STRIVE

The most important reason that you come to school is to develop your academic performance and prepare for the exams that you will take at the end of your time with us. However, it is not the only reason why school is an important place and one of the key pillars of education at Heron Hall is to develop you as a well-rounded citizen.

We are confident that you will go out and be successful in every aspect of your life outside of school.
That is why one of the key pillars of life at Heron Hall is to focus on students’ character education and to help develop the skills and traits to thrive in the rest of their life after school. The 6 core values that underpin the character education at Heron Hall are:

Supportive – I help my peers and my teachers
Tolerant – I respect other people’s differences
Resilient – I never give up when it’s tough
Integrity – I do the right thing all of the time
Visionary – I aim higher and further
Excellence – I never settle for less than my best

We also embed character education through other means including:

STRIVE Days: Throughout the year we run three non-academic days that embed character aspects in students through a variety of means including trips, outside speakers, workshops and lessons.

STRIVE Awards: In Year 7, 8 and 9 students have the opportunity to complete activities inside and outside school to achieve Bronze, Silver and Gold STRIVE awards.

Volunteering Opportunities: Through external partnerships we offer opportunities for our students to develop their character through volunteering in the local community.

Form Time: One of the form time sessions every week is dedicated to Character and Culture and getting students used to the language and discussing key STRIVE topics.
Assemblies: Each week the assembly will be based on a key topic or issue and linked to one of the STRIVE values.

STRIVE Interviews: When students get into Year 10 we operate STRIVE interviews to help students prepare for life at college or Sixth Form. Through encouraging the use of character language it helps students to develop their interview technique.

External Speakers: Every year we are looking for opportunities of local community speakers and high quality external speakers to come in and speak to the students about key topics.

Subject Awards: We operate a series of opportunities to get involved in specific projects and awards around the school including the eco-project awards, Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme and the ArtsMark.