Charity crowns school 'kindest' in the UK

A school has been crowned the kindest in the UK by a national charity.

East Hunsbury Primary in Northampton, which has 450 pupils, has designated kindness ambassadors and holds regular wellbeing sessions.

The charity 52 Lives has given it the Kind School Award, which recognises "creating and embedding a culture of kindness".

"'Be kind' is their school motto, and that is incredible. It's so lovely to be here and see it in action," said Greig Trout, from the charity.

The primary's mental health lead, Kelly Roberts, said getting the award was "really affirming".

"It cements our passion as a school to teach our children to be kind and to keep on moving forwards with that," she added.

The charity got its name because every week it chooses someone in need of support and shares their story on its website, connecting them with people who can offer help.

Its website states it aims to spread kindness and "empower children by helping them to realise that the little choices they make every day have the power to change people's lives".

The school was presented with the award by 52 Lives' School of Kindness team.

Jaime Thurston, also from 52 Lives, said "at the School of Kindness we believe that kind is the most important thing a child can be".

It gives free workshops at primary schools and offers offers grants to children with "ideas for spreading kindness" in their school or community.

The school's designated kindness ambassadors are pupils who focus on helping with the wellbeing of their peers.

One of them is 11-year-old Freya, who said her job was to "make sure everyone is safe, happy and secure".

Noah, 10, said "out of all those thousands of schools, we have one of the kindest".

He added: "I'm just really proud of our school."

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