Learn how Louise Brewer, Learning Mentor and Careers Lead at Endeavour Academy, has utilised a strengths-driven approach to their careers and employability programme.
My name is Louise Brewer, and I’m the Learning Mentor and Careers Lead at the Endeavour Academy, Peterlee. We are a Free School, providing personalised education in a safe, caring and nurturing environment. The provision is specifically aimed at students who suffer from anxiety, or those experiencing social and emotional issues, which may be present in traditional schools or in non-attendance.
Whilst mental health and wellbeing is important (I would hope) for all educational settings, our context places it front and centre of everything we do. Our students often arrive with us aged 14, with low self-esteem and confidence.
Whilst our curriculum undoubtedly prepares students excellently for external examinations, there is a strong emphasis through the various elements on developing:
- A ‘love of learning’.
- The soft-skills required to be a productive member of the work force.
- An understanding, through the careers programme, of the opportunities available to students once they leave school.
- An understanding of ‘British Values’ and the implications for life in modern day Britain.
- Students’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural learning.
My role as Careers Lead is to enable them to find the positive strengths they do have, and to recognise these as highly valued employability skills.
Endeavour Academy Careers Programme
Our Careers Programme is personalised to ensure progression through activities which are appropriate to students’ stages of career learning, planning and development.
We aim to:
- Improve student self-development by gaining an understanding of themselves, and learning to reflect on who influences their decisions.
- Explore career opportunities by investigating career paths and analysing labour market information to inform their decision-making.
- Make and adjust career plans to support changes and transitions.
Careers is taught cross-curricular in all lessons, where stereotypes are challenged and there is a focus on meaningfulness and application of the skills developed and how they will be of benefit in the working world.
Our students may or may not get lots of GCSEs, but they will need courage, perseverance and adaptability. I want the students to focus on their character development and to recognise that you can have lots of GCSEs and still be lacking in this area.
Embedding Character Across the School
We started with an Introduction to Character lesson to help everyone be clear on the new words and meanings. The benefits of starting with an introduction to character is that the students are able to identify strengths that they and their peers have. This provokes positive conversations and allows students to think positively of themselves, which is a skill students really struggle with.
In order to further embed character across everything we do, we have the Character Strengths Definitions Chart printed out and displayed in every classroom and on the noticeboard.
Teachers are now using this vocabulary to support students. For example, we have some learners who don’t like going into science, because they find it difficult. But, when they do go in, teachers have started to use a strengths-based approach, saying things like “well done, you’ve persevered, you’ve shown that this can be a strength of yours. You didn’t really want to come in, but you did and well done.” This is leading the students to recognise this language and develop their vocabulary. They can discuss their challenges and what strengths they need to utilise to overcome them. The enormity of this for students with low self-esteem is huge. Many of them have been battered by education so far and taking a strengths-based approach helps them to have a more positive self-identity.
Character and Role Models
I chose a different strength each week to focus on but have been led by issues that have arisen naturally. For example, we might focus on kindness or curiosity. The reason for this is that I identified earlier on in the week that some students were not particularly being kind to others around them, so I decided that we would look at that specific strength.
Every student was also given the Character Strengths Definitions Chart and we focused on a different person each week. On one occasion we looked at Mary Seacole and how she was a kind person. The students really enjoyed watching her video, as it was easy to follow and straight to the point. We looked at how, even though she wasn’t treated well, she went on to do what she wanted to do. We also linked it to wellbeing which is extremely important in our context. A student has written that “developing kindness increases self-esteem, empathy and encourages a positive reaction in others”. They were able to see how practising kindness helped them to stay calm, improve their mood and health, and could even help them live longer.
Using Journalling to Boost Self-confidence
We have been using the Character Strength Reflection Journal which is a useful tool to help our learners recognise and acknowledge their strengths and identify which strengths they want to develop further. It helps them to feel more positive about themselves, their self-control, adaptability and enthusiasm. Many learners have arrived at Endeavour Academy with their self-confidence so low they can barely make eye-contact. By using the Amazing People Schools stories and resources, students can now see their own strengths and recognise strengths in others.
Talking about strengths in this way allows them to talk positively about themselves without feeling as though they are boastful and big-headed.
The Impact of a Strengths-driven Approach
Students now have a strong recall and understanding of various strengths. It helps our students recognise that out in the real world they can compete with any student when it comes to character.
We are a small school with big challenges and we’ve found the support from Amazing People Schools so important. We have supported them in developing their resources and they have supported us in return. I would recommend any school, in any situation, gets in touch to check out how they can help you.
Louise Brewer – Careers Lead & Learning Mentor – Endeavour Academy, Peterlee
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