Category: Volunteering

Swee Goh: Q+A with our award-winning ethics volunteer
Swee Goh, Jill Kinghorn and Bruce Hogan.

Swee Goh is the inaugural winner of the Kinghorn Award for ethics volunteers. Swee is the manager for the ethics program Ryde region in inner northwest Sydney.

Swee was presented with her framed certificate in our office by Bruce Hogan, Chair of the Primary Ethics Board, and Jill Kinghorn, one of our chief supporters.

Swee also wins $4000 to direct to the schools of her choice. Some of that money is going to a very supportive school in her Ryde region, Smalls Road Public School (see page 5). She also wanted to give to a school that had been badly affected by floods – Mullumbimby Public School (see page 2) in the northern rivers.

This school was closed for several months while they waited for flood waters to recede and basic repairs to be made. Children were allocated to attend nearby schools. Obviously, there was no ethics program at all in 2022, though we are hoping it is able to restart in 2023.

Warm thanks go to Swee for nominating a school outside her region to receive prize money. We’re very impressed that she chose to assist students in a flood-affected area. Not just ethics students, but all students at the school will benefit. This is why Swee deserves to win the Kinghorn Award – to be recognised and valued for the wonderful work she does as an ethics volunteer and to acknowledge the amazing person she is!

“If I had to pick one person to start Primary Ethics from scratch tomorrow, Swee would be the first volunteer I would contact” – Primary Ethics staff member

Swee has built and maintained an outstanding ethics program in the Ryde region. She has recruited volunteers tirelessly to build the program to where it is today. Due primarily to her efforts, almost every parent in Ryde currently has the option of choosing ethics for their children. Swee is currently responsible for ethics programs in 12 schools. She regularly teaches at three schools and has taught at all others in the region. She manages 11 coordinators and 62 teachers supplying 64 classes, which approximates to more than 1000 students receiving ethics lessons on her watch each week. 

Swee Goh

Q+A with Swee

What motivates you to volunteer?

I find being an ethics volunteer extremely satisfying as I am working with fellow volunteers and a supportive and professional organisation. They all share the same interest, passion and commitment to bringing ethics education to children in primary schools. They are doing it because they want to!

Working as a relief ethics teacher in a number of schools in the Ryde region over the years has given me the opportunity to teach children from Kindergarten to Year 6. This has given me a deep appreciation for how they interact at different ages and how age-appropriate our ethics curriculum is. Across all primary ages, ethics classes provide a safe and friendly environment for students to express themselves, as there are no right or wrong answers. I very much enjoy teaching ethics because the children are encouraged to think freely and reason critically in expressing their opinions and ideas and to disagree respectfully, not just take what others say for granted. Engaging children this way in lively class discussions keeps me coming back for more!

What drew you to ethics volunteering?

I was looking for something to do after my retirement as a state operations manager in the Department of Education, where my responsibilities involved the regulatory compliance and assessment of early childhood education services in NSW. My earliest career role was an early childhood teacher, before I joined the NSW public service and diversified into areas of policy, child protection early intervention, funding and project management and regulatory compliance. Volunteering with Primary Ethics drew me back to my first role as a teacher and my experience as a manager. The big difference is working with people who want to do what they do and not because they are paid to do it!

What’s your response to winning the Kinghorn Award?

I am very humbled and honoured to receive this award as I know there are many other worthy nominees. I accept this award on behalf of all the Ryde region volunteers, especially the coordinators, as without their support and contribution I would not be able to do my job.

Thank you to the all Primary Ethics staff who are always there to help, support and guide me and answer my many questions, sometimes many times!

‘We need to do better for our children’s future’
Shane Arthurson with the ethics discussion rules

My first class of ethics for the year takes place this week. Reading the rules before this first lesson reminded me of some thoughts I had last year when I was visiting Parliament in Canberra.

By Shane Arthurson

I’m a volunteer ethics teacher at a school on Sydney’s northern beaches. My daughter is in Year 1 and I teach her class.

I am very proud and very happy to teach ethics. It’s a beautiful program tackling ethical dilemmas and teaching the children to stay curious and respectful as we debate, reason and talk to others about complex issues. It is right that we teach our young children ethics and with discussion rules such as these.

As a sad observation though, I was in Canberra last year with my wife who was part of a group petitioning for increased parental leave. Inside the Parliament, I couldn’t help but notice that question time violated all our ethics rules in the first few seconds. It was a horrific display of heckling, put downs, talking over one another… There was no orderly debate and no intelligent discussion about the matter, nor any progress or resolve.

Furthermore, I looked up and saw school children observing the leaders of our country behaving in such a manner. It didn’t shock me but it did disappoint me.

The leaders of our country are role models for our children, amongst other things, we need them to do better and to demonstrate behaviour we would be proud to see in our children. If we want a better society we have to act better. These children are tomorrow’s leaders and decision makers.

This behaviour does not add to social progress and actually takes us backwards.

All the more motivation for me to keep teaching ethics!

‘Bump’ does ethics

A number of Primary Ethics volunteers and staff noticed during the New Year break that Bump, a popular Australian series which began streaming its third season on Stan on Boxing Day 2022, has incorporated an ethics lesson into its storyline.

So I tuned in.

By Susan Ardill, Communications Manager

Bump is a satirical comedy about two young people from very different families who have a baby together. In season 3, the parents, mother Oly and dad Santi, have separated but continue to co-parent. Their daughter is now in kindy at school and Oly is unhappy to discover she is being sent to scripture under the influence of Santi’s family. So when she bumps into another mother who is about to teach ethics, Oly asks if she can sit in and watch.

The Bump ethics lesson is situated firmly in comedic territory and serves the purpose of the episode’s overarching storyline, to highlight the differences in parenting style and family culture between Oly and Santi. The ethics volunteer is immediately set up as a ditzy caricature, confessing to being badly hungover and then not knowing how to respond when the children raise some difficult questions. So Oly responds to them instead – and in doing so, Oly (who does indeed become an ethics volunteer in a later episode) comes to some of her own realisations.

The appeal of the series, which bills itself as a comedy-drama, is in the way it addresses contemporary social life in Sydney, but with tongue in cheek.

Oly, on right, is unsure about the ethics teacher's approach.
Oly, on right, is unsure about the ethics teacher's approach.

Indeed, this scene held my attention – and not just because I’m an ethics volunteer.

Yet I am an ethics volunteer (and Primary Ethics staff member), so I immediately noticed what was unrealistic about this scene, as did everyone who mentioned it to us.

Unreal!

  • The unreality begins with Oly inviting herself along to the lesson! Our volunteers are all fully screened, trained and authorised by Primary Ethics, which is the sole approved provider to the Department of Education to teach ethics in schools. No other parent can come along on the spur of the moment – and then contribute to the lesson!
  • In a real ethics lesson, the teacher isn’t at the front of the class and the children don’t sit in rows. Instead, the children and teacher sit in a circle and build a community of inquiry together. Everyone can see everyone else and this helps with paying attention to whoever is speaking.
  • Teachers don’t ad lib or give their own answers to questions, as both the parents do in this scene. Our lessons – not just the stories that are told, but the questions that are asked – are fully scripted. When children ask questions in a real ethics lesson, they aren’t answered by the teacher, who keeps their views to themselves. Instead, the students are guided with further questions to respond to each other, build on each other’s ideas and answer each other’s questions. Of course, Bump is a tv show, so when the flummoxed teacher turns to Oly and lets her respond to the children, it’s a plot hook, but it’s important to state that this would never happen in a real ethics class.
  • One of the Primary Ethics discussion rules is ‘no putdowns’. When one of the children in this scene says to another “You’re an idiot”, the hapless teacher weakly says “Respectful discussion” – and nothing more. Ethics teachers are trained to manage situations exactly like this and have robust class management strategies to help students discuss and disagree respectfully. We also have a Classroom Support Team to help our volunteers with managing just this kind of classroom retort.
Oly sits in on the ethics class
Oly sits in on the ethics class

I like Bump and found this episode as a whole amusing. It’s good to see an Australian series which seems true to life for contemporary families – even though, as I’ve outlined, it’s not at all true to life when it comes to the Primary Ethics program in schools. I wouldn’t want parents – either those whose children already attend ethics or those who are contemplating choosing the ethics option – to come away from this episode with the impression that ethics lessons are really like this.

I hope it’s clear to the audience that in this scene, the emphasis is very much on entertainment.

To see a real ethics class in action, take a look here: https://primaryethics.com.au/about-ethics-classes/

By Susan Ardill, Primary Ethics Communications Manager

Kate’s story: Providing life skills to our children
Kate Sawtschuk
Kate Sawtschuk

Kate Sawtschuk writes: When I decided to volunteer to be an ethics teacher at our school almost four years ago, I received a serious and foreboding warning from my then eight-year-old daughter: “Teaching kids is tough.” Luckily, I was not discouraged!

Since then, I have taught ethics classes across all ages at Denistone East Public School and am now the ethics coordinator. I could never have imagined how much I would learn and how many rewarding moments it would bring.

Previously, when I had seen Ethics listed on our school Scripture form, I thought it sounded like a class that taught kids about what was right and wrong and what they should think. When a friend of mine became an ethics teacher and actually described it, I found out this could not be further from the truth!

Ethics classes give children a chance to practise skills like taking turns to speak, listening carefully to other students and forming and expressing their own ideas. Lessons are designed to enhance critical thinking and ethical reasoning skills, helping children make decisions based on logic and evidence rather than out of habit or due to peer pressure.

Upon first hearing this, I had two thoughts. The first: I want my own kids to be in ethics classes! The second: I wonder if I could become a volunteer ethics teacher and be involved in teaching them and other kids? I felt it would be the perfect way for me to contribute to the school community, given my limited availability, and would also allow me to become more engaged in the education my children are experiencing.

I enjoy teaching ethics because I find the topics fascinating; the lesson materials really make me think (as well as the children). Over the years, topics I’ve taught include empathy, fairness, being similar and different, good reasons, voting, punishment and vanity. It is incredible to be in a role where I can be around children and hear what they think. Their insights and thought processes can be impressive, surprising and often hilarious!

For example, this year my Stage 3 class began considering the concept of a fair society. They thought critically about discrimination, equality of opportunity and the moral responsibilities of society. There was a lot of lively discussion and many moments when their depth of understanding and innate compassion made me feel very reassured that the future is in their hands.

My Stage 1 class have looked at the concept of pride: what it means, when it is okay and if we can be too proud. They love providing examples to explore the topics and building upon the ideas of their classmates. We have moved on to talk about what makes a good reason and the concept of laziness.

It’s not always easy, as my daughter warned, but I also love the challenge of engaging the kids and encouraging them to think more deeply about certain topics.

The classes provide a safe and friendly environment in which kids can express themselves and question ideas they may just normally take for granted – to think about the reasons they hold certain views or opinions and to listen and build upon the often differing views of their classmates. It’s skills for life, really!

The ethics classes are quite a different experience for kids because there is no right or wrong answer. I think they really enjoy being heard and feeling that what they think is important.

I cannot recommend volunteering to be an ethics teacher highly enough! It’s a fantastic and practical way to not only to contribute to and support the school but to also develop your own skills in facilitation, communication and active listening – and as a bonus, in the process you get to witness the next generation mature in confidence and wisdom. What more could you ask for?

So I encourage those who can to seize the opportunity that is literally a life changing experience for all those involved – parents and kids alike. Kate Sawtschuk

A mother-daughter ethics-teaching duo
Ima Mia Blakehurst

Ima and Mia Strkljevic are a mother-daughter ethics-teaching duo. Mia is only 18  and was inspired to become an ethics teacher herself having seen her mother in action over the years.

Here are their stories and a photo from the compulsory post-class staff meeting at the local café.

Ima’s story: It all started in early 2017 when a friend posted on Facebook about how rewarding teaching ethics at her children’s school was. I immediately got in touch with her, got informed about the induction process and within several weeks had finished all requirements and was negotiating classes with my children’s school, successfully overcoming the school’s initial inertia. So that is when I introduced ethics to Blakehurst Public School. I also took on the role of ethics coordinator. My daughter had just started high school and I had a younger son in year 4.

Being a health clinician and public health researcher, I’d known the importance and power of critical reasoning and ethical thinking. In the past five years I have enjoyed teaching children of all ages and was able to see what wonderfully inquisitive, imaginative, capable and open-minded people primary school children are.

Although my daughter just missed out on ethics in primary school, she became actively involved in my preparation of teaching materials every week as well as our family discussions following my son’s weekly lessons. She expressed a desire to become involved with Primary Ethics as soon as she could, after realising how wonderful it would be to give back to the community where she’d once achieved so much.

I took on the role of regional manager in 2019 and was also coordinating and teaching in another school to keep their ethics program alive, but then was unable to continue in multiple schools due to the COVID-19 pandemic and family-related issues.

I have dedicated myself to the Primary Ethics program even though I am no longer teaching my own children as my motivation is not to teach my children, but to ensure that my local school continues to offer and provide this invaluable curriculum to new generations. I have also realised the power of volunteering – the multi-faceted benefits for both volunteers and the recipients. I have been inspired by my involvement with Primary Ethics to research and promote volunteering of professional skills by health professionals to develop interventions for healthy ageing and health promotion in older adults.

Mia Ima Cafe

Mia’s story: When my mother started teaching ethics when I was in high school, I became interested in the content of the lessons and loved the concept of group discussion and building on each other’s ideas as a way of learning. As a successful debater and public speaker and currently a medical science student, I believe inquiry is an integral part of learning and a healthy, argument-based discussion is the only way to progress and develop.

I also admire the volunteering aspect of Primary Ethics. I’ve been involved in multiple projects as a high school student in teaching, community and charitable volunteering activities. I felt the need to support this valuable program and where better to do it but at my own primary school. Blakehurst Public School is my local primary school where my brother and I, together with our friends and neighbours, created lifelong memories and achievements. This is where I will always feel like part of the family, always welcomed and accepted with warmth and gratitude.

I hope that my example will serve as an inspiration to many more young ethics teachers to come.

Managing anxiety in the ethics classroom

Is anxiety on the rise amongst our students? How should we as ethics teachers respond to incidents of anxiety or distress in our class – whether related to the topic under discussion or not?

Anxiety is the most common mental health condition for adults and young people alike. It was on the rise before COVID, but the disruptions of the pandemic, alongside a string of natural disasters, have exacerbated the stresses for many families, in some localities especially.

We are getting feedback via your very valuable post-class reports of some students being triggered by some ethics topics; or children coming into a class upset by previous incidents unrelated to the ethics lesson.

Here are some tips for maintaining ethics as a calm, supportive space for all students in the class, for looking after yourself and for managing specific incidents if they arise.

  1. Prepare:  Read, annotate and perhaps rehearse the lesson with your students in mind; think about classroom management in terms of your students’ wellbeing.
  2. Maintain clear class routines and rules and a reliable, supportive, fair teacher persona:  The ethics teacher has an important role in creating and maintaining a protective learning environment for every student:
    – keep to calm, clear routines and rules (eg set up a routine for how the children enter and leave the space, regularly reinforce the 6 ethics rules)
    – use grounding circuit breakers (eg deep breathing for 20 seconds; get them to focus on the external senses, such as ‘find something in the room that is orange’; make time for positive quiet reflection, eg ‘think about something you are looking forward to…’)
  3. Stick to the script and use all the techniques of procedural questioning, with a focus on thoughts and reasoning rather than feelings.
    – Eg, invite differences of thinking eg ‘what would be an argument for this?’ This creates a certain distance for the students from any potentially upsetting subject matter and is a valuable aid to self-regulation for them.
  4. Think about your classroom management strategies in terms of the wellbeing of each student.
    – Remember not to press any student to share their thoughts – being forced into the spotlight can cause anxiety. It’s fine if they just want to sit and listen.
    – Be aware that putdowns can be subtle. Watch for any negative interactions between the students and use your behaviour management techniques to prevent or stop them.
    – Again, if you notice heightened feelings, expressed verbally or non-verbally, use circuit breakers to bring the room back towards emotional equilibrium.
  5. Know what to do if a student is explicitly distressed during the lesson.
    – Acknowledge their emotion (‘thank you for sharing’ – this calms the amygdala) but don’t invite or press them to go any further.
    – Don’t attempt to ‘explore their feelings’ or counsel them.
    – Ask them if they want to stay or take a break. Alone or with a friend? Your school may have procedures in place (eg, a pass or time-out cards) which allow students to leave the circle or leave the lesson.
    – Make sure that school procedures and any special needs of students in your class have been explained to you.
    – Know what the procedure is for informing the classroom teacher, school SEE coordinator or front office staff if no one is in the room with you. If they are in the room, immediately refer a distressed child to them.
  6. Let the Department teacher manage the student’s distress away from the class.
    – Don’t take it any further yourself. That isn’t your role.
    – Your responsibility is to continue the scripted lesson with the rest of your class – use a circuit breaker to help the others refocus when resuming the lesson, then remember to anchor….
  7. If, based on what a child has said in your class, you suspect they are subject to abuse, you must later report that to the principal, as you have learnt in your Child Protection training with Primary Ethics.
  8. Check in with yourself too – look after your own wellbeing following a difficult incident.
    – While maintaining student privacy, you can talk generally to others about your own discomfort or upset.
    – Contact our Classroom Support Team (via EVIE) for an empathetic ear and advice for the future.
  9. In the following lesson, don’t refer back to the incident. Don’t draw any attention to the student who was distressed by asking them – or others – how they are this week.
Announcing the inaugural Kinghorn Award for ethics volunteers
kinghorn award

Primary Ethics is delighted to announce the inaugural Kinghorn Award for Primary Ethics volunteers, which brings substantial prize money to go to the recipient’s chosen school and public recognition and appreciation for the often-unsung efforts of our wonderful ethics volunteers.

The Award

This award will honour an ethics volunteer who is an inspirational role model for other volunteers – and for their school and community. We want to acknowledge someone who has contributed substantially to Primary Ethics’ mission: someone without whom the local – or regional – ethics program would not be where it is today.

The award is open to all ethics teachers, coordinators, regional managers and members of the Classroom Support Team. Every volunteer can nominate other volunteers for this award – there is no limit on numbers of nominations. Only volunteers who have been active in 2022 are eligible to be nominated.

We are looking for someone who:

  • has made a significant contribution to our mission to support children to develop skills in ethical reasoning, critical thinking and respectful discussion
  • has taken great effort to progress our goal to grow our program so that all parents have the option of choosing ethics for their child
  • has conducted themselves in a manner true to our values of respect, integrity, independence, excellence and teamwork
  • and without whom our program would not have developed to where it is today.

The prize

The winner has the privilege of directing $4000 towards the library service in the school or schools of their choosing. They will be awarded an engraved trophy and their school library will be given a hardcopy copy of Sapiens: A Graphic History: The Birth of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari, containing a bookplate with details of this inaugural volunteer award winner.

We will present the award to the winner at a ceremony in December 2022.

Make your nomination here >>

Nominations close at midnight on 31 August, 2022.

The winner will be announced in November 2022.

Why the Kinghorn Award?

The Chair of the Primary Ethics Board, Bruce Hogan, through his Hogan Family Foundation, is funding this award in order to recognise the fantastic contribution of the Kinghorn Family Foundation to Primary Ethics.

Primary Ethics would not be where it is today without the Kinghorns. From 2013 to 2022, John and Jill Kinghorn’s Foundation provided significant funding to Primary Ethics. This generous funding directly resulted in the employment of urgently needed staff to manage and develop ethics programs and provide teacher training.

This new Kinghorn Award recognises both the pivotal role the Foundation has played and the significant role of the winner in bringing our ethics program to more children in our state.

The judging panel

The judging panel will be comprised of:

  • The Chair of the Primary Ethics Board, Bruce Hogan
  • Jill Kinghorn of the Kinghorn Family Foundation
  • Two randomly selected volunteers – you can express interest in being on the panel on the nomination form
  • CEO of Primary Ethics, Evan Hannah

We hope all our volunteers will be as excited as we are about this new award. Now is the time to think, reason and if necessary discuss your reasons for choosing your nominee – and then go ahead and nominate them!

‘That was the best lesson ever!’
Diana Dagg

Diana Dagg’s journey into ethics.

“I have the great pleasure of volunteering as an ethics teacher with my granddaughter’s class at her local primary school in southern Sydney for 30 minutes each week.”

I’m one of thousands of volunteers from all walks of life and all ages who teach ethics in schools across NSW during term time. I initially had some anxiety about taking part, since I hadn’t taught before. Hearing that Primary Ethics offers free training, full lesson materials and ongoing support encouraged me to take that first step to apply. My confidence was boosted during the excellent and thorough training (you can do in-person workshops or online sessions). The ethics curriculum is prepared by experts and reviewed by the Department of Education for age appropriateness.

After passing the assessment and completing Working with Children and Police checks, off I went, with a clear curriculum to follow – but still some nerves. I found, though, that following the advice included with the lesson scripts helped me enormously. And the Primary Ethics team as well as the school made it clear they were always there to help – and they have! A school classroom teacher sits in on my lessons should I need support or advice.

It’s important to me that my grandchildren and their friends have the tools to listen and think carefully about the information and opinions bombarding them from every direction in today’s digital world. These are essential skills as they grow up in our complex and pressurised world. I expect that the skills they’re learning in ethical reasoning will help set them up for life.

My role as the ethics teacher is not to make judgements or give my own opinions, but to encourage questions and reflection by the children themselves. It’s so heartening to watch my Year 5/6 class sharing, thinking, reflecting and listening respectfully to each other on issues such as:

  • Should we always respect the beliefs of others?
  • What’s the difference between harmless and harmful teasing?
  • The nature of knowledge – how do you know what you know?
  • Are there some things all humans need in order to live a good and satisfying life?

I’m proud to contribute to my young students’ commitment to consider some huge issues seriously, to listen and accept the range of views held by their peers. The great surprise for me has been that I get as much out of ethics lessons as the children clearly do. I’m constantly learning, as I prepare for my class by reading the background notes and reflecting on my own approach to these issues.

For example, at present I’m taking my class through four lessons on Authority. It’s all about encouraging students to consider whether it’s okay to question a rule or advice or opinion given by someone who is seen as an authority. The students are devouring this topic with great enthusiasm. And I’m proud to announce that it’s helped me to be more analytic and assertive in my everyday life as well.

Another unexpected delight is that the other ethics volunteers at the school and I meet regularly for coffee or after lessons to share and consult and have a laugh. I love feeling part of this team.

More recently I joined another Primary Ethics group, the Classroom Support Team, whose role is to provide support, advice and encouragement to the many ethics teachers. We’re always looking for new Classroom Support Team members. We’d be very happy to talk through this volunteer coaching role with anyone who’s interested.

Both positions are immensely rewarding for me. It’s heartening to know that by encouraging respectful discussion in the classroom, I’m contributing to the ethical growth of the next generation, thus leaving a legacy for the future.

Best of all, it’s simply fantastic when students come up to me after the class and say things like: ‘That was the best lesson ever’ or ‘Can we talk again about this next week?’

Makes me a proud nanny!”

Former student turns ethics teacher
Alexa-Stuart-feature

Alexa Stuart loved her ethics lessons when she was in primary school. A decade on, the 18-year-old is back at her former school teaching a new generation of ethics students.

In April, I taught my first ever ethics lesson! I had a gorgeous bunch of Year 2 kids at Lambton Public School, and – despite my nerves – it went really well. But actually it wasn’t my first ever ethics lesson. My first was in that very same school, in 2012 when I was just eight years old.
Our school was one of the earliest schools in Newcastle to start teaching ethics so for the latter part of my primary school years I was able to attend ethics classes. I remember loving it so much, I think I used to annoy my friends because after class I would just want to keep talking about the ethical dilemmas. I had so much to say and there was never enough time in ethics, so I just kept talking as we went out into the playground. And then when I got home, sometimes I would keep talking about it to my family over dinner.

One of my most vivid memories of ethics was in Year 5 or 6 when our ethics teacher stepped out of the circle and allowed us to moderate the discussion ourselves. She watched us as we tried to navigate how to take it in turns without putting up our hands. We were forced to talk to each other rather than just the teacher. I remember feeling so mature and that our teacher really respected us and trusted us.

Ethics lessons were a highlight of primary school for me. Last year I graduated from high school, and this year I’m taking a gap year, so I thought it would be a great opportunity for me to volunteer and become an ethics teacher!

When I started doing my ethics teacher training, I started remembering a lot of the topics and scenarios that we did when I was younger. I remembered talking about palm oil and the orangutans, about performance-enhancing drugs and whether it’s OK to hunt sharks after they have hurt humans. Back then, I thought that if I just thought about it hard enough, I could figure out the “correct” answer to all these tricky questions. Now I realise that the whole purpose of ethics is to learn the skills of
critical thinking and ethical problem-solving that help you to come to your answer, not the answer itself. It’s about the journey not the destination.

When I went back to my old school for my first lesson, I spoke to some of my old teachers. It was lovely to see them again and chat to them about what I’d been doing over the past few years. It felt so strange and nostalgic to be back at my primary school and I was very nervous, but once in the classroom I was surprised at how well the students listened to me. I was a bit worried that because I’m so young I would lack some authority and I was worried that the kids wouldn’t be fully engaged. But I needn’t have worried because they all seemed to have a great time. A lot of hands went up whenever I asked a question and despite them being a bit wriggly at times, they gave some very thoughtful (and cute!) answers.

It’s been strange to experience the other side of ethics classes, this time as the teacher. Having to remain neutral and lead the discussion rather than contributing my own thoughts can be a challenge. I feel very lucky to have experienced ethics as both the student and the teacher, and now I’m trying to convince some of my friends to volunteer, it’s such a great experience for young people!

Next year I’ll probably go to university, I think I will do development studies as I’m interested in social justice, development and inequality. Hopefully I’ll still have enough time to keep teaching ethics!