In this special Blog Post, Dave Boden, our Grace Foundation Ethos Strategic Lead, talks about 3 reasons why we can be hopeful this Easter time.  

What do you hope for? It’s a question I have been asked many times in the past and yet hope is a word that has often seemed distant to so many over this recent season of disruption.

Whether it is the simple desire to gather friends around the dinner table, see a Marvel Movie at the Cinema again or the hope rooted in a deep longing to see an elderly relative again, hope makes all the difference. What if hope is part of the antidote to the despair, loss, and pain we have all felt over the last year?

Young people understand that hope matters more than ever. Over the Easter Holiday period we will be sharing poetry created by students from across the schools our Ethos Team work in via our Grace Foundation social media. Please do make sure you follow us on Facebook via https://www.facebook.com/gracefoundationcharity

As one school student said through their poem “Hope is in you it’s there – you just need to scoop it out of you.”

So here are three things that I am hopeful about despite all we have been through together.

1. I am hopeful that young people are tougher than we think

There is no point in trying to gloss over the growing sense of concern about the impact of the pandemic on young people and the statistics and stories we hear daily have not been pretty. Hope is not about denial.  Yet during the darkest of times we have seen young people resiliently rising up to adapt to their new context. We know that young people have an incredible ability to bounce back if they are given the right context to thrive. Perhaps now is the time for us all to work together to create that environment for students to thrive again. In this words of this student’s poem:

I hope to see my friends again

The laughs and jokes we had

The times running through the park

Oh I miss those times

I hope to go to school again

Seeing people face to face

And learning in the classrooms

And eating the amazing food

At Grace Foundation we believe young people will show courage and bravery in this next season because we believe in them wholeheartedly. We also want to make sure that those students who have had a really tough time will find hope through a renewed engagement with pastoral people, programmes and practical support.

2. I am hopeful that School communities are stronger than we realised

Years ago, I heard an assembly from a School leader who talked about what it was like to work in dozens of different schools over his career. This leader told us how most schools looked the same from the outside; They all had assembly halls, staff rooms, science labs, school canteens, corridors, and classrooms. Yet only when you looked beneath the surface, could you really understood the what the distinctive culture of a school was really like. Under the surface we discover the strength of the relationships, the care of the staff, and the storm proof systems and structures built to foster community.

The pandemic has seen schools rise with a tenacity to see students succeed no matter what. It has been amazing to see how our school communities have worked together to keep hope alive. Teachers have worked tirelessly to move lessons online and navigate a crazy amount of change in a short space of time. Pastoral staff have worked relentlessly to make sure students are looked after and that they don’t get lost in the chaos. Our Ethos Teams have been on the frontline of supporting the wellbeing of all young people and their families no matter what barriers they have faced. Seeing the way that communities have rallied selflessly together to meet the needs of the next generation has brought me great hope and sets us up for a brighter future.

3. I am hopeful that Easter offers us more than we can imagine

This half term our Ethos Teams have been spending time exploring Easter using a creative interactive multimedia lesson called Who is This Man? It is a modern-day retelling of the story of Easter told through the eyes of the people that Jesus encountered. What’s interesting about this focus on the real Easter story is the poignant reminder how much Jesus was someone who was a carrier of Hope everywhere he went. The need for hope reminds us there is more to our lives than just meeting our physical or practical needs. We are deeply spiritual individuals who yearn for a sense of security, identity, and purpose. It has been encouraging to hear of young people inspired by this message of Jesus even if they don’t follow Christianity for themselves. Perhaps as we all remember that Easter story again, full of second chances, fresh starts and the hope of resurrection, we too will become carriers of hope to others.

The future is not set in stone

Or written in a book

The future is what I make it

So I need to take a look…

Winning Poem – Darlaston Academy

Why not check out our other blog: how to improve your wellbeing during lockdown life?

Many people often start the new year by thinking about what they have achieved over the last year and what they want from the next.

If you have not already done this – take some time now to consider “How was 2021 for you?”

People often create New Year Resolutions. Aiming to better themselves and improve their lives. Resolutions such as, to eat healthier, get fitter, drop bad habits and spend more time doing the things they think are important are often goals people set in the hope that they will achieve them in the new year.

Have you set any goals or made any resolutions this year?

Rather than setting goals about what we want to achieve, this year let’s consider WHO WE WANT TO BE.

By considering who we are, the characteristics that we hold and what we want to develop we draw out the incredible potential that is within us all. Our character shapes the influence and impact our lives have on others, and there is no better aspiration than to leave a positive impact on others in our lives.

So what one habit do you have that you think you should break or one habit that you think you should create?

For me I want to break a habit this year. I have noticed that I frequently interrupt people and share my opinion before they have finished what they have said. Why do I want to break this habit? Well interrupting people tells that person that I am not fully listening, my opinion is more important and I ultimately what I think is more valuable. I want to break this habit because I want ALL people to feel valued and important in my company.

So how will I do this….?

1. Remove the trigger – for me this is rushing and cramming too much into my life
2. Interrupt the action – when I notice I am interrupting or about to, stop myself and give the other person room to speak. A good way to do this could be to pause before I speak

So why does this matter so much? Because by valuing others and changing my habits allows my impact on others to be much more positive.

What healthy habits do you want to add or challenge this year?

Written by our Grace Academy Solihull Ethos Leader, Rachael Wright

Being a parent is hard. Being a parent in a pandemic is really hard. 

Watch the first video in our new Parents under Pressure series below:

Over this last year, many families have found themselves in difficult situations, which in turn can cause people to react differently to situations and family members.

Watch the video below for tips to help during this time.

How can we keep our young people safe online?

Watch this week’s video from Lynda for tips and information on online safety.

Social action is about the coming together of people with the aim to improve the well-being of their communities. It can involve various activities that make a positive difference to others in the form of volunteering, fundraising, community action or simply, performing neighbourly acts.

Knowing the benefits ‘acts of giving’ has on one’s mental, emotional and spiritual well-being, Grace Foundation wanted to provide an opportunity for students to practice one of our primary learning themes, Growing By Serving Others.

Our Revolution Manchester 2022 Residential did just this, and so much more.

“I learned that helping people makes everything feel a bit better” – Elizabeth Woodville School student

From 27-30 June 2022, 49 students and 16 staff from Rushden Academy, Grace Academy Coventry, Grace Academy Darlaston, and Elizabeth Woodville School traveled to Manchester for a 4-day social action residential. In partnership with Audacious Church Manchester, various projects across the city were allocated to us to tackle over the course of our stay. We spent our time clearing gardens, painting and redecorating homes in preparation for new community members to move in, partaking in Youth Group-led Games Nights, and a highlight of the trip – serving at the Audacious Homeless Banquet.

“Handing out food to those in need and seeing how many there were made me understand how lucky I am and how helping those people makes a big difference” – Grace Academy Darlaston student

“The most significant part of the trip was helping fix the mother and son’s house because they’ve probably been through a lot and if I was able to help just a little bit” – Rushden Academy student

Not only did we have the opportunity to share our time, curiosity, and efforts with the communities of Manchester, students themselves were significantly impacted through the process. Some students had never previously had the opportunity to travel outside of their hometowns. Thus, with future prospects heavily in the minds of our Year 10-12 students, we partly aimed to broaden the scope of ‘what if’ and ‘where’ in these developing thoughts of where life is going to take them.

As well as this, bringing students together from our different sites encouraged new social interactions and friendships to develop over the course of the trip. We have been so encouraged to see how these have impacted the social confidence of many of the students post-trip.

“I learnt that I can build friendships with different kinds of people” – Grace Academy Coventry student

“My social skills are better than I thought, I just need to trust myself!”

Positive feedback from our staff and students is one of our biggest motivators. It has been warming to receive feedback we have, from the community members of Manchester whose gardens and homes we worked in.

Team EWS were assigned a garden project for the two days of project work. The tenant suffers with long COVID, leaving him struggling for breath if he walks more than a few metres and he had previously been an avid gardener, but his ill health has rendered him unable to do any physical labour. As a result, his garden had become extremely unruly and sadly, resulted in an eviction notice.

Below is a message received by EWS from the man’s son, following the completion of the students’ hard work.

“Good afternoon. I just wanted to pass on my sincere thanks to yourselves and the youngsters who have helped my dad clear his back garden. I know my cousin brought the matter to your attention and she has also been helping him as have I when I’ve been able to but struggled due to living in Wigan, working and having a 3-year-old to tend to. It was so heart breaking to see the state of my dad’s house and outside areas and the fact he had clearly let it get on top of him to the point he fell into really bad depression. It took a lot of persuading from me and my family to finally convince him to let us all in to help. To see those photos of the work yourselves and the youngsters have done is absolutely overwhelming and I really can’t thank you enough for your efforts. Please pass on my personal thanks to all involved. This will certainly help my dad’s wellbeing and he will finally be able to have his grandson go to his address and play in his garden. He hasn’t been able to visit before until recently, so I know my dad seeing my son at his house undoubtedly makes him happy. Again, my sincere thanks to all of you.”

We are so appreciative to the staff, external partnerships, sponsors and every other community member who made this opportunity the success it was. Better together is yet again proved by our staff and students. We look forward to see what Social Action Revolution 2023 holds… stay tuned!

Do you ever feel overwhelmed by all the things you need to get done? Is your ‘to-do’ list never-ending, as you juggle the demands of daily life and the needs of others? We often feel burdened by the enormity of difficulties facing our loved ones, our community, and the events happening in the wider world. This can often leave us wondering – how can we make a difference when the need is so great?

Yet, sometimes the biggest impact can be made by the smallest act.

There is a story, adapted from ‘The Star Thrower’ by Loren Eiseley, that illustrates powerfully how each one of us CAN make a difference. It tells of an old man seeing a young boy throwing starfish back into the ocean and asking him what he’s doing –

The young boy paused, looked up, and replied “Throwing starfish into the ocean. The tide has washed them up onto the beach and they can’t return to the sea by themselves.”

The old man replied, “But there must be tens of thousands of starfish on this beach. I’m afraid you won’t really be able to make much of a difference.”

The boy bent down, picked up yet another starfish, and threw it as far as he could into the ocean. Then he turned, smiled, and said, “It made a difference to that one!”

At Grace Foundation, we are passionate about reaching as many young people as we can – supporting them to make healthy choices, build positive relationships and grow in confidence. This happens in a range of ways, including whole class lessons, delivered to a full year group on our drop-down days.

Yet we also know the difference that our 1:1 mentoring sessions and small group interventions make, in responding to the needs of individuals. There is something uniquely impactful about our intervention groups, where we can see change and development over the sessions. These provide a safe space, help pupils challenge perceptions, and are a place where we empower them to make changes and be champions for change, amongst their peers.

A Safe Space with Common Ground

“This course has meant a lot and shown me that I am worth more than I believe.”; “This course helped me be happier with myself” – Year 7 pupils GAS – Miss Understood Course, Grace Academy Solihull

Our small group courses focus on specific needs, with groups of no more than ten pupils having the chance to take part. With Year 7 and 8 pupils, we cover topics including self-esteem, body image, friendship and emotions, social media, and building healthy relationships. We also run intervention courses for Year 9 and 10 pupils, delivered by our Building Healthy Relationships Team, that focus on topics including contraception and STIs, recognizing toxic behaviours, and helping pupils who may be at risk of grooming or Child Sexual Exploitation.

Small groups provide an informal space, where pupils can find connections with others who are facing similar issues. They explore themes together through a fun, interactive course, with paired or whole group activities, and the chance to learn, ask questions and grow in confidence as individuals. Clear ground rules create a safe, supportive place where pupils can feel comfortable to share, knowing they have an equal voice and are given respect and encouragement.

Challenging Perceptions

“This course has really helped me a lot with confidence and my body image.” – Year 8 pupil – Miss Understood Course, Grace Academy Coventry

During our intervention courses we encourage pupils to challenge perceptions – not only those seen in the media but how they view themselves. This helps to grow self-esteem, as we discuss body image and positive ideas of ‘beauty’ or masculinity. Pupils identify changes in the way they view themselves and others in their feedback responses, as a result of being part of one of our intervention groups – powerful stories of impact, in their own words.

Seeing Change

“This course has made me realize that we are all amazing and beautiful who we are.” ; “It has meant a lot to me and made me feel good about myself.” – Year 7 pupils – Miss Understood Course, Grace Academy Solihull

In a small group setting, we often see visible change in a young person, as they take part in activities that help them explore their own unique, positive attributes. This is also reflected in the significant increases we see in most pupils’ Rosenburg self-esteem Quiz scores at the end of the course, compared to the start. Grace Foundation exists to transform the lives of young people and all of our intervention groups include our Christian ethos. Sharing positive affirmations and biblical truths about their worth – that they are a masterpiece.

There are so many examples of seeing significant positive change in a young person, over the course of our intervention groups. One that particularly stood out for me in the past year was seeing the transformation in a Year 7 pupil, who went from being shy and withdrawn, to confidently volunteering to take part in an illustration about handling emotions by the second week. In the final session, she was beaming proudly, as she adorned herself with heart sticky notes with words of affirmation and positive attributes written on them – words written by herself and others in the group!

Being Change

“(The course was) Very helpful and I can show other people to be more aware”  – Year 9 pupil – Outside The Box, Grace Academy Darlaston

Small groups are a catalyst for continued change. Pupils often discuss worries and feelings they may never have voiced before in small groups and are signposted to agencies for continued help. It is our hope that they will use the coping strategies and learning, long after the course concludes. That they would become passionate advocates for change with their peers  – sharing positive affirmations or spotting signs of toxic relationships and struggles in their peer group,

We all have the opportunity to help create positive change and make a difference in the world. Just like that beach covered in starfish in the story, this can seem like a mammoth, impossible task at times but never underestimate the power of every positive word or action, however insignificant it may feel.

How can you take a small step to make a big difference, one small but mighty act at a time?

Who could you be a lifeline to today?

Why not send a message, a word of encouragement or share a smile? Simple acts of kindness can change or even save a life.

When the needs seem too great, start with small changes and keep going! Remember – small acts can make a BIG difference!

“A single, ordinary person still can make a difference – and single, ordinary people are doing precisely that every day.”

— Chris Bohjalian, author and speaker

Written by one of our Relationships and Sex Education Support Workers, Claire Daniel.

Note left by student following Miss Understood course