Kate Middleton leads school assembly on kindness and tells children to ‘nurture’ themselves
'You can also play your part in helping others to feel better too, whether offering a friendly ear, or helping someone in need,' says the Duchess
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Your support makes all the difference.The Duchess of Cambridge is leading an assembly for school children on Thursday 18 June, focusing on the theme of kindness and mental wellbeing.
In a preview clip, Kate Middleton tells the children at Oak National Academy, to “spread a little kindness” and encourages listeners to talk to each other and share their problems.
“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,” says the Duchess.
“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.”
While focusing on the importance of supporting others, the Duchess also says we “mustn’t forget to nurture ourselves” and take time out to “focus on things that make us feel happy too”.
The whole assembly will be streamed live online from 11am on Thursday, and was originally made for students at the Oak National Academy.
The Oak National Academy is an online classroom that provides lessons via video to parents and teachers, and was started at the beginning of lockdown in the UK on 23 March.
It has delivered over 12 million lessons, and every Thursday morning hosts an assembly.
As part of this week’s assembly the Duchess also joined a video call with students from Waterloo Primary Academy in Blackpool, speaking with students whose parents have been working on the coronavirus frontline during the pandemic.
In the segment, the Duchess asks the children: “What is kindness?”, to which one replies: “Sharing, that is kindness.”
The statement was pre-recorded at Anmer Hall in Norfolk last week, in coordination with Place2Be charity, as part of the Cambridge’s ongoing mental health work.
On Wednesday Prince William made his first in-person visit since the start of lockdown, to meet with ambulance workers.
He told them: “I’m still fighting the urge to shake hands,” he said. “I’m keeping my hands by my side.”
Last week the Duke spoke to footballers about the importance of mental health in sport, as the Premier League returns on Wednesday, via a Zoom video call.
In 2018 Kate Middleton founded the Mentally Healthy Schools site as part of a campaign on children’s mental health.
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