Year 1 pupils from Trinity St Peter’s CE Academy in Liverpool have recently completed the Key Stage 1 Young Leaders Award (YLA).

The YLA explores leadership skills and character virtues within the classroom, learning from the stories of great leaders and discovering the vital role that young people play in changing their communities. As part of the YLA, pupils are empowered to take action and serve their community through different challenges.

The KS1 Young Leaders from Trinity St Peter’s decided to spend time with the elderly residents in their local sheltered accommodation for their community action project. The pupils visited the elderly residents twice a week for seven weeks over the summer term, building relationships with the residents through music and movement sessions, coffee mornings, games afternoons and garden parties. They also baked for the residents, noticing that cakes make everyone smile! The Trinity St Peter's Young Leaders gave an amazing total of 210 hours, which meant that the Young Leaders created meaningful relationships with the elderly.

 Through this social action project, the Trinity St Peter’s pupils were able to apply the skills they had developed from the YLA and put them into practice in a real-life context. Sam Morris, the Year 1 teacher at Trinity noticed that their visits broke down barriers between the generations and taught the children that they could learn so much from each other, regardless of age.

The Young Leaders also undertook a‘secret kindness mission’ as part of the YLA. The mission included leaving kindness packages out for unsuspecting teachers in the school, to say thanks for all their hard work. They spread kindness and joy around the school in the form of chocolate and thank you notes. The teachers were so grateful for their thoughtfulness.

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“The children have been engaged with every step of their journey and have looked forward to the session each week! Lots of the children have also engaged with their challenges outside of school too!”

Mrs Morris, Year 1 Teacher, Trinity St Peters Academy

Find out more about how you can run the Young Leaders Award in your school setting by visiting – www.abyyt.com/young-leaders-award or by contacting Rozy Brian (Strategic Lead for Primary Awards) on rozy.brian@abyyt.com