Duo of Awards for Kings Heath Primary Academy

Date 1.08.2018

Thirteen pupils from Kings Heath Primary Academy have successfully achieved both their Ruby and Emerald Changemaker Student Awards with the University of Northampton. They received the awards at their end of term celebration assembly.

The Changemaker Student Awards form part of the University’s commitment as an Askoka U Changemaker Campus to work with, celebrate and actively engage local schoolchildren in social change. The award aims to recognise, celebrate and build children’s skills as Changemakers through innovative self-designed projects in their schools and the wider community.

The Changemaker Team, all aged between 6 and 11, who are also all part of the School Council, established two pupil led projects which focused on building empathy and understanding within both their school and wider community.

The Changemaker Team decided to base their Ruby Changemaker Award activities around raising awareness of bullying, with the main activities for this project to coinciding with National Anti-Bullying Week. After deciding to run a poster campaign, the Changemaker Team decided that every child should be allowed to display their ideas and creativity, children from across the school got involved. But facing up to bulling in one school wasn’t enough for these young changemakers. They worked in collaboration with another local school, Malcolm Arnold Academy, to share and use art work from pupils at both schools.

The Changemaker Team also worked towards their Emerald Changemaker Student Award, deciding to support the homeless community. The pupils, parents and teachers at the school organised a food bank donation scheme, but were overwhelmed with donations of not just food items, but of sleeping bags and clothing too. Working in partnership with Re:Store, a local charity,  the Changemaker Team were able to visit the centre and spent a morning helping sort the donations whilst learning more about the community that the centre supports.

Lisa Garrard, Pastoral and Safeguarding lead at Kings Heath Primary School, which is part of the David Ross Education Trust (DRET), said: “Working on the Changemaker Student Awards have been an incredible experience for the children, and for me, watching the develop as they have worked on their initiatives.

“Taking on a role as a school councillor, and leading on the Changemaker projects is a huge responsibility for the children. They have all developed their confidence and self-esteem over the course of the projects.”