Character & Mindfulness Days
At Harris Garrard Academy we believe that Character is Key. To that end, Character and Mindfulness Education is a strand which runs throughout the curriculum, encompassing academic lessons, out of class activities, dedicated Character and Mindfulness lessons as well as Character and Mindfulness Days.
Character and Mindfulness Days give students the opportunity to explore the world and issues beyond their regular timetabled lessons, in order to enable them to broaden and deepen their knowledge of themselves, their wider community, and the world.
Click HERE to view our Character and Mindfulness Day plan for 2021-22.
In doing so, students can develop their cultural capital and the life skills they need to improve their confidence, resilience and independence. Areas which have been explored on previous Character and Mindfulness Days have included:
- Equality, diversity, inclusion and mental health, including healthy coping strategies and managing challenge and change
- Outdoor education, encompassing not only the importance of nature but also the environmental impact of humans
- Careers, including target setting for the future, understanding the world of work, as well as the opportunity to work with a multinational company (GSK) to develop transferrable skills for future careers.
How we measure their impact
The impact of these days is measured through both qualitative and quantitative feedback from students, which is then analysed to ensure that desired outcomes, in terms of improving student access to a range of valuable experiences, are met, and to inform future planning, thus ensuring that these days continue to provide students with the very best knowledge and experiences beyond the classroom.
Character and Mindfulness Days 2020-21 - what happened?
Character and Mindfulness Day 1 – Friday 9th October 2020. In direct response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the theme for our first Character and Mindfulness Day in 2020-21 was mental health and equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI). Click HERE to download an outline of the content for the day.
Character and Mindfulness Day 2 – Tuesday 1st July 2021. Character Day 2 for KS3 was centred around outdoor education and the environement. This helped to equip all our students with an understanding of the natural world and how to protect it. Click HERE to download an outline of the content for the day.
Character and Mindfulness Day 3 – Wednesday 14th July 2021. Character Day 3 was centred around careers. We believe it is important for all students to be aware of the labour market in the surrounding area. Using the local context and the interests of each year group we planned a bespoke series of sessions. Students completed a survey based on their career interests, which we used to help plan Character Day 3. Click HERE to download an outline of the content for the day.
- Download a summary of the content of our Character and Mindfulness Days 2020-21
- Download a summary of the content of our Character and Mindfulness Days 2019-20.
