Each year in November, Wells Bang Na celebrates Gratitude Month. This celebration is an important part of our socio-emotional learning, and a chance to explore kindness, resilience, friendship and more. This year marked our fourth Gratitude Month event, and our theme was “Growing in Gratitude”, with students following this journey of growth over the four weeks.
Starting with “Planting Seeds of Gratitude”, each class planted beans together, to watch them sprout and grow throughout the month. They also created a gratitude garden of flowers, each petal representing the ways in which they have grown over the year so far, celebrating semester one’s progress. This was a wonderful opportunity to consider individual growth and the goals that students have been working towards.
The second week of gratitude month was about “Nurturing Gratitude” – how does gratitude grow, and how does it affect our relationships? Students created beautiful compliment hearts to express their gratitude to each other, bringing smiles to many faces! This activity focused on kindness, friendship, and how relationships can bloom when nurtured through small acts of kindness.
In the third week, we were “Growing Through Adversity”. From math problems to tower building and more, our students were faced with different challenges that forced them to overcome problems together and practice gratitude. Each class had a challenge specifically chosen for their interests and skill set. Through this, they learned about teamwork and the importance of a growth mindset.
Finally, in week four, we celebrated “Gratitude in Bloom”. Our classes paired together to celebrate the concept of gratitude and its positive effect on our community. Older students worked with younger ones to share what they learned throughout the month, creating a beautiful display of all the month’s learning, and displaying final thoughts on a gratitude tree in the playground. Primary classes also took the opportunity to show gratitude to people in the school community, through writing poems, songs, letters and more.
The skills our students practiced and learned this week will help them continue to devel op as caring and reflective learners, who are prepared to take on challenges in the world around them.
