Courageous Advocacy

Netherhall St James Infant & Nursery CE (VC)

“Love your neighbour as yourself” Mark 12: 29-31

We are courageous advocates for the common good, locally, nationally and globally. We recognise that life is full of ups and downs and that at times all people will face challenges that they need help and support in overcoming. We believe that people are worth spending time with, that people need time to grow and need loving attention. The Bible says that every person has a unique task to do, with God, and for God, whether they know it or not. We hold and courageously advocate the conviction that there is something mysterious, and potentially wonderful, in everybody.

We support a range of charities in our local area, nationally and globally. The staff work alongside parents, pupils and St. James’s Church to identify worthy causes to support.

Our Christian values ensure that opportunities to discuss the big issues, to challenge injustice and to engage in activities that can bring about change are always present.

In recent years we have carried out a range of different fund raising to support many good causes, some of which include:

• Christian African Relief Trust
• Kirkwood Hospice
• Local Welcome Centre
• Comic Relief
• Children in Need
• The Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal
• Yellow Day – Raising Awareness of Young people’s mental health

Our children have a good grasp on the meaning of belonging to a local and global community and the sense of responsibility that comes with belonging. Thereby developing their ability to empathise and make a small sacrifice to benefit others. Together we consider the beauty and fragility of our environment, the actions we take, and the impact these actions may have on the well-being of everyone. Our school community and curriculum actively embraces a responsibility for the world in which we live. We are diligent to show our connection with, and care for, the world in which we all live and care for the people who live in it:

Charities of significance to our children (Kirkwood Hospice and Brain Tumour Research both of which have supported pupils, friends and family of our school)

Exploring ways in which to support people and nature in our community.

Save Our Frogs Campaign

Due to wear and tear of our pond area the staff realised that our school pond was no longer able to hold water, and therefore our local frogs would not be able to return this year and lay their eggs. Frogs play a central role in many ecosystems and there are very few natural water habitats for them in our local area. Through collective worship we helped the children to understand what being a courageous advocate meant. We then explained that some animals in our community needed our help. The children were very concerned and came up with some fantastic suggestions;

“I could bring some money from my house I have lots of pennies in a jar.”

“We could wear the frogs favourite colour green and bring money in.”

“We could ask my Daddy he can help fix things.”

“We could sell things like we did at Christmas.”

“We could all help using our muscles.”

We took on board these suggestions and held a ‘Wear Green Day’ and had a frog themed chocolate raffle to raise funds to replace the pond liner. We also asked parents and carers to come in and help with some of the labour involved. We were able to raise enough to pay for the tools and equipment needed to fix the pond and all the children in school visited to look at the frogspawn and then later the tadpoles.

Archbishop of York Trust Young Leaders’ Award

We currently have a group of Year 1 and Year 2 pupils who are working towards the Archbishop of York Trust Young leaders’ award. This award is a fully resourced leadership and character education programme where pupils consider the needs of their local community and build habits of helping others. Some of the work they have done so far has included:

• Thinking about what it means to be a leader. What training is involved? What skills do you need and how hard is it? The children interviewed Mrs McGrath our Head teacher to find out and asked some really fabulous questions.
• Looking at how leaders promote teamwork. For this the children thought about some team games they enjoyed and then went to teach them to our Nursery children.
• Discussing what could be done about all the lost property items in school that have gone unclaimed. The children came up with the idea of washing all the items, then offering them to those in need in school.