SUPERKIND- Courageous Advocacy
At Bishopton Redmarshall CE Primary School, we are delighted to be taking part in the Superkind programme. We will work to achieve the Social Impact Schools Award, that will formally recognise and celebrate the amazing social actions our children take over the school year.
The Superkind mission is to engage and motivate children to take action for causes they care about and make a genuine difference to the world around them.
Social action is a key part of personal and character development, encouraging children to think about others and to make a positive to contribution to society. We know that by getting involved in things like volunteering, campaigning and fundraising, children are growing themselves while also benefiting the world around them.
Educate- equipping children with the knowledge, skills, values and attitudes needed to address the interconnected global challenges we are facing.
Inspire- young change-makers throughout the world serve as inspiration for children to see the genuine difference they can make to causes they care about, regardless of age or background.
Empower- teaching children how to take action in an easy and meaningful way; going out in to the world and becoming a change-maker themselves.
Each month, we make a different 'Monthly Pledge' as a whole school as well as empowering indIvidual children to make small changes where they see disparity in the world.
September: Our September pledge was environmental. The children in the Pupil Action Team reconginsed a need for us to help our environment. We collected litter from the local park, cleared the hedges around school to make them hedgehog friendly (we also signed up to become a Hedgehog Friendly Campus). Alongside this, we worked with professionals to make a plan for our school pond as it isn't as friendly to wildlife as it could be!
October: We, recognised a need to help those people who do not have a home or who are struggling to feed their families. We know that this is an issue in our local area and we want to make a change. For this, we knew that we needed help! We wrote to parents asking for specific donations for our Harvest Festival as well as writing to local businesses to highlight our cause. We were inspired by a change-maker who developed 'I am' bags and we aim to do the same! We donated over 30 sleeping bags and 200 of our own I Am bags to local homeless charities and donated the left-over bags to a local charity, Iron Guidance, who provide help for young children in our area!
November: We completed our Hedgehog Friendly Site Award, ensuring that our school area and the hedges around are able to be lived in safely by hedgehogs. We hope to adopt a number of hedgehogs moving forward and will provide a home for hedgehogs to hibernate.
December: Our December pledge was to tackle loneliness at Christmas, particularly focusing on the elderly. We campaigned for change and created our very own TV advert. We invited family members in to school to enjoy Christmas craft activities, have a coffee and talk to our children. We also created Christmas cards that were sent to local care homes and, during a Christmas Crafternoon, each child created their own piece of artwork to send to local residents. We completed this pledge by donating over 50 gift bags to a local care home. You can view the advert below.