Recently, I heard a story that made my heart soar. But before I reveal the moment this happened, let me give you a little context.
In the Autumn Term, on the 20 November, I was invited to attend an Awards Ceremony at Green Top School, organised by Key Stage One staff and children, to culminate their Learning Expedition entitled, ‘Not all heroes wear capes’. The pupils in Key Stage One had studied How can I be a hero in my community?
It was breathtaking to hear how children had engaged in a hook and immersion week by creating placards about litter, parking, or kindness, and acting as “true activists” in Thorne through chanting and litter picking. They visited local care homes to sing, took residents cards, and raised £50. They also worked with local MP Lee Pitcher and the local food bank on a Christmas shoe box appeal. It was clear that the Learning Expedition had been seeped in community activism – and these were kids between the ages of five and seven.
Case Studies in the Expedition focussed on the historical study of significant figures from the era of the Great Fire of London such as Christopher Wren and Samuel Pepys. They built and then burned box model houses to demonstrate how fire spreads easily as part of their Science studies. The pupils then moved onto a study of Martin Luther King using the text ‘Let the Children March’ to understand King’s impact on his community and the black community more widely. This case study involved making portraits and writing speeches.
Pupils then explored the concept of diversity using texts like The Ugly Duckling to learn about people from different backgrounds, religions and beliefs.
The crowning glory of the Expedition was the Pride of Thorne Awards ceremony where pupils had made short videos celebrating the recipients of the awards who were all recognised for their significant contribution to the community of Green Top and the wider community of Thorne. It was beautiful to see young children articulating why our guests, from a range of different walks of life, were receiving recognition because of the positive impact they had had on the fabric of the community by their selfless acts of service and kindness. The children also combined their skills, as part of the Expedition, to create professional certificates for this event as well as the medals for successful recipients which had been designed from the pupils’ artwork.
The stand out award for me, amongst all the very worthy winners, was the award to Mr Kershaw who lives near to the school and had been seen by pupils regularly taking care of the surrounding community by helping others and keeping the area tidy by picking up litter. This small act of kindness was noticed by pupils and they wanted to honour this ‘hero’ of the community.
So this is enough to fill you with emotion but what really made me stop and think about the impact and importance of our work was when I visited the school recently and when talking to the pupils they told me they had seen Mr Kershaw recently.
They were eager to tell me that he was still carrying out acts of selfless service to the community, he was still helping others and he was still tidying up the local area…
But now, when carrying out his work for the community, there was something a little different about him. Now he was proudly wearing the medal that he had received from Green Top pupils.
Mr Kershaw, a hero that doesn’t wear a cape but who does wear a badge.
A very special badge: designed, crafted and warmly given by Green Top pupils who are activists in making their community a better and kinder place to live.
That is what made my heart soar.
Andy Sprakes, Chief Academic Officer, XP Trust
