28 November 2024
Dear Parents and Carers
I would like to take this opportunity to write about the importance of Erdington Academy’s Character Education Programme and what the benefits are for all students who actively engage in this as a part of their education.
Character Education is an integral part of the Erdington Way, as it forms both part of our taught and untaught curriculum. Character Education refers to explicit and implicit efforts to cultivate virtues and ethical values. The underlying principle in character education is to develop character traits and behaviours that instils motivation and guide conduct so that pupils are dedicated in their work and have ambition to make the most of themselves in school, the local community and later in life too.
We want all our students to always strive for excellence and never settle for second best. We are a traditional school with traditional core values at our heart. Our Character Education programme combined with our core values of ambition, dedication, integrity, excellence and tradition are all qualities that will help students flourish in their future lives. We take care as an Academy to embed these into the fabric of the Academy and its culture.
Character education is crucial in today’s society because it equips students with the positive personal skills and attributes required to navigate our increasingly complex world. Students also develop the capacity of knowing how to select the best course of action in difficult situations.
Helping to support and nurture a strong character will lead to many other benefits. As research indicates, it can result in increased wellbeing and academic attainment for students
Character education fosters resilience and self-confidence. Along their journey through school and life students will ultimately face challenges and setbacks. When pupils face these, they learn to persevere and continue to reach their goals. Confidence in their abilities grows, which enables them to set new challenges and achieve greater and better things.
For students who always strive to do their best the school recognises their achievements by awarding character awards. These are added up throughout the year and students will gain badges and certificates of recognition.
For Dedication students will receive bronze, silver and gold awards for participating in whole school events or after school clubs. Please encourage your child to get involved in one of the many after-school clubs and societies on offer or to be involved in one of the many competitions in school.
For Excellence students will receive bronze, silver and gold awards based on attitude to learning in lessons. Please encourage your child to strive towards getting scores of 4 on their reports throughout the year.
For Integrity students will receive bronze, silver and gold awards based on the number of achievement points given out in lessons. Please encourage your child to always do their best in lessons.
For Tradition students will receive bronze, silver and gold awards for having excellent school attendance. Please encourage your child to go the extra mile and always be in school.
For Ambition students will receive bronze, silver and gold awards based on the number of extra books and reading that they can do. Please encourage your child to visit the school library and get involved in the reading challenges on offer.
Yours sincerely
Mr J Hasltead
Assistant Principal
