Acts of Kindness and Courageous Advocacy

“What does the Lord require of you, but to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with your God.”

Micah 6:8

As part of our identity as a church school and from a desire to follow the teachings of Jesus, the children and adults at Saighton engage in a variety of “Acts of Kindness and Courageous Advocacy”.  Often arising from issues of current and direct concern to the children, as well as long term and planned opportunities, our children are encouraged to make a positive difference to the world around them.

As a school, we have close links with Chester Aid to the Homeless (CATH) and The Hospice of the Good Shepherd.  Through learning more about the work of these charities, our children are keen to support their work through fundraising activities and by raising awareness of the work they do.

However, here at Saighton we aim to move beyond charity and towards building a fairer and more sustainable world for everyone, and we become Courageous Advocates.  Our aim is to equip our children with the skills, tools, confidence and opportunities to speak up and take action on issues of social justice.

Our Acts of Courageous Advocacy have included participation in Christian Aid’s Letters for Creation and engaging in a pilot CEFAW scheme led by Professor David Clough (Chair in Theology and Applied Sciences at Aberdeen University). As a result of these we have exhibited our thoughts and concerns surrounding the environment at Chester Cathedral, adopted some rescue hens, persuaded our cook to only use free range eggs, appeared on our local ITV news and written to parliament regarding our concerns. 

Other examples of our acts of kindness and courageous advocacy are shared with our school community through our weekly updates, termly newsletters and on a display board in school.

Courageous Advocacy:  By way of a working definition, when using the term ‘courageous advocacy’ we are referring to the act of speaking out against an issue of injustice, often on behalf of those whose voice is not heard. Speaking out, at whatever level this takes place, requires an element (and sometimes a great deal) of courage! Becoming a courageous advocate for change, therefore, must involve being informed about an issue and it must move beyond simply knowing, to saying and doing.   Educating for courageous advocacy must embody an ethos of action-taking, challenging injustice and becoming agents of change in the transformation of ourselves, our relationships and our communities from the local level to the global. (Caroline Weir for Christian Aid)

As a whole school community, we believe that it is through such acts of courageous advocacy that we fully embody our Christian vision and values.