Pupils in KS1 and KS2 at Longney CE Primary Academy took part in the Young Leaders Award exploring how they could make a difference to others at home, in school and in their local community.  

As the pandemic continued to restrict meeting people from the local community directly, the pupils had to be creative in their approach. KS2 pupils thought about how they could take action to benefit their school community and decided to makeover the school’s spiritual garden, which was overgrown, full of weeds, with broken furniture and in need of an injection of life.

They made a plan then spent a morning weeding before parents joined in to help to repair and renovate the area, painting fences and planting flowers. They have created a peaceful and useful space for their school community to enjoy.

The KS1 pupils were keen to assist the older classes. Their teacher shared that:

“they were able to see that taking care of the school helped to show how much it was valued. This seemed all the more important to them after lock-down.”

They undertook to keep the car park, school field and school grounds free from litter. Working as a team, different children covered different areas of the grounds to carryout multiple litter picks. They were also surprised to notice that there were no litter bins provided in the public areas of the school or in parts of the village and so contacted their local Parish Council to raise this issue as well as creating posters to raise awareness and discourage people from dropping litter.

“The community have been delighted to see the children taking an interest and showing the motivation to want to see a positive change in our locality.”

YLA Teacher

Alongside these projects KS2 Young Leaders also gathered old clothes together to donate to the charity ‘Rags to Riches’ and set up a pen-pal system with a local care home where they had previously visited residents. They sent cards and letters which were greatly appreciated during what was a lonely time for many.  

Their teacher reflected that:

“due to Covid, the children had lost their understanding of what it means to be part of a community both at school and as being part of a wider community. The Young Leaders Award has helped them rediscover this. It has made them more self-aware, understanding that they can help others and, for many of the children, it has given them some good foundations for working as part of a team. It has also made them much more aware of their surroundings and how they can have a positive impact.”

Both KS1 and KS2 pupils have shown fantastic leadership skills and care for the people and environment around them.

Find out more about the Key Stage 1 Young Leaders Award here

Find out more about the Key Stage 2 Young Leaders Award here