result of COVID-19 (such as loss of routine and structure, friendships, freedom, or even grief). Together we acknowledge this loss and support one another to begin the journey to recovery.
Circles of CARE also supports children in the collective process of connecting in healthy, understanding ways with their friends, teachers and wider school community, and encourages everyone to imagine a hopeful future.