The Empathys
The Empathys
‘The Empathys’ is the secondary school version of the Empathy Awards. Although the accompanying resources are visually different to reflect the slightly older audience at KS3, the principles behind the activity remain generally the same.
Pupils select the characters they have encountered in the books they have read and nominate characters who they feel have demonstrated empathy within the story using the nominations form. Nominations are then collated and a shortlist published, either by staff in school or ideally by a pupil panel. This can be done either at class or even year group level once you are feeling confident with the process.
Pupils or groups who have nominated a character can then present their reasons for nomination to their peers and campaign on their characters behalf for them to win. Depending on your school situation, you may choose to hold a traditional ‘voting day’ (for which resources are available in the Empathy Activists kitbag) or voting can be done electronically using a simple electronic form.
For your ceremony, you may (as with the primary version of the awards) choose to make a grand event as an assembly or keep the awards within a classroom structure - either way, it’s an opportunity to really celebrate your pupils’ creativity to make a glamorous event that celebrates the empathy you’ve found in the stories you’ve read together.
We have a wide selection of resources available to help you out with the visuals.
You can find them here.
