People Development Through Innovative Initiatives
Global Indian International School
In conjunction with the ‘Peace Curriculum’ at GIIS, the ‘Kindness Movement’ teaches students on how to lead a responsible life imbued with a spirit of understanding, peace, tolerance, equality and racial harmony.
INTRODUCTION
Kindness – by virtue – is a part of an individual’s overall personality. However, in practice, it shapes an everlasting impression in the minds of others and creates a happy environment. Global Indian International School (GIIS) believes that kindness goes a long way in shaping students’ attitudes and better achieving learning outcomes. They are exposed to a culture of kindness through daily deeds of compassion. The school’s ‘Kindness Movement’ is driven by its community of students, parents and teachers, which has proven fruitful in nurturing ‘care’ and ‘empathy’ among young minds.In conjunction with the ‘Peace Curriculum’ at GIIS, the ‘Kindness Movement’ teaches students on how to lead a responsible life imbued with a spirit of understanding, peace, tolerance, equality and racial harmony. Inspired by tenets and life of the father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi, the movement bears significance to the vision, mission and core values of the school. Moreover, as testament to the programme’s importance, it has been designated as a compulsory learning component for every student of GIIS from classes 1 to 8.
FRAMEWORK AND STRATEGY
The element of cooperation in the ‘Kindness Movement’ manifests itself across several school activities conducted at the GIIS campuses in Singapore. As part of this ongoing quest to groom its students into responsible citizens, the school’s academic team has opted for a dynamic approach involving a broad range of interactive activities. Workshops, sharing sessions, stage performances and hands-on community projects are some of the educational programmes that are regularly organised to give students the opportunity to practice kindness in their daily lives.An example of students drawing inspiration from someone around the school took place at one of GIIS’ campuses in 2015. One of the school helpers demonstrated the value of compassion to students through a bird show that saw him interacting closely with a flock of pigeons. More importantly, he inspired students to make conscious attempts at similar acts of kindness that will teach them the value of humanity, generosity and compassion.
ACHIEVEMENT AND IMPACT
Akin to their cohorts, all GIIS students enjoy a close relationship with their in-house support staff. Every year, a special assembly is held by students to thank school cleaners for their contributions. This initiative has been welcomed by the ‘Restroom Association of Singapore’, and led to their decision to award GIIS campuses with a Gold Star award under the Sustaining Toilets As Restrooms (STAR) programme.At GIIS, kindness is connected to happiness. As part of the ‘Smile-O-meter’ initiative by the school’s teachers, all classes are now graded based on their behaviour and courtesy displayed during their time together in the daily log. This enables students to observe, analyse and modify their behaviour accordingly.
The secondary-level students were given the opportunity to present the ‘Smile-O-Meter’ at the 6th Annual Design for Change Singapore Challenge, and it was among the top three prize winners at ‘Be the Change Exposition’ 2015 on 12 November 2015, which was held at the Suntec City Convention Centre in Singapore.
FUTURE DIRECTION
The ‘Kindness Movement’ has influenced students, parents and staff of all campuses in Singapore. The Movement was also initiated at GIIS’ campus in Malaysia in 2015. The school aims to create more than 10,000,000 social impacts by implementing this initiative across its 20 campuses worldwide within the next five years.This nurturing endeavour has yielded phenomenal success by enabling the school to win an appreciable number of international accolades. Some of these prestigious awards include the ‘Friend of Singa’ Gold Award (2013, 2014 & 2015), Team Excellence Exchange Contest Encouragement Prize at the 21st Asia Pacific Quality Conference 2015, and the Golden Peacock Innovative Product/Service Award (2015). World Education Award 2016, a prestigious award for Pro-Active Initiative in Education was also received by GIIS to acknowledge the school’s ongoing CSR movement, among other awards and accolades.
Global Indian International School (GIIS) – established under the guiding principles of Global Schools Foundation – is an international network of award-winning schools, with 20 campuses in seven countries. GIIS has been honoured with 58 international and national awards over a span of 8 years for achieving excellence in school education. Today, the school boasts a strong multicultural student body, as children from diverse nationalities have enrolled across its campuses.
