Dear teachers and students, good morning!

We are grade 5 students. I'm Farkhunda and he's Hannes. We are very pleased to be speaking to you today. Please draw us your attention for a few minutes to share with you how important it is to be a principled person. A principled person is honest, grateful, fair, loyal, and caring.

Firstly, let me talk about being honest. Many students think honesty means “don’t tell a lie” - and speaking the truth is a big part of being honest. But honesty means more than “not lying.” Honesty means your actions are truthful too. If you have to hide what you're doing because you're trying to trick someone, you probably aren't being honest. In simple words, honesty is about speaking and acting truthfully.

Chloe & Cici

What is loyalty? Loyalty is when we recognize the importance of the connections that we have with others and then acting in a way that not only protects those connections but also strengthens them. Being loyal might mean that we have to put other people best interests before our own; in other words we might have to sacrifice something to protect the bonds that we share with others and value so much.

So, being loyal to a friend can be something as simple as never gossiping about them and always defending them against other people unpleasant comments. Being loyal also means that we are always ‘true to our word’ and if we promise to do something or be somewhere then we try our hardest to fulfil that promise and always be on time. It can be harder to be loyal when circumstances change and people change; for example you might find that you are enjoying spending time with a new friend more than an old friend. It’s very easy to forget our loyalties in these situations but we must be careful not to shun our old friend.

Gavin & Teresa

Gratitude is a feeling of thankfulness that we have when we acknowledge how someone or something has helped us and made our life better whether in a big way or a small way. For example, last Friday we celebrated Teachers’ Day. We thanked our precious teachers by making greeting cards and videos.

Having gratitude helps us to properly appreciate everything that we have and everything that is done for us. By understanding the value of this – and what our life would be like otherwise – we are more likely to have respect for others and a feeling of contentment with our own life; a feeling of contentment that should help us to focus on how much we have in our lives rather than how little.

Costa & Chris

Caring means making ourselves aware of the needs and feelings of others and then taking action to help them. It means taking the time to stop thinking about ourselves, to put the spotlight on somebody else’s needs and to think “What can I do to make that person’s life a little better or easier?”.

Sometimes we can’t do anything to solve somebody’s particular problem but just the act of showing concern and compassion can help to comfort them and make a difference. For example, your friend might be worried or sad about something that is happening at home. Even though you cannot solve that problem you can spend some time listening to your friend’s worries and supporting them as much as possible.

Ashleigh & Eric

Today we’ll talk about Fairness. What is fairness? Fairness means the quality of treating people equally or in a way that is reasonable. Fairness can also mean "deservedness" meaning a person gets what they deserve. For example, every two weeks we are having the learner profile awards, we didn’t just pick them because they are our friends. We voted for the person we believe is deserving of the award.

We are being fair if we:

1.  Treat people the way you want to be treated.

2.  Tell the truth.

3.  Play by the rules.

4.  Think about how your actions will affect others and Listen to people with an open mind.

Farkhunda & Hannes

I want to end this speech with a saying “stand up for what you believe in even if it means standing alone.” Let’s all be principled. Thank you for listening!