The objective of this pilot is to use Amazing People stories and content to support raised aspirations and inspiration across the school, through learning about amazing people, and the sharing of their stories. This also links with the HarperCollins book series
PHASE 1
Embed an ethos of Amazing People Schools
Amazing People were linked to the Schools motto plus other attributes that the schools leadership team is keen to develop in their students. They are as follows:
Einstein – Creativity
Edison – Awareness
Tubman – Courage
Pankhurst – Persistence
Schindler – Integrity
Lovelace – Focus
Turing – Service
These are the Amazing Attributes that the school will focus on going forwards. They want this to be an ongoing programme at the school to encourage students to think about the potential they have, and to raise the schools’ profile.
FEATURED STORIES
Amazing People quotes and images are displayed across the school to encourage students to focus on the brilliance these amazing people achieved.
Since the start of this academic year, each assembly has focused on an amazing person, based on the BioView materials provided. These assembles have been well-received and it t has become clear that student’s knowledge of these amazing people is limited. The school is keen on the fact these stories are cross-curricular and inspiring.
MEASURING IMPACT
A competition has been run after each Amazing Assembly to test retention and engagement levels. Successful competition responses win students MERIDIAN MILES, a school currency that students can accumulate and convert into rewards. Meridian is due to feedback on competition results however initial feedback indicated high levels of retention and engagement.
In addition to the competition, if a student at the school demonstrates one of the Amazing Attributes, they win points for their house. The school is in the process of voting for Amazing People Mascots for each house. The house with the most MERIDIAN MILES at the end of each term wins a day trip for the whole house. They work on this basis to encourage a sense of community and responsibility across the four houses.
PHASE 2
CONTENT AND CURRICULUM
This begins with the use of the Amazing People Library as a way to access and embed amazing people content across lessons. They will also use the toolkit plus any other materials they feel could support the development of the programme. The school will use stories about amazing people to springboard into specific topic and subject areas. They will also trial our drama resources.
SKILLS DEVELOPMENT
In addition, Meridian will also use the D Model (proactive thinking skills model) to explore how the content can be used to develop skills around communication and proactive thinking.
PHASE 3
GAMING AND PARENTAL ENGAGEMENT
(IN DEVELOPMENT – PARTNER TBC.) We are looking at how the Amazing People Club game could be used to further support the using of amazing people stories and content in school. Making learning more fun through gamification and rewards, will drive students interest and motivation to engage with Amazing People content. It also offers an opportunity to drive parental engagement.
General Comment from Meridian staff – while they get approached by so many publishing companies, what they loved about Amazing People is that it is SO adaptable and really can be leveraged easily to raise aspiration levels AND teach. They said links to curriculum would be most useful and felt that teachers could pull lessons together with the support of our resources and toolkits.
Dr Charles Margerison, founder of Amazing People Worldwide and Amazing People Schools, is a Psychologist. As well as working in educational organisations for many years, he has consulted widely for major corporates in the fields of organizational and educational psychology. He was previously Professor of Management at Cranfield University, UK, and the University of Queensland, Australia. He founded Amazing People Worldwide in 2006 and is supported by a dedicated global team. Dr Margerison is a member of the Royal Institution, Royal Society of Literature, Historical Association, and Association of Business Psychology. He previously co-founded Emerald Publishing Ltd, and Team Management Systems, a team-building tool, which is now used in 190 countries worldwide.