The Child’s Voice project is generously funded by a Chanel 7 Telethon Trust 2020 Grant
On the Sunday the 17th of October 2021, The Thoughtful Schools team attended the Telethon Family Festival. Our booth, operated by our friendly team was asking kids what they loved and didn’t love so much about school! The kids shared their experiences with their education and let us know what they thought would make it better.
We also talked with parents about what we at the Thoughtful Schools Program are doing to bring restorative practices into schools. Sharing what role they can play in moving towards a better education system for everyone.
While we talked the kids coloured in their own Thoughtful Schools hearts and entered them into a competition to receive a whole bunch of super awesome prizes! Below are some of our favourite drawings and quotes from the kids, check them out ⬇⬇⬇
“I like when I get to go home”
An insightful view probably shared by a lot of teachers too!
“I like having a community of people”
“I like seeing my friends”
A popular quote from 35 young children
“I like learning and having teachers who support me and help me towards my future”
” I like all the new things I learn”
We also asked the kids what they didn’t like so much about school.
Exploring what schools can do better to make education more engaging. Here are some of our favourite responses!
“Maths”
A succinct and popular response from 19 students
“The year 4 boys”
A very specific response from a particularly talkative young lady
“Homework”
Another popular option from 9 students
There were also some very heart felt responses from some of our younger participants
“Having to stay away from my family”
“People not being kind”
“No parents and no huggies”
Possibly my favourite
And we had some other quotes that brought up concerning but not surprising issues in our school system
“Lacking of individual attention from staff”
“I don’t like going to school”
“Having to sit in a chair all day”
“I don’t like bullies”
A responses from 10 students
And some responses that seemed to share a reoccurring theme
“It is on for too long”
“School goes for a long time”
“Feels like a long day as we have to do lots of work”
We received a lot of responses throughout day both painting a positive light on education system and some that highlighted some sound suggestions for change.
Finishing on a positive note, when asked what they didn’t like about school 7 of the children replied:
“Nothing”
A quote from 7 students.
Lets work together to make that number grow!
Love from the Thoughtful Schools Team!
