Common Good Schools

• Suitable for use in any school or youth organisation - written in non-religious language
• Flexible for SMSC, PSHE, Tutor Time, RE settings, and also in youth group contexts, and confirmation programmes
• For delivery by your RE staff, chaplains, year group heads, form tutors, youth group leaders.

•       Enhances character education and wellbeing
•       Enables young people to discern their unique purpose in relationship with others
•       Fosters community engagement and links with neighbouring organisations
•       Builds pride in the neighbourhood

The Common Good Schools programme develops the spiritual, moral, social and cultural awareness of those who work with it.  It therefore fulfils many requirements Ofsted expect to see in a school judged as good or outstanding according to the Schools Inspection handbook (September 2018)

• Develop spiritual moral social and cultural SMSC awareness
• Learn about themselves encouraging reflection enjoyment and fascination
• Discover constructive rules they can play within the context of the local community
• Use their imagination and creativity
• Value not only their own but each other’s gifts and abilities
• Appreciate the value and dignity of every human person
• Understand the consequences of behaviour and actions
• Develop an interest in investigating and appreciating the viewpoints of others
• Build a deeper understanding of personal responsibility and purpose
• Strengthen their moral character

Common Good Schools provides excellent opportunities to meet the inspection criteria for church schools required under Section 48 of the Education Act 2005.

Catholic Schools Inspection

This programme will greatly aid the requirements of the Catholic Schools Inspection framework whose criteria names the Common Good explicitly. Common Good Schools will help you meet criteria when addressing spiritual and moral development and service and social justice, whilst also aiding religious literacy, knowledge and understanding in RE lessons whether taught as part of the Religious Education syllabus or separately.

The ten classroom lessons explore the meaning of the Common Good, whilst the Community Engagement Activities promote the call to, and action for, justice as pupils engage with the people around them. This can lead to the flourishing of young people through realisation of personal responsibility, and can help them develop their gifts and talents and explore their role in the school and wider community.

Anglican and Methodist Schools (SIAMS)

The Church of England Statutory Inspection for Anglican and Methodist Schools explores with school and trust leaders how they understand the specific context of the school, and whether they know how to respond to it theologically. Common Good Schools provides excellent opportunities for a school community to explore the Christian principles of the Common Good and enhance the Christian ethos. You will find that Inspection Question 5, How does the school’s theologically rooted Christian vision create an active culture of justice and responsibility? will be explicitly strengthened and answered. The ten off-the-shelf assemblies also align well with best practice for Inspection Question 3, How is collective worship enabling pupils and adults to flourish spiritually?

• Fun, engaging activities drawing on Common Good Thinking (derived from Catholic Social Teaching in an accessible way)
• Three strands designed as a coherent framework with tasks you can cherry pick according to context
• A complete set of flexible materials provided digitally: ten lesson plans, ten short assemblies (Acts of Collective Worship), worksheets, teaching aids, powerpoint presentations and a community engagement guide
• Intentionally written in non-religious language complemented by specially tailored prayers (to maximise accessibility, and to enable chaplains and staff in church schools to situate the programme within the timing of the Church year)