Summary of Character Education at Weald CPS

Character is important in all areas of life.

Academic attainment is important but, without a positive set of character attributes, academic achievement will not in itself enable a young person to be happy, fulfilled and successful.

• Positive character is a set of characteristics that helps us to think, feel and act in ‘the right way’; Character Education is actively focussed on helping young people to develop a positive set of character attributes.
• Positive character is ‘caught’ when young people are exposed to positive role-models and a positive culture.
• Positive character can also be ‘taught’ in the way a second language is taught.  In order to teach character, activities should be intentional, organised, planned.
• It is when positive character is both ‘caught’ and ‘taught’ that young people can be best helped to think, feel and act in “the ‘right way’ in all aspects of their lives.
• It is a misconception to suggest that progress cannot be measured in character development. Seemingly difficult concepts (for example, the character qualities themselves) can be easily understood by defining each characteristic and explaining other words which have the same or similar meanings (synonyms).
• Teachers should deliberately and continually refer to the character qualities and their associated adjectives; for example, ‘Enthusiasm’ and ‘Enthusiastic’; ‘Curiosity’ and ‘Curious’. In this way, children become familiar with the words and use them themselves, developing a vocabulary which will help them to discuss and reflect upon their progress.
• Character Education can be delivered through all positive activities but works best in group activities and when young people are subjected to sensible degrees of pressure.
• The School Curriculum and Wider Curriculum are ideal vehicles for Character Education activities: academic lessons; sport; music; drama; clubs and societies.
• Character Education activities should be built around a clearly identified, balanced set of character attributes that meet the particular needs of young people and the aims of a Character Education programme.

Character Education has the greatest chance of success where schools receive support from parents and outside agencies that are involved in the development of children; for example, sports clubs, drama schools, Scouts and Brownies. Enlisting the support of all the significant influences on character development will dilute the potential for contradiction and will reinforce the principles of Character Education. Parental and community engagement might best be achieved through:

• Opportunities to present examples of Character Education activities to interested groups; for example, a parental workshop on Character Education for Schools or a presentation on sporting heroes for a local youth sports club.
• Openings to display posters and other Character education promotional materials at venues within the local community.
• Encouragement for parents and other nonschool-based activity providers to adopt Character Education values in their interactions with children.
• Parental involvement in the monitoring and evaluation processes; for example, Character Passport and Character Builder.