A special assembly

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Place2Be’s royal patron HRH The Duchess of Cambridge will lead an online assembly for the Oak National Academy today  (Thursday 18 June), during which she will speak about the importance of children’s mental wellbeing.

HRH leading virtual assembly

The theme of The Duchess’ assembly is ‘spread a little kindness’ and it is based on a lesson plan developed by Place2Be which is available on the Mentally Healthy Schools platform.The assembly encourages children to explore ways in which they can show kindness and recognise the benefits of kindness to others.

Oak National Academy is an online classroom providing video lessons and free resources to parents and teachers. It was created in response to the lockdown, supporting teachers educating their pupils remotely, and since its launch has delivered over 12 million lessons to children and young people.

During the assembly, The Duchess will say:

“Talking to someone, whether it’s a friend, family member, or teacher, is something you can do to make yourself feel that little bit better. And you can also play your part in helping others to feel better too, whether offering a friendly ear, or helping someone in need. Small acts of kindness can go such a long way. But as we help others, we mustn’t forget to nurture ourselves, by taking the time to focus on the things that make us feel happy too.”

As part of the assembly, The Duchess joined a video call with students from Waterloo Primary Academy in Blackpool, whose parents have been working on the frontline during the coronavirus pandemic. The children shared photographs they had taken and submitted to The Duchess’s Hold Still photography project, based around one of its central themes, ‘Acts of Kindness,’ and discussed some of the ways they had been spreading kindness themselves in recent weeks.

The assembly will live on the Oak National Academy website on Thursday 18th June.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AI8ox2bX_rQ