The Futures Award aims to make a radical change to how Personal Development is delivered. The project has the primary objective of giving our students a deeper understanding of how we choose to behave, the decisions we choose to make and how we fit into the world around us.

Character education is not a lesson on the national curriculum. However, we want to ensure that we are supporting parents to produce well informed, considered and emotionally intelligent young people, enabling them to prepare fully for adulthood. It is, therefore, absolutely essential to further character development criteria into Woodbrook Vale School life, if we are to play a role in supporting our students to be good, considered and well informed young adults when leaving at 16.

From Year 7 through to Year 9, students are tasked to complete activities in seven key areas of focus: Resilience, Community, Leadership, Initiative Communication, Health, Careers. They submit work to an in-house developed <web app> where they can gather evidence throughout the year to demonstrate how they have exhibited each of these skills. Progress will be awarded with a bronze, silver and gold Futures Award Badges that students can proudly display on their blazers. Keep an eye on our Twitter page @woodbrookvale and our weekly newsletter to see the amazing things our students have been up to.

Year 10 and 11 students work towards the Future Leaders Award where they can earn a silver or gold shield badge. The five key areas for the KS4 award are economy, employability, resilience, initiative and leadership. There are suggested activities that students may wish to follow, which have been devised in collaboration with business leaders and academics to ensure that the Character education offer at Woodbrook Vale is providing the best possible platform for taking the next steps into adult life.

To support our students to engage with community and volunteering projects, opportunities are advertised through our community google classroom which is available for all students to access. The code for this classroom is bql3nwv. Here students will find information about ways in which they can engage with charities, local projects and support community projects. Information about how to apply for each opportunity is available through the google classroom.

The Futures Award is now available for all year groups to partake in, support is on offer for students that may need it. This programme provides an accredited framework for Woodbrook students to exhibit these attributes. We are constantly excited by the entrepreneurial spirit of our students, their kindness to each other and within the community as well as their determination to succeed.

For more information, please refer to the resources provided below:

 

‘Character matters and our character, core values and skills can be explicitly developed.  That is what the Woodbrook Value Futures Award will do, and it is tremendously important to the success of each individual at the school and to ensure everyone involved has a flourishing future.’

Rt Hon Baroness Morgan of Cotes

 

 

‘Nottingham Institute of Education at Nottingham Trent University is pleased to support the Woodbrook Vale Futures Award. The Awards are an excellent way to recognise a range of key skills that will be vital to students’ success at University and in the world of work.’

Dr Chris Rolph, Director of the Nottingham Institute of Education, NTU

 

 

 ‘I’m struck by the careful thought, planning, and practical concision of the Futures Award.  Congratulations on producing an award that will really help young people to focus on skills, concepts and attitudes that will both enhance their lives and contribute to those around them.  A broad and enriched curriculum is essential to education in the 21st Century, and the Futures Award is an important contribution to that end.  The complementary set of the seven areas is comprehensive, clear, and relevant.  It is a blue print that other schools would do well to consider! 

Will Ord, Education Trainer and Key Note Speaker

 

I was really interested to hear about the new Futures Award initiative at Woodbrook Vale School.  It promises to be an innovative and exciting scheme which will complement the school’s academic programme by inspiring students to create and take opportunities to develop wider life skills.  The programme invites students to think about ways in which they can demonstrate learning in the areas of resilience, community, leadership, initiative, health, communication and careers.  With these skills under their belt students can leave school as well rounded individuals, well placed to take the next steps on their chosen paths; whether that’s the world of work or further study.

I have had a varied career in the Police and working for a number of local authorities and I am now the Chief Executive of North West Leicestershire District Council which has around 550 employees, serving our community by providing over 400 services.  We employ staff in a range of roles on the front line with our communities and in support services.  The list is too long to mention them all but it includes careers in horticulture and grounds maintenance,  refuse and recycling, housing, environmental health, sports and physical activity, planning, law and accountancy.  We take a values based approach to our recruitment across the board, for all roles.  This means that as well as looking for the relevant academic qualifications we also look at behavioural qualities and evidence of broader skills – exactly the kind of things which the Futures Award will develop.  Speaking from personal experience, these qualities can be the thing which differentiates one applicant from another in an interview, make for a fulfilled, productive and engaged employee and enable students to withstand the inevitable bumps in the road which life brings.

It is brilliant to see Woodbrook Vale School offering this opportunity and I look forward to hearing more of its success.
Bev Smith, Chief Executive North West Leicestershire District Council