by Helen Griffiths, Deputy Headteacher and SENCO at Frodsham CE Primary School
Our Role Models and Their Strengths – A Dressing Up Day with a Difference
We started off planning an Amazing People Day in order to embed the idea of inspirational role models and the strengths they demonstrated. What we got gave us so much more! Enthused pupils and staff talking about their own strengths and those of role models, past and present, famous and not, who inspire them. It went so well that it might become an annual feature!
Would you like to run an Amazing People Day in your school? Find out how at the bottom of this post!
Background – Our School Values and Community
We consider our popular school to be a very special place at which children develop confidence and a love of learning. We have very strong links with our local community and St Laurence Church. Christian values are at the heart of all that we do within our school. We are proud of the inclusive nature of our school, where every child is valued as an individual and recognised for their unique talents and gifts.
We initially came across Amazing People Schools during a Blue Cow presentation at a suppliers evening in July 2022. As Deputy Headteacher, I loved what I saw and felt that the emphasis on diverse role models and how the Amazing People Schools suite of character education and wellbeing resources supported our behaviour policy, would be very useful.
The Planning – Character Strengths and School Behaviour
The management of positive behaviours is key to creating a positive school climate. This, in turn, improves and enhances the wellbeing of students, staff, and the entire school community. As part of our School Improvement plans/goals, we were in the process of reviewing our behaviour policy and wanted to take the time to explore what other schools were doing, and to research what makes effective behaviour policy and practice. During this process, we gained views from children, parents and staff, before we were able to create and develop a policy which meets the needs of our children and develops their character strengths.
We wanted staff to fully understand everything that the Amazing People Schools website had to offer, so we organised staff training. Busy school life, changes in priorities and staff absence delayed things slightly. However, we felt that launching at the beginning of the school year with a fresh start and some new staff members would be the perfect time.
The Amazing People Schools team supported us with advertising the event and created an eye-catching poster which we displayed in school and shared in our newsletter and on X (formerly Twitter).
We wanted our Amazing People Day to not pose a cost to parents having to buy costumes or having to spend hours creating something fancy, so we simply asked children to dress up as someone they believe is amazing. They had to choose a real person, from history or from modern day, or it could be someone from their family, the local community, this county or anywhere in the world.
We hoped that children would appreciate how the world is filled with so many amazing people, but ultimately, our aim was for them to realise the character strengths they themselves could develop to make them even more amazing.
Staff Training
Before the day, our staff attended a training session with Selena, the Education Team Manager at Amazing People Schools. This gave a helpful guide to what they offer and how we might embed this across the school.
Teachers shared the idea of having an Amazing People Day and asked the children to represent an amazing person they chose with the help of their parents. This helped parents and carers become actively involved.
The Day Arrived – Role Models Come to Life
Staff used the Amazing People Schools website to gain ideas and build their knowledge of possible amazing people.
For example, Year 4 learned about how Elizabeth Blackwell used her character strength of love. They then considered how they could develop their character strength of love to help them achieve their goals.
All the children came dressed as famous people. They were excited to share their chosen character with their friends. The work we had done prior to the day was immediately evident, with pupils able to explain who their chosen character was and why they were amazing.
‘I’m Albert Einstein, the famous scientist,’ said one of the boys proudly.
‘I am Florence Nightingale, the nurse who saved the lives of many people,’ said another pupil with pride.
A child who was born in Ukraine, and is now living in Frodsham, came dressed as Walt Disney. He proceeded to show why he chose this amazing person by brilliantly drawing portraits of his classmates.
Including Parents in Education
A number of students dressed to represent everyday amazing members of their own family and the work they did. One pupil said, ‘My mum goes to work and looks after babies, and then comes home and looks after me and my sisters.’ Another student had come dressed as his uncle who had done so much work to help people in the community who needed support during the pandemic.
Another child dressed up as Coco Chanel. Her mother, who is a school governor, said, ‘We love the Amazing People Day idea, and spent an enjoyable time gaining information and preparing the costume.’
Parents were actively engaged at the school drop-off, conversing and learning from each other. They shared the fun and drama of helping their children prepare.
‘This Amazing People Day has really got us all involved in preparing our children for an exciting event,’ said one of the parents.
Bringing Character into the Conversation
We held an assembly at the start of the day and were treated to Year 4 telling us about the importance of developing and recognising character strengths. They shared their personal character strengths and also the character strengths they felt they needed to develop.
In addition to what their chosen characters did in their lives, pupils explored the character strengths that the amazing people demonstrated, such as courage, creativity, teamwork, empathy, kindness and perseverance. Discussion was held around which strengths they felt were important and why.
That led to classroom discussions on why people like William Shakespeare and Mark Twain used their time to write stories, and how people like Louis Armstrong, Helen Keller and Thomas Edison overcame major barriers and difficulties to achieve their goals. The pupils learned that character strengths and having a purpose, combined with determination, as well as having organisation and problem-solving skills, are all essential for success.
Resulting Positive Impacts of the Amazing People Day
The process of organising the day involved teachers, parents and pupils working together. This involved using teamwork skills, which strengthened relationships at all levels. It was a fun and informative day. Indeed, it was a truly amazing event where the entire school community came together to celebrate those who have improved the quality of our lives.
I think perhaps one of the great aspects of the day was how the conversation about the event continued to be talked about after the event itself. Talking about the people that inspire us was really embraced across the school and was really uplifting.
The fact that the day had a “character strengths” lens across it made it much more than a non-uniform day. It meant something to each and every person that took part and got us thinking about role models and the impact they can have. It also got us thinking about the character strengths we all have and why they are important, as well as the strengths we felt we’d like to continue to work on and develop further.
This was an inspiring and meaningful day that we will all remember. It was such a brilliant day that we created a display that shared some of the highlights. Parents that came into the school loved it as it demonstrated that Frodsham CE Primary is a school that nurtures and supports each and every amazing pupil that attends the school.
“The day was such an inspiring and memorable one. We couldn’t believe the effort that children and their families had made. We had a huge range of amazing people, and we were really impressed by the children’s knowledge. They could tell us why they had chosen to dress up as their person and their reasons demonstrated their understanding of character strengths. We already know that our children are amazing, but this Amazing People Day proved it and made them realise that everyone can be amazing”.
Helen Griffiths, Deputy Headteacher and SENCO at Frodsham CE Primary School
Amazing People Day – Summary
The Amazing People Day proved to be the missing piece in the puzzle in terms of providing our students with an essential starting place to continue their journey into understanding character strengths. Every child in school is now able to identify character strengths and they are rewarded for showing them. In each classroom, we have the character strengths poster displayed and all staff and children refer to these regularly throughout the day.
This process has certainly met our needs in terms of supporting the creation of our school behaviour policy and helping students to further develop their character. Teachers will continue to use the Amazing People Schools resources to support teaching character and to share diverse role models. We’re also hoping to participate in the live schools’ sessions.
Host an Amazing People Day
If you would like to talk to Amazing People Schools about hosting an Amazing People Day, please email support@amazingpeopleschools.com or book a short call here.
We can support you with a pack to help you run the day and will work with you to share social media posts and put together a blog or newsletter article about your day. You can download a free poster to publicise your day here to get you started. (PDF/ JPG)
All schools are welcome to a trial of the Amazing People Schools stories and resources, please click here to get your access details.