Measures to help schools instil character in pupils announced
Millions in funding for former armed services projects and awards for schools announced.
Education Secretary Nicky Morgan has announced a package of measures to help schools instil character in pupils - including extra funding for projects run by former armed service personnel which help turn around the lives of disadvantaged children.
Eight projects will be given almost £5 million to work with schools - using the values and expertise of the armed services to help young people do better at school and develop their character, including values such as self-confidence, respect and leadership.
Schools that develop and build character, resilience and grit in their pupils will also be recognised for the first time through the new character awards - so that more schools focus on developing well rounded pupils prepared for life in modern Britain.
Applicants will be judged on their approaches and practices to develop character by a panel of education experts, with awards including:
• £15,000 each for up to 27 schools in all 9 regions of the country, to be announced in February
• A further national prize of £20,000 to 1 winner, to be announced at an awards ceremony in March
Education Secretary Nicky Morgan said:
"Delivering the best schools and skills is a key part of our long-term economic plan that is turning Britain around.
"As well as high academic standards, this means providing opportunities for all young people to develop the character and resilience they need to succeed in modern Britain.
"For pupils who may have faced challenges or difficulties in their personal life, these initiatives run by former armed services personnel can offer a sense of greater aspiration and can help build the skills and confidence they need to go on to good jobs and successful futures.
"Coupled with the new character awards schools will now have the tools and support they need to ensure they develop well rounded pupils ready to go onto an apprenticeship, university or the world of work."
The new funding for military ethos projects comes as a review into evidence and feedback published alongside the announcement shows how these projects can have a positive impact in improving behaviour, attendance and resilience for the young people taking part allowing them to get the most out of school.
All delivery providers recorded examples of impact in the classroom and beyond. Teachers, parents and pupils described how these projects have had a positive impact on the confidence, self-esteem, self-respect and inter-personal skills of those involved, the type of skills which will help pupils thrive in higher or further education and in the world of work. Teachers also described how pupils who had previously been disengaged were now actively participating in school life.
Pupils themselves reflected on how the schemes had increased their confidence, made them less self-critical and more self-aware.
Last year, more than 52,000 pupils participated in these schemes across 460 primary schools, secondary schools, sixth-form and further education colleges, and other institutions. This included more than 16,000 pupils who were identified as being disengaged with their school life and 1,333 pupils in alternative provision or excluded from schools.
Character awards
Character can be developed in pupils in a wide variety of ways, through teaching values in personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) or citizenship lessons, through the full curriculum, or by competing on the playing field or taking part in extra-curricular activities such as the Duke of Edinburgh Award, the National Citizen Service or after school debating clubs.
Applicants to the character awards, who can enter from January, will be judged on the extent to which they have been successful in promoting character education in children and young people, on the level of innovation demonstrated, on the extent to which success is shared with others to spread practice and on their future plans to spend any prize money attracted.
In September Education Secretary Nicky Morgan announced the £5 million Character Innovation Fund, which made available £5 million over the next 2 years to support the development of character in schools. Today’s (8 December 2014) announcement is the first stage of this, with further announcements to follow.