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Using SuperKind to supercharge social action.
As a school, we think about charity and social action in a holistic way and we’ve been using the SuperKind platform to help us to tie everything together. Our pupils have always had a passion to bring about change, but SuperKind creates more of a structure – it has helped us to consolidate our approach to social action.
SuperKind has helped us to consolidate our approach to social action..."
The platform is a really great resource and incredibly useful. It gives our pupils a safe space to explore and learn about problems they’re passionate about. They can research different charities, discover how to take action and be inspired by other young changemakers. Our teachers can benefit from the classroom resources too.
What are some examples of social action projects that have been inspired by SuperKind?
Tying in with our School Leadership Award service element, the children are encouraged to use the SuperKind platform to research how they can take action. Longer term, we are exploring how to connect this with the SuperKind Social Impact Schools Award, which provides formal recognition for schools that place social action at the heart of their education.
Recently, we ran a Grow A Fiver Campaign, as part of our 11 Plus Programme. Our pupils were each given £5 and tasked with ‘growing’ the money to support a charity of their choice. The children researched different causes using SuperKind, from animal charities and Action Against Hunger to gender rights, and came up with fundraising ideas to boost their donations. Allowing our pupils to choose their own charities fits with our ethos as a Thinking School. We encourage the children to research and identify causes, rather than being directed.They did an incredible job and this experience of social action helped them to prepare for their secondary school interviews, while giving them skills for life.
What benefits to enabling social action have you observed?
There’s lots of evidence that giving children agency over social action, helps them to commit to lifelong philanthropy. Allowing our pupils to choose their own charities fits with our ethos as a Thinking School. We encourage the children to research and identify causes, rather than being directed. Our pupils have all found their own charities to support and that’s important for us to see. Another lovely aspect is that they take their learning home and talk to their parents about the causes they’ve been researching.
From overseas conflict to poverty and climate change, children are very aware of the big problems facing the world today. Children do get stressed, and we’ve seen this particularly with climate change. But we’ve noticed that when they take action, it boosts their wellbeing. Last year, we launched our very first Climate Week, and as part of this, we hosted a panel discussion. Our pupils challenged the experts with some very insightful questions. They weren’t afraid to speak up because we’ve given them a platform to do so.
At Notting Hill Prep, pupil voice is a big part of what we do. Children are more aware than ever of what’s happening in the world, and it feels important to give them a safe space to discuss important issues. Many of our pupils feel inspired to take action and we’re keen to show them how to do this and encourage them to be the best person they can be.
