Be Spirited: The heart of the matter

A Sixth Outcome for Every Child Matters

Maria Cockerill

Education, Skills and Innovation maria.cockerill@northtyneside.gov.uk

Spirituality and the focus of Be Spirited

• Religious sense: One’s relationship with God

• Broader sense: Personal reflection on one’s needs and desires in order to reach out to others

The true measure of a nation’s standing is how well it attends to its children …and their sense of being loved, valued and included in the societies into which they are born.

UNICEF Report Card 7

• Extension to ECM

• Widening horizons for human flourishing

• Making a difference

Churchill Community College pupil’s artwork

Be Spirited

Be Spirited

• Sense of self - emotional balance

• Sense of other - empathy

• Sense of moral purpose - ethics

Values Our guiding principles

based on what we share as human beings

• What is most important?• Why is it important? • How can we

make a difference?

Habits for Life

• Listen

• Reflect

• Imagine

• Reason

• Engage

Young People’s Voice

Be Spirited Survey 2009 (n2873)

• 91% say they feel positive about their lives.

• 98% say they have people in their lives ‘who really care’ about them.

• 89% generally feel that what they do is valuable and worthwhile.

Young People’s Voice Be Spirited Survey 2009 (n2873)

• Only 32% feel calm and peaceful.• 47% do not make time to be still and reflect.• 42% are not absorbed in what they do.• 49% find it difficult to overcome problems• 49% find it difficult to make decisions.• 49% feel others are not kind and helpful.• 40% do not volunteer.

Be Spirited

Learning to be ‘fully human’

• Know yourself

• Care for others

• Make a difference

The power of space

Meaningful relationships

Valuing individuals

Making choices

Sustained thinking

Making connections

Young Citizen ProgrammeAgents of Change

• Examine their present context• Engage with their possible future• Understand their potential• Make a difference in their community

Life Journeys programme

• Dialogue & reflect about now

• Imagine possible futures• Identify what is of value• Map their life journey• Make positive choices

“It made me think about the future and how I want to be”

Building authentic leadership

• Young people as role models

• Effective Communicators

Enquiry

Shaping Learner Landscapes

• What is important?

• Why is it important?

• How can this learning help you

make a difference?

“It makes me want to do something, something big to help.”

Reflective practice A programme of regular reflection

• Time and space to be still

• Time to reflect about me

• Time to reflect about how others feel

• Time to consider the wonder of nature

• Time to reflect in groups

• Time to record our reflections

• Time to practice making a difference

Early Years

Special schools

Experiencing nature

“I’ll remember this garden until I’m thirty.” Y6

‘An oasis of calm’

‘It’s peaceful and quiet and I can think my own thoughts.’ Y4

‘I feel calm and happy in the hollow.’ Y6

Reflecting through movement – Tai Chi

“ I am much calmer when I do it”

“ Tai-Chi helps me think about things”

Reflecting through craft

“It has made me more patient”

“It made me feel happy”

Taking notice

‘Students report that taking notice & reflecting in their journals

about things that matter to them makes a real difference.’

Daily reflection in the secondary stage

By John Donne1573 - 1631

What does this mean for us today?

No man is an island, entire No man is an island, entire of itself, every man is a of itself, every man is a piece of the continent, a piece of the continent, a

part of the mainpart of the main

Retreats – days out for reflection

We are ONE BODY…

Be Spirited reclaims what UNESCO articulated years ago:

‘Learning to be is more important than

Learning to do’

Federico Mayor: Director General of UNESCO, 1989-1999

Liberation of Dachau concentration camp

April 1945

“ Help your children become more human.

Your efforts must never produce learned monsters, skilled psychopaths

or educated Eichmanns.

Reading, writing, and arithmetic are important only if they serve to make our children

more human.”

Haim Ginott