Courageous Advocacy

Courageous Advocacy:

What is courageous advocacy?

Courageous advocacy is defined by the Church of England as “the act of speaking out against an issue of injustice, often on behalf of those whose voice is not heard.” Through our tutor programme, curriculum and enrichment opportunities we encourage and support our students to become courageous advocates who believe that they can become ‘agents of change’ to strive towards a fairer and more joyous world.

Our spiral curriculum within PSHE lessons compliments the wider curriculum and our tutor programme includes opportunities to explore British Values, enabling students to develop their independence alongside their sense of respect and justice, and grow in courage “to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves” (Proverbs 31:8).

We want to give our students a hopeful approach, encouraging them to explore how they can change their world.

Examples of courageous advocacy –

Altwood Parliament:

At Altwood we ensure that we hear the voices of our students and that they have a forum to raise the issues that concern them through our Parliament system. Parliament aims to model a, ‘you said, we did’ approach to student concerns. Sixth form students can apply to be elected as a senior member of Altwood Parliament. They are supported by a team of younger students who liaise with the student body to gather a true cross section of voices. Regular parliament meetings are held and are attended by a member of the senior team.

Recent parliament projects: changes to PE kit, altering the approach to KS4 PSHE, introduction of pocket planners and participating in the selection process for our catering providers.

Community:

Altwood are committed to having a positive impact in our local community. Students have attended St Peter’s Church community lunch to talk to isolated residents and provide carols and music during their Christmas lunch.

Altwood annually visit Larchfield care home to share our Christmas Carol service with the residents. Students design and make Christmas cards to deliver during this time and our craft club make small gifts to donate.

Students have participated in the Ascot Community Challenge which involves selecting a local charity to support and then planning and delivering a charity event to ensure they are able to raise money to donate. This year, students selected the Brett foundation, a homeless charity in Maidenhead. They met with members of the Brett Foundation team to learn more about their work and raised money by organising and running a disco for the new Year 7 students.

Charity:

Students are actively involved in our whole school charity work. Students are educated through assemblies and tutor sessions about the two charities we support. Our Global charity is Street Kids Direct, Guatemala, and our local charity is Thames Hospice. You can learn more about our charity work in the charity section of our website.

Students are encouraged to discuss the issues and challenges that matter to them. One student showed true courage when sharing their story of living with a liver disease through assemblies and then led an odd sock Friday fundraising event for the British Liver Foundation, a charity that had offered them so much support.

Environment:

The newly formed Green Team attended a Climate Action Day at Braywick Nature Reserve organised by RBWM. Students had an inspiring day, meeting passionate young people who really care about the future of our planet. Students engaged in activities that made them think deeply about climate issues and had the chance to network with climate-oriented businesses and organisations like MaidEnergy and Filling Good. The day gave the team time to reflect on Altwood’s own climate policy and ideas for tackling sustainability at Altwood.

Chapel and Chat:

Chapel and Chat meet regularly with Rev Jo in our chapel. Students wanted to turn their learning and discussions into action. Their desire to have a positive impact beyond the school led to a local litter pick.

There are examples every day within our school community: our ‘acts of kindness’ challenge, our buddy system, and our senior students leading assemblies. Acts of respect and a deep sense of justice are commonplace around the school site. This is just a flavour of how our students are exploring how to become "agents of change" and how they are making a positive difference to our communities and their world.

Proverbs 31:8-9 (NIV) “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.”