As part of the excellent education we offer our pupils at Oakridge Parochial School, we aim to give our pupils the opportunity to engage in social action and help them to understand how they can challenge injustice. This is called ‘courageous advocacy’.  When we use the term ‘courageous advocacy’ we are referring to the act of speaking out and/or undertaking actions against an issue of injustice, often on behalf of those whose voice is not heard. Recognising, considering and speaking out against issues of injustice, at whatever level this takes place, requires our pupils to have courage in what they believe in.

One way in which we have engage in Courageous Advocacy is through our Eco-Club, who have considered the climate crisis debate, and through which we have invited them to think about what they can do to protect our natural environment. Our pupils consider the threats to the environment and the action they could take to make a difference. This has led to the development of a three-point action plan, focussing on ‘Litter’, with a goal to achieve litter free school grounds, and with a focus on plastics, through the plan to take part in the ‘Big Plastic Count’ later in the school year, whilst also spreading the word through our community about the impact of plastics through our Christmas tree design at the Stroud Christmas Tree Festival. ‘Water’, to raise awareness of the value of water both in our school and around the world, and to reduce water waste within school. ‘Marine’ to reduce our use of plastics in school whilst raising awareness of plastic in the oceans. In addition, the pupils have also challenged the school community by taking part in ‘Cut your carbon’ by completing 6 small carbon-cutting activities at home. In addition, our Eco-Club

Courageous advocacy is also being developed through our English curriculum, through our Persuasive Writing unit in Class 2, in which the pupils have been tasked with writing a persuasive argument around an area of social action to counter against an issue of injustice. These persuasive arguments are then shared with Class 1 for them to learn about areas of ‘courageous advocacy’, enabling them to share their voice on the issues raised.

At Oakridge school, we believe that, by encouraging our children to consider important issues and the action they can take, we are developing young people who think about their place in the world beyond the school community, and who hold belief that their voice and actions have the potential to make change to the wider world.