Character and resilience are as crucial to young people’s
future success as academic qualifications, Education
Secretary said today.
Addressing the Church of England Foundation for Educational
Leadership conference today (7 February), Mr Hinds laid out
the 5 Foundations for Building Character and pledged to
work with schools and external organisations, including
membership bodies and charities, to help every child access
activities within each of those foundations.
To make this happen the Education Secretary announced:
- Plans for an audit of the availability of out of school
activities across the country, to help understand where
more focus is needed to increase access and choice. The
Government will also work with organisations to look at how
it can support greater provision in areas where it is
limited.
- A call on businesses and charities to offer more work
experience and volunteer placements to young people.
- Relaunching the Department for Education’s Character
Awards, which highlight innovative or outstanding
programmes that develop a wide variety of character traits
including conscientiousness, drive and perseverance, as
well as virtues, for other schools to learn from.
- A new advisory group, led by Ian Bauckham - who led the
work to update the Relationships, Sex and Health Education
guidance for schools - will now develop a new framework to
help teachers and school leaders identify the types of
opportunities that will help support their pupils to build
character. The framework will also provide a
self-assessment tool for schools to check how well they are
doing.
Alongside this work Mr Hinds also underlined the
significance of pupils learning about the importance of
positive personal attributes – such as self-respect and
self-worth, honesty, courage, kindness, generosity,
trustworthiness and a sense of justice - as part of the new
Relationships, Sex and Health Education curriculum.
These wide ranging proposals are aimed at building on the
great work already being done by many schools to ensure
young people build strong and positive relationships and
embrace the character and resilience needed to deal with
life’s inevitable challenges.
In his speech the Education Secretary said:
Character and resilience are the qualities, the inner
resources that we call on to get us through the
frustrations and setbacks that are part and parcel of
life. How do we instil this in young people, how do we
make sure they are ready to make their way in the world
as robust and confident individuals?
I have heard repeatedly from teachers, parents and young
people themselves about the areas of activity that will
help develop character and resilience. They combine
elements that will stretch and challenge and will help
young people think, develop and grow and which will
enhance their self-esteem and their confidence.
This is not about a DfE plan for building character. It
has to be about schools learning from other schools, it’s
about business pitching in when it can, it’s about
community groups speaking up and inviting schools in.
It’s about individual adults volunteering. All of us need
to work together using the wide range of resources and
experts that there are out there.
Today’s announcements follow a series of activities to help
schools focus on more than just academic achievement. These
include:
- Ofsted’s plans to introduce a new inspection framework
that will specifically look at how schools will ensure a
child’s education is about more than just exams.
- A £2.5million programme with the British Council to
ensure more children, particularly those from disadvantaged
backgrounds, are able to go on school exchanges and benefit
from the opportunity of experiencing other cultures first
hand.
- New research by the Social Mobility Commission looking
at the impact of extra-curricular activities on social
mobility. This will help ensure the most effective
practices are scaled up and targeted at the areas that need
them most.
The 5 Foundations for Building Character cover a number of
key areas - sport, creativity, performing, volunteering and
membership, and the world of work. In his speech Mr Hinds
said that these activities are a crucial part of a child’s
development and will teach them the qualities that cannot
solely be learned in the classroom.
These key areas cover an extensive list of activities. The
foundations are:
- Sport – which includes competitive sport and activities
such as running, martial arts, swimming and purposeful
recreational activities, such as rock climbing, hiking,
orienteering, gym programmes, yoga or learning to ride a
bike.
- Creativity – this involves all creative activities from
coding, arts and crafts, writing, graphic design, film
making and music composition.
- Performing – activities could include dance, theatre
and drama, musical performance, choir, debating or public
speaking.
- Volunteering & Membership – brings together teams
for practical action in the service of others or groups,
such as volunteering, litter-picking, fundraising, any
structured youth programmes or uniformed groups like
Beavers, Brownies, Cubs, Guides, Scouts, Cadets and Duke of
Edinburgh.
- World of work – practical experience of the world of
work, work experience or entrepreneurship. For primary age
children, this may involve opportunities to meet role
models from different jobs.
Dame Julia Cleverdon, Co-Founder, Step Up To Serve &
the #iwill campaign, said:
As co-founder of the #iwill campaign, which brings
together over 900 organisations to increase opportunities
for young people to help others and the environment
through youth social action, I am delighted with the
Secretary of State’s aspiration to increase the quality
and spread of activity within his 5 foundations for
character, which will strengthen the role our education
system plays in supporting the character development of
our young people.
The #iwill campaign recognises that taking part in sport,
creativity, performing, volunteering & membership and
the world of work can have a double benefit when the
experiences are delivered through social action. By
experiencing activities within the 5 foundations for
character whilst helping others and the environment,
young people not only develop their own character and
resilience but also make a positive difference to others,
and the communities around them. We look forward to
supporting the Department for Education with this
important priority.
HM Chief Inspector Amanda Spielman said:
Fundamentally education is about making sure the next
generation have everything they need to realise their
potential. That means offering them a broad and rich
curriculum which gives them the knowledge and skills that
will set them up for success in further study and the
world and work.
But it shouldn’t stop there; a young person’s time in
education should help to build their confidence and
resilience, helping them to deal with life’s ups and
downs. That is why the new framework we are currently
consulting on will have a specific personal development
judgement, to recognise the work that schools do to
prepare children and young people to take their place as
adults and active citizens in modern Britain.
Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of
School and College Leaders, said:
It’s good that the Secretary of State is recognising the
important part played by extra-curricular activities,
which have a proud tradition across schools and colleges
of all types. Such activities don’t lend themselves to
school performance tables, but they should be an
essential part of every child’s experience.
The evidence shows that the vast majority (81 per cent) of
11-18 year olds take part in at least one regular activity
either in or outside of school. Bringing together these
activities in the 5 Foundations for Building Character is
intended to help teachers and parents identify character
building activities and signpost young people to the wide
range of opportunities available.
