by Miss Julaan Govier
Our School’s Approach to Teaching Character Education
I am currently a Year Five Teacher, Science Leader and Curriculum Leader at Cheam Common Junior School, which is part of LEO Academy Trust. Cheam Common Junior Academy is a Google Reference School, and all children across the school have 1:1 Chromebook devices. Digital technology and online learning platforms are an integral part of teaching and learning within daily life across the school. In addition, Cheam Common Junior Academy passionately strives to go beyond academics by nurturing the leaders and thinkers of tomorrow with the explicit teaching and development of character strengths using its own bespoke wider curriculum, Amazing People Schools stories and resources, LEO Explorer Values, and the wealth of other enrichment opportunities provided to its pupils.
In today’s world, so much emphasis is placed on assessments, test scores and academic performance. But what about the essential qualities that transform children into the leaders, innovators, compassionate citizens, and original thinkers of tomorrow? That’s where character strengths come in! Character strengths are the positive traits and qualities we all possess. They shape how we think, feel, and act. By helping children identify and develop their unique strengths, we equip them with the tools to make positive choices, overcome challenges, and become the best versions of themselves.
A Game-Changer for Your Classroom
This is where Amazing People Schools, for me personally, has been a real game-changer in my classroom. The Amazing People Schools online platform is jam-packed with many engaging and rich resources that make teaching character strengths a real breeze.
From interactive lessons on historical figures like Marie Curie or Mahatma Gandhi, to inspiring stories about modern heroes like Malala Yousafzai or David Attenborough featured in the ‘Contemporary Corner’, the platform sparks rich and meaningful discussions and learning opportunities. The pupils in my class love exploring the platform’s library of historical characters complete with stories, timelines, videos, audios and quizzes, and it has been incredible seeing the children connect character strengths to their own lives, goals and ambitions.
But, Why Teach Character Strengths?
Research indicates that focusing on character strengths results in:
- Improved Wellbeing: Children with a strong understanding of their strengths have greater self-esteem, confidence, and resilience.
- Academic Achievement: Character strengths, such as perseverance and self-regulation, are directly linked to success in school.
- Stronger Relationships: Emphasising the strengths of kindness, teamwork, and honesty, helps to foster positive connections with others.
- Meaningful Contribution: Encouraging children to use their strengths helps them feel empowered to make a positive impact on the world.
The Power of Character Strengths: Our Journey at CCJ
At Cheam Common Junior Academy, we passionately aim to inspire the next generation of change-makers, leaders, and creative thinkers by using our own ‘Amazing People’, featuring a diverse range of carefully selected role models who have shaped the world we live in today! We have identified, designed and promoted these role models, both past and present, who have made significant contributions to their areas of expertise. This allows us to build confidence, character and resilience, promote wellbeing and inspire learning across our whole curriculum! As a curriculum leader and having a previous background in art and graphic design, I have digitally designed ‘Amazing People’ illustrations to represent each of our discrete subject areas across our whole school curriculum. These are used across all subjects, lessons and displays, to reflect core values and inspire our students to be confident, resilient and respectful citizens, skilled to face the future!
Harnessing Technology to Bring Role Models into the Classroom
The next step in our journey was to bring these contemporary and historical figures to life and find meaningful, relatable and engaging ways to deliver character education for all of our pupils. As a Google Reference School and a LEO Academy Trust School, with a huge focus on integrating technology into the curriculum, we are constantly seeking ways in which we can harness technology and online learning platforms to enrich and enhance our classroom experiences.
That’s where we discovered Amazing People Schools, an online platform packed with resources specifically designed for this! Amazing People Schools offer:
- Inspirational Stories: The platform showcases stories of real people throughout history and in contemporary life who demonstrate specific character strengths. These stories help students to better understand the strengths in action.
- Fun Activities: The resources include creative lesson plans, activities, and discussion guides to bring character strengths to life in the classroom.
- Personal Reflection: Students have the opportunity to reflect on their own character strengths, which promotes self-awareness.
We have found that Amazing People Schools provides a fantastic foundation to build our bespoke character education program. The materials are readily adaptable, ensuring our young people are always engaged. Furthermore, a large majority of the role models we had already selected to represent our subjects and areas of the curriculum were also beautifully illustrated and represented on the Amazing People Schools online platform. This allows us to easily align our vision and core values. With a trust-wide subscription to Amazing People Schools, fortunately, our school has ongoing access to the award-winning learning platform and the wealth of learning materials available.
Important Reflections in the Classroom
In my role as a Year 5 classroom teacher, I have been using Amazing People Schools almost on a daily basis with my class. To start, I was using the easy-to-use online platform at the end of the day. After a busy school day, I always like to set aside a few minutes for quiet reflection. Amazing People Schools has been a wonderful resource for this. Their videos featuring inspiring individuals, both past and present, provide the perfect springboard for contemplation, reflection and discussion.
For example, after learning about the important concepts of racism and diversity in a PSHE lesson delivered earlier one day, we watched a short video highlighting the life, story and work of US civil rights movement leader Martin Luther King Jr. It sparked rich and insightful discussions and thoroughly deepened my pupils’ understanding of these concepts. We were also able to complete the short retrieval quiz provided and refer to the transcript of the story too, to check for comprehension and understanding.
Using Role Models to Motivate and Inspire Students
Since then, we regularly choose a significant figure from the past and watch their short video highlighting a specific character strength that connects to subjects or topics that we covered earlier in the day. The videos spark fascinating discussions about how the featured individuals embodied the strength, the challenges they potentially faced, and how students can apply similar traits in their own lives. It’s a powerful way to reinforce learning and my students leave the classroom feeling motivated and inspired.
Classroom Resources Integral to Our Curriculum Objectives
As a result of the positive response from my students, along with how easy it is to use the platform, I was inspired to delve deeper into the extensive teaching resources on Amazing People Schools. I’ve discovered that I can create full lessons aligned with our curriculum objectives. The ready-made resources require minimal preparation, allowing me to focus my energy on facilitating meaningful discussions and activities that promote character development. This has been a game-changer, making it effortless to integrate character strengths education seamlessly into our core subject areas. For example, I wanted to develop a PSHE lesson to reinforce our LEO Explorer Value of ‘Empathy’ and I was able to effortlessly search and download a range of teaching materials and resources to make this a reality. The full lesson can be viewed here as well as the Jamboard children’s task.
Amazing People Schools: The Future for CCJ
As a curriculum leader, I believe passionately in sharing effective teaching strategies with my colleagues. I’ve started to share my experiences with Amazing People Schools within my team. I’m delighted to see that several teachers across the school have also begun adopting this platform. It’s been incredibly rewarding to see how it supports our broader curriculum vision and helps us to nurture a generation of well-rounded, compassionate, and capable young people.
Finally, we are now taking things to the next level! I’m excited to share that our commitment to character strengths education has gone a step further! We have now started working closely with the Education Team at Amazing People Schools. Together, we’re carefully mapping out our curriculum to identify areas where the platform’s resources can directly support and enhance our existing curriculum goals. This collaboration ensures that character development becomes a seamless and integral part of our students’ overall learning experience.
Amazing People Schools and Your Classroom
So, what are you waiting for? Are you a teacher or senior leader wanting to help your own pupils discover and nurture their strengths? Would you like to support them to not only be successful, but also to become outstanding individuals who shape the future for the better? Then, I wholeheartedly encourage you to check out Amazing People Schools. This platform makes it easier than ever to bring character strengths into your classroom, offering a treasure chest of tools to support you in empowering the next generation of changemakers.
Amazingly, you can even try out this awesome online learning platform for free here and sign up for a trial that gives you access to all the resources for a limited period. Admittedly, it can sometimes be daunting and time consuming trying new online learning platforms and approaches to teaching and learning, but the Education Team at Amazing People Schools have got you covered! Through a number of training videos, which explain how you can use Amazing People Schools, you can get yourself and your team up and running in no time and find bespoke solutions for your school.
Furthermore, if you would like to explore and discuss how you can meet your unique key school improvement objectives, reflect core values in your own curriculum and inspire your students to be confident, resilient and respectful citizens skilled to face the future, you can book a personal call with a friendly and supportive member of their Education Team here. Join the movement to empower your students with character strength education.
A final thought… Amazing People Schools: Helping us raise amazing children!
Miss Julaan Govier BA (Hons) MA (Hons)
Google Certified Educator Level 1 and 2
Primary School Teaching 2009-Present
Twitter or X:
@julaangovier
@CCJacademy
@LEOacademies #WeAreLEO