St Aidan's CE Primary School

St. Aidan’s Primary School (Gateshead) has embraced SuperKind as a way to celebrate and expand the kindness, empathy and social action already embedded in their school life. By working towards the award, the school has been able to connect students with meaningful causes, empower them as change-makers, and strengthen ties within both the local and wider community.

What drew you to use SuperKind?

Having been recommended SuperKind from several schools within our Learning Trust who had successfully achieved The Social Impact Schools Award, we read some of the information and case studies on the website. We immediately decided The Social Impact Schools Award was something we would like to work towards to recognise the kindness, empathy and social actions we embed into our school and local community.

How was SuperKind implemented at St Aidan's CE Primary School?

As a faith school, many social actions and charity work regularly took place at St. Aidan’s and featured in our annual calendar. However, SuperKind allowed those actions to be recognised and awarded through the SuperKind badges.
Some of these actions were completed as a whole school, some as class projects and others through some of our smaller groups and committees such as the School Council and Leading Lights.
The whole school community recognised the achievements of each of these social actions and charity works and these were celebrated through celebration assemblies, Collective worship and on our school website.

What are some examples of social actions that the Award has led you to take?

  • Fundraising events such as Children in Need Day and Red Nose Day organised by the School Council.
  • Collecting food donations for Harvest and visiting the local Foodbank to deliver these. Children were involved in sorting and ordering the food within the Foodbank.
  • Writing letters to the local MP to seek support to remove a temporary fence erected by the council in our playground. The children provided reasons why they wanted the fence removed and the impact it would have to our school community.
  • Making Christmas and Easter cards to deliver around the local community.
  • Intergenerational work – visiting the local old people’s home to play games, have conversations and shared learning projects

What benefits have you seen to the children since starting your journey with SuperKind?

SuperKind has had many positive benefits not only on the pupils, but on the whole school community at St. Aidan’s.
Being part of this award scheme has inspired and empowered children to become change-makers and take a sense of agency over their actions. It has created numerous opportunities for St. Aidan’s to connect with the school and wider community and support various charities and good causes. Pupils have had the opportunity to connect with real-world issues and global challenges. 

Feedback from staff:

“It has been a fantastic resource to help St. Aidan’s with their social action work within the community. It helps children to learn about important or current issues /causes and how they can make a genuine difference in their own lives and the lives of others both within our local community and the wider community.”
 
“SuperKind provides children with the opportunities to explore local and global issues and allows them to consider what really matters to them. They are encouraged to develop skills, strategies and tools to work on supporting these issues at appropriate level. The children have all enjoyed finding out what they  can do to have an impact and make a difference.”