Our students are responsible, ambitious and very friendly young people. They prioritise human relationships. That is why they have created such a governing body in the school as the Student Council. The members of the council eliminate misunderstandings between their peers, as well as organise events to maintain team spirit and create an atmosphere of cooperation.

Gleb, one of the Council members, explains the importance of their mission this way: ‘Cold relationships with teachers are bad. But it's worse when you have poor communication with your classmates. Our peers are a big part of our school life. We spend all day with them and meet them in other areas of life. We just have to learn how to find common ground. If we don't learn to do that with our peers, how are we going to cooperate with people of other ages?’

Students from the Council believe that the key to successful communication is kindness. That's why they have introduced several ways to support each other. One of them is help with homework. Any pupil can approach a member of the Council with a question about how to solve a task and get some recommendations. It is important that the help here is peer to peer. Thanks to this, children are no longer shy to ask questions, they go towards each other and explain complicated topics in an accessible way. The school is becoming a really cosy place!

The children are taking this way of communicating beyond the walls of the school. In after-school clubs and competitions, in spontaneous conversations with strangers they always try to show by their example that human is a friend to human. As a result, their intentions influence the entire city community!

There is scientific proof of this global influence. Research conducted by Dr Havkes of Oxford University has shown that teaching values such as kindness and mutual help in schools not only develops positive qualities in children, but also has an effect on their parents. Adults see a young, but already very polite and sensible person in front of them, and they themselves start to care more about each other and create a pleasant atmosphere in their social circle.

Thus, children make a huge contribution to the community, although they may not notice it. And we at CIS support their initiatives in every way possible!

‘The lighthouse doesn't run all along the coast looking for a boat to rescue. It just stands in one place and shines.’

© Anne Lamott