The pupils at Moreton Morrell C of E Primary School are given the opportunity to understand the term ‘Courageous Advocacy‘. Courageous Advocacy equips pupils with the skills, tools, confidence, and opportunity to speak up and take action on issues of justice. Courageous Advocacy is an integral part of the Church of England Education Office’s vision for education.
As part of the curriculum offer, pupils in the upper junior class have the opportunity to visit the Halo Centre in Coventry. They are given the opportunity to spend the day with Feed The Hungry UK and learn about what the charity aims to do. The pupils are then able to delivered donations, spent time organising donations into categories and checking best before dates, prepared food parcels for families within Coventry and surrounding areas. In addition to this, the children are able to make rice, soya, lentil and vitamin packets that are shipped to schools in Africa where children will only have that one meal a day. On this years visit the pupils were able to box up enough packets to feed 2,376 children! The time spent at the Halo Centre inspired our pupils to want to make a difference. However, our staff recognise that it is important that courageous advocacy is framed in terms of hope and aspiration. Courageous advocacy is about creating the confidence for our pupils that they can make a real change in the world, encouraging them to understand the concept of Social Justice.
Social justice means children and adults from all identity groups have the same rights, opportunities, access to resources, and benefits. It recognises that inequalities in society are sometimes embedded historically and must be addressed. Poverty, disadvantage and other forms of inequality are all examples of what needs to be addressed.
Courageous Advocacy is a concept that spans many difficult and challenging topic areas such as reconciliation. At Moreton Morrell C of E Primary School we use Restorative Practice to solve disputes. Understanding how to live together peacefully while holding different opinions needs to be taught. Recently the pupils in year 3 and 4 discussed the term reconciliation. They discussed the concept of reconciliation as the process of bringing together people who are opposed to one another. The children then looked at sculptures and designed their own using clay. In Christianity, it is associated with Jesus reconciling humanity with God through his death. Reconciliation is also linked to forgiveness, as it may be necessary to show forgiveness in order to resolve a disagreement.
All staff at Moreton Morrell C of E Primary school have been trained in Restorative Practice and use it frequently within the classroom. Restorative practice encourages those who work with children and families to focus their time on building quality relationships that inspire positive change. Focusing on relationships, encouraging fair process and offering high support and high challenge is essential in enabling communities to work together. Please click on the link above if you would like to find out more.
