SYMPOSIUM: EMPATHY n Thursday 27 April saw the Junior Schools at both Dulwich College and James Allen’s Girls School demonstrate empathy in abundance as the pupils enjoyed the Junior School Symposium once more.
empathy when the whole session was conducted without speaking.
Years 3 and 5 spent their day at JAGS and took part in workshops including: Dramatic Empathy, the Rookie Lifeguard Programme, the science behind how our brain can develop greater empathy, what it would be like to live without any money, learning about Plutchik’s Emotion Wheel, and an author talk from Penny Chrimes to name but a few. When the pupils arrived back on campus in the afternoon, it was evident that they had gained a huge amount from their experience as they passionately shared what they had learned and who they had met and worked with. Whilst there were many special moments from the day, the subject of ‘Empathy’ chimed very deeply with our values and the connection between the two schools, and it was lovely to see the boys and girls learning and playing collaboratively. With thanks to pupils and staff from Dulwich College and JAGS for making the day such a success and a wonderful celebration of Free Learning.
The theme of ‘Empathy’ proved to be a very thought provoking choice with a wide variety of challenging and stimulating sessions on offer, led by both Junior and Senior School staff here and at JAGS.
Right from the beginning the pupils from Years 4 and 6 were instantly absorbed with the headline act, as Pippa Church, a professional puppeteer, wowed us with her puppetry skills. Using just a piece of newspaper, she created a puppet that then told a story and this allowed everyone to explore how we communicate and recognise emotions - it was a poignant and very special opening. Working collaboratively in their groups to question, analyse, experiment, debate and create, the pupils then moved off to various workshops. Some of these included living like a Roman soldier, making expressions through clay, composing emotions on GarageBand, dancing in someone else’s shoes, the psychology of altruism, understanding the behaviour of chameleons, and silent
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