Aims
This unique Year 8 course builds upon students’ experience from the Ubuntu programme studied in Y7 and encourages students to see themselves as a citizen of the world. One of the key messages from the course is that ‘This is a time to act, a time to make a difference’.
Curriculum
Year 8 students look at the importance of acting now, in the moment, in order to respond to a need and acting in an appropriate way. This may mean collecting money: giving to a cause or collecting from others. This can bring about rapid change in the life of an individual or group and bring relief and comfort. However, there are other ways of acting in a Kairos way that we have branded “small action, big difference”. Students are encouraged to think about themselves and how their small action, when put together with the small actions of others, can have a huge impact in our community. For example, if we each take a small bag of goods to a charity shop, it would be full of articles to sell; if each person kept their own area tidy, our local environment would look beautiful wherever we lived; if each of us used our own recycling bin properly, our land fill sites would be available for longer. The curriculum offers a range of thematic and project based approaches, encouraging students to explore issues and take practical action. These include Lepra, WaterAid, Pay It Forward, Harvest and Acts of Random Kindness. Students work in House groups and as a whole year, building confidence in teamwork, research, planning and reflection.