Empathy

Our Journey to Gold

We are thrilled to announce that our school has achieved the prestigious Gold Award from Narrative 4’s Empathy School Award programme, making history as the first school in the world to receive this top recognition. This milestone reflects our deep commitment to fostering empathy, kindness, and understanding within our school community.

You can hear more about the journey to Gold by listening to teacher Mr. Murphy talk about the initiative on the Ray D’Arcy show - https://www.rte.ie/radio/radio1/clips/22471445/

OR read about here in The Irish Independent - https://www.independent.ie/regionals/dublin/dublin-news/dublin-school-first-in-the-world-recognised-with-gold-award-for-empathy-initiative/a893467051.html

How did we get here?

Our journey began with the Bronze Award, where we introduced Narrative 4’s Story Exchange programme. This initiative encouraged students and staff to share personal narratives, promoting active listening and mutual respect.

Building on this foundation, we pursued the Silver Award, expanding our efforts by facilitating Staff Story Exchanges and embedding empathy-focused activities across various subjects and class groups.

Achieving the Gold Award represents our dedication to making empathy a fundamental part of our school culture. We have:

✅ Facilitated Student Story Exchanges across every year group

✅ Facilitated Staff Story Exchanges for three consecutive years
✅ Trained empathy ambassadors within our school, working with senior prefects

✅ 11 members of staff trained in Narrative4’s empathy facilitation
✅ Integrated empathy as a dedicated module within the Junior Cycle Wellbeing programme

Here is a photo of some of the Santa Sabina Staff who completed the Story Exchange.

What is the Empathy School Award?

The Empathy School Award, developed by Narrative 4 Ireland, recognises post-primary schools that create a culture of empathy and understanding. Schools progress through three levels—Bronze, Silver, and Gold—by registering for a school pack, training facilitators, running Story Exchanges, and integrating empathy initiatives into school life. (Learn more)

Looking Ahead: The Santa Sabina Empathy Charter

Our commitment to empathy doesn’t stop at Gold. To ensure that it remains at the heart of our school community, we have developed the Santa Sabina Empathy Charter:

The goal of this charter is to foster an environment of empathy, lead with kindness, and cultivate connection and understanding among students, staff, parents, guardians, and the wider school community.

Each academic year, we will aim to:

📌 Host Story Exchanges – Every trained facilitator will organise at least one Story Exchange with students, staff, parents, guardians, or the wider community.
📌 Train More Staff – We will continue to encourage staff members to engage with Narrative 4 training.
📌 Walk & Talk – Organise a 4km ‘Walk & Talk’ activity for students, staff, parents, guardians, or the wider community.
📌 Staff Engagement – Host one staff Story Exchange and organise a whole-staff empathy initiative.
📌 Raise Awareness – Deliver one staff presentation on the empathy programme.
📌 Community Connections – Engage in one community-based exchange with people outside of Santa Sabina.
📌 Communication – Regularly update students, staff, parents, and guardians on our empathy initiatives.
📌 Curriculum Integration – Teach empathy as part of the Junior Cycle Wellbeing curriculum.
📌 Review & Improve – Renew and review our charter annually.

We are incredibly proud of this achievement and remain dedicated to embedding empathy into every aspect of school life. Our journey continues, and we look forward to inspiring other schools to follow in our footsteps.

For more details about the Empathy School Award and Narrative 4’s initiatives, visit their official website: narrative4.ie