On Monday 29 January 2024, Reigate Grammar School’s annual Kindness Festival begun. The Festival has been promoting kindness and respect throughout the community with a range of activities and events. These included a Kindness Card Competition and a chance to nominate unsung heroes.

Before lessons this week, students have been completing kindness cards for each member of their form. Everyone filled in a kind message in each person’s kindness card, so that everyone ended up with a card full of positive messages about themselves. This brightened everyone’s day as they started the day with many thoughtful messages from their peers that helped to boost self-esteem. There are also kindness decorations in the school library, such as paper chains with positive words on them such as ‘empathy’ and ‘together’.

Rosanna C, a student who has been enjoying the festival said ‘It was so nice to see members of the school family coming together in such a positive way for the festival. In the Kindness Cards, I found it comforting to have everyone acknowledge each other in kind ways.’

Students also had the opportunity to complete a form to nominate people who have helped someone or contributed to the school community by performing random acts of kindness. These heroes then received a letter of recognition for performing the deeds that although are unseen, are just as vital to the community.

The Festival was a lovely way to celebrate kindness and remind us of its importance . Even though the Kindness Festival is only one month, it reminds us that it costs nothing to be kind throughout the year.