In 2016, the Bays Cluster of Schools initiated an inquiry into what a planned and proactive approach to character education might look like. Traditionally primary schools have done a pretty good job at developing the values and attitudes for their students. But character education is so much more that the culture within the school. So the main question was ‘why?’.

The answer is in the statistics. They show a growing number of children with mental health issues particularly post-high school. An Auckland University survey of over 8,500 secondary students signalled a worrying trend in how students coped with the increasingly complex world in which they live. A second survey of 1,292 university students went on to confirm mental health is one of the biggest risks to our future generations. Ultimately, the strong message is a planned and proactive approach to give as many strategies as possible to our students is imperative.

As parents, we believe our child's happiness is of the utmost importance. If we get that right, the rest falls into place. We want them to develop the confidence and social skills to participate and contribute to the world around them. But, as we all look to the future and are told ‘the jobs for our children have not even been developed yet’ or ‘in the future we will not work full-time’ there is a growing importance in personal fulfilment and contentment. Basically, what is my value?

Personal fulfilment comes from knowing and valuing yourself. Knowing your strengths (and work-ons) and explicitly using these in your everyday life helps develop your own sense of self. Having personal goals of your own and striving to achieve these... following a passion... being mindful of what you are doing at that time (not thinking about work or school)…. taking the time to smell the flowers… all contribute to building positive self-image and gives you a stronger understand of self. While this sounds a little touchy feely, this is a real threat for our children in the future and we need to act.

At MPS we plan for, and discuss character strengths. We self-reflect on our own strengths and celebrate and share them with each other. As part of this, we use everyday examples to demonstrate and strengthen their own understanding of what it looks like. A lot of the discussions start with literature, but there are a growing number of resources available through the internet which help support the students and teachers (I have included a video clip Pixar Boundin’ 2003 - with many themes that could be used across year levels). 

At the higher year levels, they take the VIA Character Strength survey and use this to talk about valuing the diversity that exists in a class and how this strengthens the ‘team’.  We also work on developing a ‘growth mindset’ development. 

The fact that failure is a part of our learning, and that Carol Dweck's ‘not yet’ concept is critical to the understanding of this (https://youtu.be/wngkfAZLQbk).  Certainly, there are some examples from the past to emphasise this. Therefore, there is a proactive and planned approach to developing character beyond the traditional ‘school values’.

To support the in-school development, we are also working across the Bays Cluster. All schools have well-being champions who promote and support this initiative. All five schools share and collaborate on resources and ideas and we attend professional learning during Teacher Only Days and during term-time BC staff meetings.

If you would like to know more about this initiative, please speak to your child’s class teacher who will be able to give an overview of what they’re doing within the class to develop character. You could also talk with Louise Wilson (Rm 11) or Sally Murray our well-being champions.

In the next newsletter, we will give an overview to the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme and what you can do at home to help support this programme.

Jaldee milengae.

Chris Nord