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Five Acres High School

School of character

Five Acres High School is among one of the first in the country to be awarded the ‘School of Character Kitemark’ in recognition of best practice in developing good character in young people.

The award, which considers the culture, ethos and practical examples of character development across the school, has been developed in response to growing recognition of the role of character education in successful schools.

In receiving recognition, Mr Ian Frost, Headteacher at the school explained;

“In being awarded the School of Character kitemark, Five Acres High School has been rightly recognised as a school valuing not only exceptional academic standards, but also in its thoughtful and caring approach to building character amongst its children and young people. We believe that all of our pupils aspire to make a real and genuine contribution in every aspect of school life and to their local community. Our pupils are proud of their achievements, and wear their badges celebrating their commitment to our values with pride.”

Gary Lewis, founding member and chair of the Association, thanked the school and its staff for their commitment to Character Education by explaining that;

“The Schools of Character Kitemark is awarded to schools that can demonstrate that they take an explicit, planned and reflective approach to the cultivation of positive character qualities in their pupils in the interests of human flourishing. Five Acres High School is a terrific example and it is with great pleasure that we welcome the School with a proven strength at developing the character of their young people.”

The process of being awarded the Kitemarks is designed to help schools to develop and enhance their character education provision. The award is not just the recognition of good practice, but also supports schools to develop desirable character qualities that contribute to individual as well as broader societal flourishing.

Mr Gary Lewis was one of those involved in reviewing the schools progress towards its status as a School of Character and commented that;

“Interviews were held with a cross section of staff and students from all age groups and experiences. The assessors were impressed with the correlation in feedback from both groups, which indicated that the Character Programme is understood and somewhat embedded within the curriculum and across a comprehensive range of activities. Students and teachers spoke warmly and with confidence about the recent successes and were able to relate these successes to the quality of relationships and aspiration apparent throughout the school.”

 

The School of Character Kitemark is a quality mark of the educational charity Association for Character Education (ACE), first established in 2015 to respond to the growing interest in character education in Britain.  It was established by a group of well-known head-teachers, academics and other educationalists who recognised the desire of many schools to enhance their character education provision. The Association is run by teachers for teachers and the activities are both initiated and driven by its members.