Roots of Empathy: 'Teaching' babies for more schools in Wales

Sophia Hazell said the children have formed a bond with her baby Joey-Jack

He is the newest and smallest member of class but baby Joey-Jack has played a big part in helping pupils at a Cardiff primary school better understand emotions.

Now children's charity Action for Children is to extend its Roots of Empathy programme, which has seen babies brought into city schools over the last few months.

The idea is to encourage children to bring out their gentler, nurturing side after watching a parent and baby in class.

Joey-Jack was just two months old when his mother Sophia Hazell first introduced him to pupils in Year 5 at Bryn Celyn Primary School in Pentwyn last September.

Since then, they have visited a number of times, giving pupils the chance to watch Joey-Jack grow and form a bond.

"They tend to do activities around what they think Joey-Jack will be doing the next time they see him," said Ms Hazell.

"They then compare what they thought with how he has developed when they next see him. This allows a bond to develop with him and then that turns into empathy."

Introducing foods

Each school group has 27 sessions over the academic year, though the mother and baby are not present for all of them.

The charity now plans to roll out the scheme to primary schools in the Vale of Glamorgan and Neath Port Talbot.

Steph Jones, a support worker for Action for Children, coordinates Roots of Empathy across Wales. She explained why the age of the baby involved is so important.

"The baby at the beginning of the session needs to be between two and four months old, primary so that its ages and stages of development follow the curriculum of programme," she said.

"One of the experiments we do is with introducing new foods to Joey-Jack in front of the class as he grows older and they watch his reaction.

"If they baby was younger we might not be able to do this, if older then we might not be able to find a suitable food."

The children were first introduced to Joey-Jack when he was two months old

Ms Jones said the baby is essentially the teacher of the class.

"The baby is the vehicle that we use to help the children question how they want to feel about themselves and how they should relate to other people," she added.

During each class where the baby is present, the children greet him and his mother with a welcome song sung in soft tones.

Ms Hazell said this is one way the children learn to modify their behaviour to make the baby feel safe and comfortable in their presence.

"They learn not to raise their voices and shout around Joey-Jack and how gentle they have to be if they touch him," she said.

Ms Hazell is currently on maternity leave from her role as a teaching assistant at Bryn Celyn.

She said through the course she has seen a change in the behaviour of the children who have taken part.

"It's made them more mature and I see more of their caring side," she added.

"They have a better understanding now of how much you have to look after children now."

Positive impact

Roots of Empathy was pioneered in Canada and since 1996 more than 50,000 children across the world have taken part.

Action for Children says it has been extensively evaluated and is shown to have a long-lasting positive impact on the behaviour of pupils.

A report in 2009 showed the programme increased helping behaviour in 78% of children, increased peer acceptance in 74% and decreased social aggression in 39% of students who took part.

The pupils appear more mature after spending time with the baby

Ten year olds Caitlin and Jordan-Lee are two pupils who have taken part in the programme at Bryn Celyn Primary School.

They said they enjoyed having Joey-Jack visit the class.

"He's very joyful when he comes and I like seeing how he's changed," Caitlin said.

While Jordan said he had learnt how to make the baby feel comfortable in the class.

"Some of us sometimes liked to play rough with our friends, but since Joey-Jack we've learnt how to be gentle and how to treat guests," he said.

Action for Children says over the next three years, 2,000 children across Wales will take part in the programme which is funded by support from the Big Lottery.