Social Action 2017 - 2018 at Green Spring Academy Shoreditch
Social Action and Student Voice at Green Spring Academy Shoreditch 2
Foreword Jennie Montgomerie, Acting Head of School Welcome to this celebration of social action and student voice at Green Spring Academy Shoreditch. At a time when we are educating students to go out into a world of multiple uncertainties, we know that they will need a range of skills, experiences, aptitudes and qualifications to enable them to thrive and become active citizens. Like all other schools, we are seeking to provide excellent education, making the best use of available resources. As well as our commitment to excellent teaching and learning, a key part of our ethos is to give our students and staff opportunities and experiences that are truly life changing. We do this in large part through social action projects, giving students opportunities to express themselves and their views and promoting inclusive opportunities for all. This is amply demonstrated by four entitlements that underpin our mission at the academy; • Ensuring academic achievement is outstanding; promoting motivation, drive, ambition, perseverance and resilience in our students. • Providing students with creative and cultural experiences to enrich their lives and build confidence, optimism, conscientiousness, curiosity and focus. • Improving students’ quality of life and well-being; developing honesty, integrity and dignity. • Encouraging students to create positive change, developing tolerance, respect, neighbourliness and community spirit. Our aim is to help create the next generation of citizens and leaders, and give them the chance to develop a wide range of skills enabling them to navigate the future and to contribute to making the world a better place. This publication sets out our overall ethos and approach to student voice and social action and showcases just a few of the many initiatives and activities in that sphere. We are not complacent about our work in these areas and our plans for the future are highlighted throughout. We hope that anyone reading this document will let us have feedback and share their views and ideas with us so we can continue to grow and develop in the best interests of our students.
Contents 2. Foreword 3. Overview 5. An integrated approach 7. The power of partnerships 9. #iWill at Green Spring Academy Shoreditch 11. Student Voice at Green Spring Academy Shoreditch 14. Compendium
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Overview At Green Spring Academy Shoreditch, we empower young people to become independent learners, critical in their thinking, informed in their choices and confident in their ability to succeed in the modern world. Supporting all students to become global citizens who embody the principals of tolerance and kindness is just as central to their education as their academic achievement.
We place particular emphasis on engaging and supporting harder to reach students and to provide all students with ‘real life’, not contrived or artificial, experiences, including an extensive enrichment programme of well over 50 extra-curricular activities. Character building, student voice and social action are central to our ethos; they are part of our DNA. We have always taken a holistic approach to promoting student voice, social action and character building; integrating learning within
Potential and opportunity are central themes throughout the school. The school’s ethos is powerfully inclusive.” Inclusion Quality Mark assessment, 2017 the taught curriculum and learning outside the classroom. Within lessons students learn in democratic classrooms where tolerance and respect for one another are core principals; all students are encouraged to questioning and we actively promote perseverance and resilience. We believe that taking part in social action and giving students a voice is critical to helping young people develop character and core life skills; challenging them to move out of their comfort zone. We have been actively involved in volunteering for many years and since 2013, the #iwill campaign has
I have contributed to social action by giving time and effort to every meeting that we had every Tuesday by sharing ideas with each other, for example I helped with the charity collection for Action Aid. I participated in the First Give project, which was a really nice and rewarding experience because the outcome of it contributed to a charity. I think that it really helped my confidence to grow even further by pushing me to my limits.” Mizan Ahmed Year 9, 2016/17 Student Council member
been the foundation for our student volunteering and social action activities. We believe that all students, regardless of their background or circumstances have the right to express themselves, have their voice heard and engage with the full range of the academy’s offer. Our core value of inclusion runs through everything we do, no more so than in our social action and student voice activities. Retaining the prestigious Inclusion Quality Mark is testament to that commitment and we aim to achieve Centre of Excellence status next time round. We are proud to be a truly inclusive academy that provides outstanding and personalised support for our most vulnerable students. Celebrating social action and student voice/expression is an essential part of our philosophy. It is important for students to see that what they do has real value and importance. Celebrating their hard work in going above and beyond is central to building motivation, pride and resilience amongst our young people. We ensure, therefore, that students’ activities are celebrated just as much as academic progress, including: • Public celebration of social action, volunteering and acts of kindness in assemblies, tutor groups and by Heads of Year. • Displays around the school showcasing student volunteering, our Student Council and Community Leaders. • Publication of high profile, inspiring stories of student social action in Creative News (our newsletter), Word on the Street (our student newsletter) and our
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staff bulletin. • Kindness and other awards presented during our Celebrating Difference Week. • Setting aside assemblies and a variety of other opportunities for students to lead, express themselves and explore key issues. • Head Teacher’s Awards where students receive certificates and are invited to tea and cake with the Head Teacher. • Student led clubs and activities that are celebrated in assemblies, publications, awards and rewards. • Praising specific behaviours to remind students that what they do is valued and has direct impact. As a result of our sustained and systematic focus, we have universal participation of students in social action, with a number of students taking this to a deeper level of participation, e.g. through pursuing student leadership accreditation. Our specific emphasis on charitable fundraising has resulted in the student body raising thousands of pounds for charities each year. Moreover, we see significant
As a year 11 student I take interest in giving the lower school as many opportunities as possible. Personally, I believe in the power of movement and self-expression through creative physicality so to be able to provide students with a space to enjoy something they love and that they’re passionate about brings joy to my heart. Throughout the years I’ve had quite a big involvement in social action whilst taking part in the projects assigned to social ambassadors such as mentoring students who were part of the First Give project. I also had the opportunity to teach drama lessons alongside practical demonstrations of the topic to help them feel more assured in their acting.” Yinka Badmus Year 11, who runs a dance class for Key Stage 3 and is a Student Council ambassador
impacts in the classroom, in particular through improvements in behaviour, less disruption and enhanced progression through genuinely experiential learning. This publication sets out our overall ethos and approach to student voice and social action and showcases
just a few of the plethora of initiatives and activities that help make a reality of our ambition for all students to be genuinely independent, critical thinkers equipped with the confidence and skills to succeed in the modern world.
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An integrated approach Social action, student voice and character building are embedded into the curriculum in all Faculties and are part of our Social, Moral, Spiritual and Cultural programme delivered to all students. They are also central to our School Improvement Plan which includes commitments to: • relentlessly work to build and maintain strong relationships amongst the local communities we serve; and • promote and embed Student Voice/leadership, the Arts and Social Action; a specific priority within the plan with specific objectives for: o at least 75% of students to have taken a leadership responsibility;
o all students to have contributed their views and experience to inform school improvement/influence the life of the school; o each year group to have a statement of entitlement; and o there to be no underparticipating groups of students; Key actions in the plan to enable us to achieve these ambitions include: • Through student and staff nominations, to appoint a group of Community Leaders in each year group. • Relaunching the School Council with elected representatives from each year. • Extending tutor group led assemblies. • To determine and deliver a menu/ calendar of student leadership
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and participation opportunities, publicised and recruited widely, targeting under-represented groups and supported with specific training. To seek students’ input to each monitoring, evaluation and review activity, e.g. focus groups, surveys, questionnaires and interviews; feeding back to students what they have said and what this has led to. Reinvigorating the visibility of equality and anti-discrimination issues through awarenessraising initiatives, events and campaigns, increasingly led by students. To review and develop the current enrichment timetable with students and extend this timetable with events that promote academy values and ambitions. To review existing entitlement statements and plan to build up opportunities over the next 3 years. Scheduling all curriculum teams for a showcase “week in the Street”. Renewing Arts Mark – with a focus on all students participating in at least one arts project and build sustained partnerships to support this. Publishing Creative News twice a year. To strengthen #iwill with a wider range of social action opportunities, increasingly linked to the local community. To relaunch ‘Word on The Street’, a half termly student-led news bulletin.
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This focus on continuous improvement in our social action and student voice offer is amply exemplified in our new approach to the PSHE curriculum. For 2017-18 we have completely redesigned our PSHE curriculum to draw clearer links between weekly assembly time and twice weekly tutor time, as well as integrating learning about British Values throughout. For example, in the first half term, we focus on safety in its broadest sense including exploring appropriate public and private boundaries, internet pressures/ digital footprint, phone safety and anti-bullying as well as exploring wider issues such as the law on consent, critical thinking around propaganda and fake news and what it means to be a Londoner and member of a diverse community. Topics are introduced through assemblies (including extended assemblies with partners such as the Police) and followed up in tutor time using bespoke, in-house developed and topical resources. Feedback from students tells us that they have a much clearer sense of a PSHE programme/curriculum rather than experiencing ad hoc sessions in assemblies and tutor time.
Subsequent half terms will focus on: • Relationships, including using Remembrance to open up topics around bereavement, loss, divorce and separation as well as exploring issues around group cohesion and group-think. • Self-esteem, including topics such as personal strengths, body image, dysmorphia and the power of words. • Healthy lifestyles, including student-led assemblies where tutor groups are set topics in the previous half term so that each week a tutor group delivers their assembly, thus developing student leadership and voice. • Celebrating differences, building up to Celebrating Difference Week (see compendium). • Values, beliefs, identity and decision making (explored solely in tutor groups so as not to interfere with exam arrangements), including exploring British Values of: o democracy; o the rule of law; o individual liberty; and o mutual respect for, and tolerance of, those with different faiths and beliefs and for those without faith
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The power of partnerships Partnerships are part of our DNA at the academy; an essential and powerful part of our approach to social action and student voice to ensure we have a truly inclusive school community.
We work with an ever-growing and changing range of specialist partners to deliver social action, student voice and wider enrichment activities for our students. Many of these, such as the Joseph interfaith Foundation, St Hilda’s East Community Centre (see box), First Give, National Citizen Service (see box), Teach First, #iwill, the Duke of Edinburgh Awards (see box) and various local and national charities, are highlighted in the compendium section of this publication. Others, such as Teen Tech, IntoUniversity, the Worshipful Company of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators and a variety of London-based businesses, provide important enrichment and careers related activities and experiences for our students, to raise their ambitions and deepen their understanding of the curriculum and the world. Their contributions range from providing mentors, keynote speakers, workshops and visits, to long term and varied partnership activities that hold mutual benefit for the academy and the partner
St Hilda’s East Community Centre In recent years, we have developed a close partnership with St Hilda’s east Community Centre in Tower Hamlets, which continues to strengthen and deepen over time. Our activities with St Hilda’s include: • Year 9 students from our Farm Club regularly selling home-made produce at St Hilda’s Food Co-op; their regular Thursday Farmers’ Market. • The school choir and musicians performing for St Hilda’s staff and beneficiaries at St Hilda’s • Students learning about St Hilda’s and the amazing work they do in the community. • Fundraising for St Hilda’s through academy events such as the staff pantomime, Winterfest and Solfest. The partnership gives students the chance to contribute to their local community and benefit from learning about important local social issues.
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National Citizens Service We are proud, as an academy, to promote and engage with the National Citizens Service (NCS) to help our older students to build stronger, more integrated communities, foster understanding between young people from different backgrounds, build essential skills for life and work and engage in social action. Involvement of our students has grown, with our second and most recent cohort of 6th form students. Students are finding considerable value from this partnership through which they participate in outdoor activities, skills building activities and a social action project. Many students use NCS learning and experience in their UCAS form personal statements and, in 2017, one of our students received a Social Action Team Director Award.
Duke of Edinburgh Awards We have been running the Duke of Edinburgh Awards scheme at the academy since 2012, starting with a small cohort, which has now grown to over 50 students a year. Anyone can participate, although Heads of Year specifically encourage engagement from students, such as those with special educational needs, who they feel will benefit from the sustained character building and volunteering opportunities that lie at the heart of the programme. Our Inclusion and Duke of Edinburgh Leads work closely together to secure as many places on the programme as possible. Tower Hamlets is now the fastest growing area in the UK for new participants and a selection of our year 10-13 students who have completed their bronze or silver awards represented the school and met Prince Edward, the Earl of Wessex at an event in November 2016. We are extremely proud to be the highest achieving school in 2015-2016 for Duke of Edinburgh awards in Tower Hamlets.
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at Green Spring We have been actively involved in volunteering since 2011 (91% of our students volunteer on a regular basis) and in 2013, to take our commitment to a new level, we signed up to the #iwill campaign (http://www.iwill. org.uk), through which young people pledge themselves to participating in high quality youth social action. Our engagement with #iwill and their campaign partners Teach First has been rich and deep, including hosting partner meetings and participation in Advisory Councils and Steering Groups. #iwill is based on six principles (outlined in the diagram below) that underpin high quality, meaningful youth social action. This is the platform on which social action across the academy is built. Our aims and objectives for social action are summed up in our #iwill pledge. Embedding a culture of commitment to serving the wider community which is accessible to all begins with the #iwill pledge. All students make this commitment. In #iwill week each year, our students make their #iwill pledge; to make a contribution to the school, their wider community and the world. Easter sees #iwill renewing our pledge week, during which students critically evaluate their personal action plans and goals for social action. Our commitment is to engage all students in social action, whether through structured schemes, opportunities provided by partners and stakeholders or development of bespoke student-led community projects. Throughout the year, we
Embedded
Challenging
Accessible to all, and well integrated to existing pathways to become a habit for life
Stretching and ambitious as well as enjoyable and enabling
Progressive
Youth-led
Sustained, and providing links to other activities and opportunities
Led, owned and shaped by young people’s needs, ideas and decision making
loudly and proudly celebrate student social action and achievement. What has become clear, is that for some students the concept of social action is something which is already familiar to them and their family/ community. Typically, these students already actively support our values and have most readily engaged in the challenge of creating their pledge. Others lack familiarity with social action and volunteering or the
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Academy Shoreditch confidence to step out of their comfort zone, both of which act as barriers to their engagement. Tutors provide support to help to ensure that these students’ pledges are of high quality and challenging; helping them develop a vocabulary of engagement. Where necessary, we target students for specific opportunities such as Duke of Edinburgh Awards and, where appropriate, to match social action projects to students’ academic needs. For example, if a student is under-performing in a particular subject, through engagement of the teacher, Director of Learning and parents, we develop and provide strategies to support the student to realise their potential. Invariably this includes support beyond the specific subject and curriculum to build character and life skills through social action, which in turn supports academic learning. It is essential, therefore, that we make available as wide a range of opportunities as possible for students to engage in volunteering and social action, just a few examples of which are highlighted below to illustrate the range of activity. #iwill provides the systematic approach to volunteering and social action we know, from years of experience of developing youth social action, that students really need. Our ultimate goal is for all student social action to be youth led, where students are autonomous in generating ideas, and delivering projects. Our Student Council and Community Leaders are now driving much of the social action within the academy. For the future, we are focussing
The
GSAS pledge:
• Ensure all students lead or engage with projects that will make our communities better and safer places for everyone. • Develop in all students an understanding that through participation in social action we can make meaningful changes to our world. • Create opportunities for all students to connect with others and take responsibility so that we can shape a more fair and just society.
on developing further, systematic support for hard to reach students through form tutors and other structured interventions and exploring ways to stretch students who want to deepen their involvement in social action, including through older students leading activities and mentoring younger students who may, perhaps, be struggling to engage. Importantly, we want to introduce more accountability into #iwill
and the achievement of pledges by students. We will develop a database of pledges and actions taken by students to fulfil them and ensure that all student volunteering activities (within and outside the academy) are tied into the #iwill framework. Our aim is for #iwill to be more embedded within the school and students’ thinking, as a year-long programme for student enrichment and engagement with social action.
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Student Voice at Green Spring Helping students find their voice to express themselves and influence their learning journey is a central part of our approach at Green Spring Academy Shoreditch. Student Voice at Green Spring Academy Shoreditch Helping students find their voice to express themselves and influence their learning journey is a central part of our approach at Green Spring Academy Shoreditch. In recent years, our Student Council has evolved from being a simple intermediary between the student body and staff to a group that acts on social concerns and promotes self-expression as well as helping shape the academy’s offer. In 2016-17 our Student Council comprised year 7 and 8 students who led an array of activities (see compendium) including organising community walks, fundraising for Action Aid and many other causes and organising key events such as our Anti-Bullying Week. As a reward for their efforts, former Student Council members go on a theatre trip in the term after their year on Student Council. From 2017-18 we are adopting a new approach, starting with ten 6th form students. These students attend a conference in the first half term to explore their roles within the new student voice structure and start work on their programme of activities (social action, student support as well as exploring and shaping staff and student relationships and the academy’s offer). They also agree how to measure impact and change throughout the year.
At the conference, they reflect on what they see themselves achieving during the year, give presentations on a range of issues (such as social media, Black Lives Matter, interpersonal skills etc.) and lead a team building activity. They discuss the roles and skills required and assignment of roles is agreed. These include: • Chair and Vice-Chair • Assistant Vice-Chair, 6th Form Coordinator • Social Action Coordinators • Academy Community Coordinators • Interpersonal Skills Coordinator • Mentor Communicators These Student Council members then lead recruitment within the lower school, visiting forms, handing out flyers etc. They host a meeting where lower school students present a speech and select lower school Student Council members. 6th form Student Council members lead the first full meeting after October half term, where the programme of activities and next steps is decided. The Student Council also lead on a student survey, conduct learning walks and lead events such as Anti-Bullying Week (see boxes). An important new initiative in the academy from 2017-18 is our home-grown Community
I have been given the responsibility to lead the new student council as Chairman. My responsibilities revolve around overseeing the tasks carried out by the rest of the student council members. Recently, for Anti-Bullying week, I was involved in talking to the lower school about their concerns and worries regarding bullying. Moreover, speaking to the Year 11 students recently about the ways in which certain aspects of the school should be altered was also extremely helpful.” Savio Samuel Year 13-Chairman of he new Student Council 2017-18
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Academy Shoreditch Leaders programme, which aims to engage more students in leadership roles to support their school community; creating visible leaders in years 7 to 11. Two Community Leaders per form (12 per year in total) have been nominated and come together in year groups to choose projects/activities they will lead to support their year group and the school community; to promote a happy community. Community Leaders are volunteers, although we particularly encourage students who have been less involved in leadership activities to put themselves forward to build their confidence. In line with Community Leader roles outside schools, our Community Leaders will: • be known and respected in their community; • represent their community as ambassadors; • set an example for others in their community; • inspire and motivate community members and bring out their strengths; • build relationships and help the community work together; • ensure community members value and take responsibility for their environment; • roll up their sleeves and make things happen; and • act wisely to benefit the whole community Working with their Heads of Year, Community Leaders are determining their initial roles including fundraising, mentoring, Winterfest and a range of activities specific to particular year groups. For example, in 2017-18:
Anti-Bullying Week 2017: student review written by Monee Morris, Jessica Jibbison, and Rushamba Wright In our week of Anti-bullying awareness, we have focused on areas such as: • bullying through social media (cyber-bullying) • the effects of isolation • the effects of name calling • the implications of bullying, with specific reference to the case study of Felix Alexander • the perspective of the family members left behind after a tragic event such as suicide • the focus on kindness as opposed to negativity. ‘My highlight of the week was breaking the barrier between year groups through the encouragement of kindness, through the baking and the scroll activity.’ Monee The week has been very successful in raising awareness of how people should be treated, which has been implemented through our positive message scrolls with all year groups, kindness cards, tie a knot campaign, cake donations and last but not least the balloon release. ‘I found it extremely rewarding to see how willing the students were to support our cause and the enthusiasm they had for lending a hand during the week.’ Rushamba For the future, as a Student Council we would like to revisit this week in February 2018 and building up to this we would like to: - Ensure students spread the message of kindness - Contact ‘This Morning’, in the hope that they pass on our work for Lucy Alexander’s kindness campaign, to which we will be donating the money raised from the cake donations of £74. ‘My highlight of the week was seeing how everyone wants to get a kindness card, including building momentum for this activity.’ Jessica
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• Year 7 chose library management, support for school events, charity fundraising and social action. • Year 9 chose charity fundraising, social action, mini-Heads of Year and a success board for Year 9 students. • Year 11 chose mentoring, charity fundraising, Winterfest and the Year 11 Graduation Ceremony. As the programme develops it will
extend into even more aspects of academy life including Kindness Ambassadors and launching/leading #iwill week. Other important aspects of student voice in the academy include: • 6th form Subject Representatives who support lessons in Key Stages 3 and 4 connected with the subjects they are learning. • Student Voice Assemblies, where students lead presentations and
I was chosen as the social action coordinator for this year’s Student Council. With this I have the responsibility of planning social events that will take place within the school, such as the anti-bullying week, which encourages me to talk with the lower school and encourage them to talk about their worries and concerns. I am also a mentor for year 8 drama where I help out within their lessons. Doing both of these has aided my confidence levels and it has developed my interpersonal skills, to the point where I am comfortable talking to people.” Donnell Da Costa Year 13-Social Action coordinator for the Student Council and Drama Mentor
performances on topics as diverse as Holocaust Memorial Day, Black Lives Matter, what peace means, community cohesion, women in Shakespeare, and much more. • Student-led clubs and groups. • Word on the Street, our relaunched student newsletter.
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Compendium Interfaith week Interfaith Week 2017 took place on 20th-24th February, as part of our year-round work celebrating how students and staff respect similarities and difference across the academy and within our communities. The full week of activities helps build positive interfaith relations and explores how people of different faiths and beliefs work together for the common good of our society. Students participated in a range of fun and engaging activities, including group discussions, mindfulness meditation drop in sessions and mixed year group workshops. We welcome a range of partners
Action Aid
Each year our Student Council devise their own programme to raise £234 each year to sponsor the education of a child in Sierra Leone through Action Aid. Students, from years 7 and 8, run their own fundraising activities including
and external speakers including, in 2017, poetry writing with our Poet in Residence Jo Marsh and Mehri Niknam MBE and Rabbi David from the Joseph Interfaith Foundation, who guided students through an enlightening and often humorous journey through the ins and outs of Judaism and Islam. The week ended with a lunchtime celebration, catered by our Food Technology department, enabling students to speak about their experiences, showcase some of their work and receive prizes for the best religious symbols made by students.
bake sales, presentations to their forms, speaking assemblies and much more. In doing so, they relish the opportunity to learn about the hardships facing children in Sierra Leone and explain these to the wider student body.
First Give
For the last two years our year 8 students have worked through the First Give Programme to compete to win £1000 for a charity of their choice. Resourced by the charity First Give, the programme supports students to develop presentation skills and a collaborative approach to learning, for the benefit of their community. Students research social issues and choose a charity that will receive £1000 from First Give if their group wins the competition. Charities chosen previously have included Hackney Ark, ChildLine, MIND, Crisis, Oxfam, Human Aid and Make a Wish. Groups of students devise and perform their presentations in lessons and the best groups are selected for the final to present to an audience of parents, staff, visitors and, most important of all, the judges (made up of staff, students and a representative from First Give). The groups put in a huge amount of time and effort to preparing their presentations which included drama pieces, films, paintings, monologues and even a film of choreographed hands performing to a monologue. First Give provided coaching and tips for the finalists, supported by year 10 student mentors.
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Teacher Takeover Day On teacher Takeover Day (20 July 2017), selected students assumed the role of teachers in lessons, taking on responsibilities ranging from leading whole lessons to running a variety of activities within lessons. Working with class teachers, students learned about lesson planning and researching source materials to help them deliver engaging lessons and activities. As a result, they learnt about taking responsibility for others and what it is really like to be a teacher. One group of year 9 and 10 girls worked in a workshop on how women are represented in Shakespeare, exploring issues through monologues from different Shakespeare characters. The group used this preparation to teach year 8 classes about these issues on Teacher Take over Day.
Community Walk
In June 2017, students from our 2016-17 Student Council took part in a “community walk” to observe and record (through notes and photographs) issues in the local environment that they felt were not quite right, such as graffiti, vandalism etc. Students gave presentations on the issues they wanted to focus on and wrote to Tower Hamlets Borough Council raising these issues and asking for help to address them.
Anti-bullying week Anti-Bullying Week at the academy is packed with activities and learning. In 2016, Year 7 students participated in workshops to help them understand the impact of bullying and how to combat it. A freedom writing project saw students writing poems, quotes, compositions and making sketches on a huge paper scroll. Other activities included a Worry Box and handing out free cakes as tokens of goodwill and positive relationships. Volunteer Anti-Bullying Ambassadors of all ages collaborated to give a performance in assemblies, involving large numbers of students sharing quotes, poetry, drama and monologues, including a year 11 student who shared her experience of losing a friend to suicide as a result of bullying. Many students said that the activities helped them to open up about their experiences and express how they feel. From 2017-18, Anti-bullying Ambassadors became Kindness Ambassadors (drawn from the Student Council), to give a more positive focus to their work. They work within the school to be a safe go to point for students who feel unhappy.
£600+
Raised for UNICEF East Africa through our ‘Trainer Day’
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SoLFest - annual Summer of Arts, Culture and Learning Each July for the last 8 years, the academy has celebrated its annual Summer of Arts, Culture and Learning Festival (SoLFest). This fun-filled and learning-centred programme is always an exciting and fulfilling period for students and staff. We aim to develop students’ learning and skills through an array of creative, engaging and cultural opportunities, involving workshops, tournaments, music and drama, themed days and trips. SoLFest 2017 presented a unique opportunity for Teach First trainee teachers to become part of the festivities; 33 beginning teachers observed, assisted and delivered lessons and workshops, including supporting performances of A Midsummer Night’s Dream for our headline ‘Shakespeare Day’ event
which engaged 172 students on our Year 6 primary transition programme. SolFest includes a range of exciting events for 6th Form students, including university visits and taster days, and we were delighted to see the return of our highly popular KPMG Employability Workshop in 2017. Other highlights included: the summer concert, an art exhibition, Latin Day and Bastille Day celebrations, the Maths 24 tournament, various workshops (such as life saving skills and Yoga) and ‘Education Without Walls’ – a day of activities providing exceptional learning environments outside of the classroom. Trips in 2017 included visits to Brighton, Kew Gardens, Cambridge, Hyde Park and many more destinations.
Celebrating Difference Week
In March 2017 marked the academy’s 4th annual Celebrating Difference Week. What started as a vision to champion and celebrate students with a special educational need or disability has evolved into a week-long celebration of all students and our values of respect and tolerance. In 2017, the focus was on ‘unseen difference’. Staff and students worked together to learn about hidden disabilities such as Autism Spectrum Disorder and to shine a light on mental health and wellbeing; busting myths and stigmas around this important topic. We also ran a social media campaign to raise awareness and gain support from the outside world, using the hashtag #mindovermatter. The academy welcomed guest speakers from MIND and
Samaritans, who led assemblies, gave talks and ran workshops on mental health issues such as how to keep a healthy mind and where to go for help, leaving students feeling empowered and enlightened. Special guest Javed Moore, a young motivational speaker with Cerebral Palsy who uses a computerised talker to communicate, delivered a powerful and challenging message leaving students and staff in awe, wanting to know more about different disabilities and thinking further about their own motivations and inspirations. The week culminated in students from all year groups being recognised through Celebrating Difference Awards for remarkable acts of kindness, inspirational behaviour and contributions to our inclusion values.
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Girl Leading Having attended the first ‘Girl Leading’ residential in April 2017, five of our students developed a social action project to campaign on the issue of Forced Marriage and fundraise for the Freedom Charity (a local charity that supports victims of forced marriage, FGM and so called “dishonour” in the family). In researching the issues, they came across Freedom charity and decided to contact them to ask for someone to speak about the issue of Forced Marriage in assembly at school. Freedom Charity were so impressed that their Founder and President Aneeta Prem agreed to come in and give a talk. Aneeta is a British author, human rights campaigner and magistrate. Anneta has been the Metropolitan Police Authority’s lead member for forced marriages and “dishonour” based violence and
has worked closely with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and many victims, survivors and community groups to provide independent advice. Aneeta ran an assembly for 180 students in Years 7 – 10, with our Girl Leading participants using the public speaking skills they learnt
Model UN In 2017, for the first time students from the academy participated in Global Classrooms London Model United Nations, in association with our partner Mulberry School for Girls. Ten students from across year groups took part in the conference where students play the role of ambassadors in simulations of UN committees. During the preparation phase senior Model UN mentors provided training in the Model UN processes and in skills such as public speaking, debating and prepare position papers. Students were supported by mentors to draft position papers setting out their adopted country’s stance on women’s equality; what legislation/ initiatives they have in place and what problems or solutions they have. On the day all students had to present their position in a one minute speech followed by debating the issues and working in their committee to draft an agreed resolution paper. All our students enjoyed the experience and grew in confidence, learning many new skills including team working skills, public speaking, debating and how to marshal arguments, prepare position papers and work to deadlines. [insert name of student] received a Distinguished Delegate Award for helping ensure his committee kept moving forward towards an agreed position, when many were not willing to change their initial stance.
at the residential to teach their peers about what to do if they are ever concerned about a friend. All students received Aneeta’s book ‘But It’s Not Fair’. Students also fundraised through a bake sale and Trainer Day to raise money for the Freedom Charity. The girls delivered a presentation at a Feedback Day at the Mulberry and Bigland Green Centre to share what they had achieved since the residential. As a result, we have seen the Girls grow into confident leaders and the project has left them feeling empowered by what they have achieved.
Library helpers 50 year 7 students have been trained to help run our library; returning and logging books, registering new books on the system, general administration, gathering students’ views on what books they want, researching prices and ordering new books using requisition forms. Through a prize draw, some will win a trip to choose and buy new books for the school.
Social Action and Character Building at Bethnal Green Academy 18
Reading partners Every year we train 6th form students as Reading Partners to read with and mentor younger students in years 7-9 to help them develop their literacy skills. Mentors adopt a coaching model of support and we maintain continuity of 1:1 support so that relationships develop that extend beyond reading into other issues and challenges facing mentees (who are often more willing to work with a peer rather than a teacher on those issues). We also target some year 10 and 11
Peer mentoring accreditation Selected Year 9 students regularly work with sixth form mentors. This started out with homework and careers projects, before developing into social action projects. Students supported First Love (who run the local food bank) and committed themselves to collecting loose change and food donations. Working collaboratively with the 6th formers on this volunteering helped reinforce and deepen relationships and provided a springboard for students to contribute positively to the school and the community. The students went on to create an independent project selling water to raise money for UNICEF and Cancer Research UK (charities they chose themselves). 37 students (including members of the 2016-17 Student Council) put themselves forward for the Schools, Student and Teachers Network Student Leadership accreditation as a positive recognition of the skills they have developed.
students to receive similar support, more focused on preparation for exam content. Many resources are used including The Day (an online newspaper), which is used to stimulate debate on topical issues as well as for learning new and more sophisticated language (mirroring literacy schemes of work). This internal volunteering can count towards a students’ #iwill pledge and each receives a certificate. Many use this experience on their UCAS personal statements.
£1,738.99 Raised for First Love Foundation during WinterFest 2017.
First Love After raising money at Winterfest for
First Love, a charity founded by a local woman to run the Tower Hamlets Foodbank, a number of our students were invited to volunteer at their warehouse for a day. Students learnt about what foodbanks do and why, as well as contributing their time to help the charity. “Thank you to the inspirational students and the amazing staff @GSAShoreditch for their support again this year for our #LoveChristmas Appeal. You have all made a difference!!”
WinterFest
Local charities benefitted from £2,467 raised at our 4th annual WinterFest fundraising programme in 2016. The programme included a Winter Fair, stalls selling delicious home grown produce, a Christmas Jumper Day, a staff pantomime, a community concert and a loose change collection. The money raised in 2016 was shared amongst local charities including the First Love Foundation, the charity that runs the Tower Hamlets’ Foodbank, the vibrant multi-purpose community organisation St. Hilda’s East Community Centre and Macmillan Cancer Support. We were particularly pleased to receive this feedback from Denise Bentley, Chief Executive of the First Love Foundation: “Thank you for inviting me yesterday… I saw the passion and excellence in how you all did it and I was truly, truly humbled! At the moment #Ihavenowords to begin to express how I feel. From the bottom of my heart, to you and all of your students: THANK YOU!!!!”
19 Social Action and Student Voice at Green Spring Academy Shoreditch
Who Am I? Peer As part of the Who Am I project to encourage students to explore and express themselves, year 7 students prepared boxes decorated and filled with objects that symbolise themselves or which are important to them. Each student gave a prepared speech to their class describing who they are, what they are about, their hobbies and their passions; all to encourage them to explore issues of identity, role models and self-expression.
£122
Raised for Samaritans from the Year 9 Fair Trade cake sale. 2016
Make a wish
As art of their BTEC business course, 6th form students ran a stall selling produce (cakes etc.) to raise over £200 in profits for the Make a Wish Foundation, which supports underprivileged and sick children to get experiences they could otherwise not enjoy. As well as running the stall, our students designed and made bespoke T-shirts to promote their enterprise.
mentoring
Often starting as 6th form Reading Partners, many of our 6th form students have continued as mentors for year 7 and 8 students, providing a safe space for often challenging students to talk about their concerns or others issues, such as barriers to learning or behavioural concerns. Often the mentee students will have been referred to our Pastoral Support Unit for extra help outside lessons. Our mentors tell us that they get as much from the relationships as the mentees, including building confidence and communication skills and, most importantly, a sense of personal satisfaction at having helped a fellow student progress and overcome their challenges.
£260
Raised at our students’ Macmillan Coffee Morning
Green Spring Academy Shoreditch
Gosset Street . London E2 6NW . Telephone: 020 79207900 . Email: info@gsacademyshoreditch.org.uk www.gsacademyshoreditch.org.uk