It really made me think about my actions and how I should respect other people.
As a company our goal is to support schools in developing the relationships and communication of their students both within their school environment and at home. This is a case study written by the staff of Holy Trinity and St Silas School in Camden to show how our work has helped support their students this academic year.
Aims: Support positive relationships between children
To support the well-being of our children, to equip them with the skills they need to flourish socially and emotionally, to support positive relationships between children. We would like all children to leave Holy Trinity & S. Silas as caring, cooperative and courageous young people and our work with HU supports this
Student Leadership Skills
A 6-day programme was used over the course of the academic year, allowing Year 5 and 6 students start their journey from Who Am I to Heroes Training. The students were then provided opportunities throughout the year to develop the motivational support and leadership skills they developed by working with younger Years in the school.
At the end of the academic year the students were able to run a HARmony Camp for the Reception students, not only were they able to demonstrate their initiative but they also had the confidence to run this independently and work with younger year groups to allow them to provide input to the day.
Day 1:
September 2016
Who Am I – 3 hrs Year 5 & 6
Extension Sessions – Year 3 – (supported by Y6 Heroes)
Extension Sessions -Snakes & Ladders – Emphasis on LADDERS) – Year 4 (supported by Y6 Heroes)
Day 2:
September 2016
Year 5&6 Heroes Training (PM: with Year 1 and 2)
Day 3:
January 2017
Who Are You Now – Year 5
1hr Heroes Momentum/Prep
Extensions (HARmony) – Year 3 (supported by Y5 Heroes),
Extensions (SMARTS) – Year 4 (supported by Y6 Heroes)
Day 4:
June 2017
HARmony Camp Training (All heroes)
Day 5:
June 2017
Year 2 HARmony Camp (led by Year 5 & 6 Heroes)
Day 6:
June 2017
Reception HARmony Camp led by heroes, with further input with Years 3-6
Holy Trinity Heroes
Holy Trinity Heroes have completed various courses around why they want to volunteer and how to become a positive role model in school. Throughout these courses we asked heroes to reflect on their current position and relationships in school and at home.
Each day we run group and 1:1 icebreaker activities to encourage students to get out of their comfort zones. We then ask heroes to focus on the importance of our 5 key values Hope, Happiness, Confidence, Relationships and Employability and what changes they need to make to improve each one.
KS1 Peer Mentoring
Heroes in Year 5 and 6 have been working together to support KS1. They regularly meet with their Lead teacher to plan and prepare for their meetings/sessions with KS1. During their meetings the Lead teacher runs activities with the Heroes to inspire and support them through running short Icon activities and Hero Peer Mentoring sessions.
Holy Trinity is committed to sustaining our work, sharing our values with the lower school however keeps a strong focus on developing Heroes and supporting in developing their Hope, Confidence, Happiness and Relationships.
Heroes meet with KS1 on a regular basis, these meetings are called ‘buddy meetings’. This is where Heroes are given the opportunity to develop their leadership skills through revisiting our core values by delivering Icon sessions.
Once the Lead has delivered her activities with Heroes she supports Heroes in planning their own sessions based on her Hero meeting activities. It is important for Heroes to plan their own sessions to enable them to fully understand what they are doing when it comes to working with the lower school.
Holy Trinity are also on their own journey of improving the Mental Health of their pupils. They are using our Heroes Peer Mentoring Programme to improve the Mental Health of all pupils in the school.
Heroes are able to recognise the importance of each activity and how it relates to positive thinking and support their peers in thinking the same way. Heroes are meeting with their peers on a weekly basis and following our 8 week Peer Mentoring Programme.
Humanutopia School Feedback
We love working with HU. Every time we have workshops in school there is a buzz and you can see the change in children. The children absolutely love the workshops, have lots of fun and enjoy the opportunity to reflect on themselves and on their relationships with each other. I think one of the most powerful elements of the workshops is equipping children with the language they need to understand themselves and each other through the Icons. The icons seem to really click with children and they can see exactly how these things happen. On the playground and around school we can hear children using this language to recognise situations and do something differently.
Leave a Reply