We have developed an initiative with the children in school called ‘The Stalyhill Character Awards’. This is a way of introducing the children to some of the less concrete and more abstract skills and attributes that we want them to develop in order to grow into successful learners and ultimately, successful citizens.

The attributes that the Character Awards focus on are;

• Perseverance, Resilience and Grit

• Confidence and Optimism

• Motivation, Drive and Ambition

• Neighbourliness and Community Spirit

• Conscientiousness, Curiosity and Focus

• Honesty, Integrity and Dignity

• Tolerance and Respect

As the children in school are still very young we have endeavoured to design an age appropriate, ‘concrete’ system in order to highlight where they are using some of these attributes in their everyday school experience. So we have related the different roles, tasks and opportunities that they have in school such as; being on the school council, being a safety ambassador, raising money for charity, being involved in a lunchtime club, along with many other activities, to the awards meaning that the children earn credits towards achieving the bronze, silver or gold Character Award badges.

The initiative, has been designed to ensure that all the children in school are able to achieve one or more of the awards throughout their time at the Infant school. The awards are cumulative and progressive to give the children something to keep working towards and therefore it is unlikely that anyone will achieve the gold award until they are in Year 2.

This award system is not designed to be in any way competitive, it is simply a way to bring to the children’s attention the qualities and attributes that will help them throughout their lives if developed. We are thoroughly committed to the development of the whole child at Stalyhill Infant School and believe that this goes much wider than just the National Curriculum.

So, please look out for your child coming home with a bronze, silver or gold star badge in the future as this will mean that they have demonstrated some of those fantastic attributes listed above and is to be celebrated!

We are incredibly proud of all of our children and hope that this new award will continue to enrich their learning experience whilst they are at our school.