What is the impact of individualistic culture on service and justice, and how does this affect how we think about social action?…
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01/10/2023
The Italian Connection
A group of Italian school children come to Liverpool and every aspect of their visit was the result of friendship…
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19/07/2023
Queen Elizabeth and the Common Good
A free resource to inspire young people to follow the example of Queen Elizabeth, to value relationships and take responsibility in the community…
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29/10/2022
Taking responsibility, finding purpose
How does our Common Good Schools programme prepare young people to take responsibility for the Common Good in their community?…
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03/11/2019
Common Good Schools: Pentecost 2023
how a school filled with the Holy Spirit can initiate renewal in its neighbourhood, drawing students into relationship with members of the local community…
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27/05/2023
Common Good Schools: Easter 2023
The importance of relationships in building common good requires a wider understanding of diversity, as Jo Stow reports…
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05/04/2023
Common Good Schools: Lent 23
Trends show a sharp decline in social trust among young people. Our Common Good Schools is an antidote, as Jo Stow reports…
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17/02/2023
Common Good Schools: Dec 2022
Our Common Good Schools Project Leader, Jo Stow reports on a young people thriving using our SEN resources…
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18/12/2022
Common Good Schools: June 2022
Meet our Common Good Schools Project Leader, Jo Stow and hear her vision for schools becoming hubs in their communities…
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01/06/2022
Society and Catholic tradition
Jenny Sinclair outlines the impact of Catholic education on civil society in a panel discussion hosted by The Tablet…
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19/01/2023
From “Me” to “We”
From “me” to “we” –common good and social action
Paradoxically, our young people are ostensibly the most socially conscious generation in recent history, and yet the least socially attached to their neighbourhoods. Jo Stow here reflects on the impact of our individualistic culture on how service and justice are perceived, where sometimes volunteering is reduced to merely an opportunity for self-development and justice becomes divorced from grounded reality. When motivations are individualistic and transactional, young people miss out on the experience of solidarity. Yet when justice and social action are approached through genuine localrelationships, the benefits to the community, the school and for young people can be transformational.
I emerged from my tent, bleary-eyed and grumpy. I had been awoken at the crack of dawn by a group of teens getting ready to embark on an expedition. We were on a camp site in the North Yorkshire Dales and had been kept awake late the previous night too.
Later, my teacher friend and I were debating the merits and pitfalls of a famous young people’s award scheme. He was in full flow, bemoaning the decline in the calibre of today’s participants who, he claimed, had absolutely no interest in hiking, volunteering, or serving – except in how good it looked on their CVs and university applications!
Telling the story of a young man who had volunteered to tidy the equipment in the department he leads, he reported, “the help dried up the moment the necessary number of weeks of volunteering was complete.”
A later conversation with a participant returning from a 17-mile hike reassured me. Not all youngsters are captured by such a self-promoting approach. There was no trace of that transactional mentality in this young woman. She had embraced the challenge, both in terms of enthusiastically seeking an opportunity to contribute to her community, and as a chance to develop herself in readiness for adult life.
Culture
As Common Good Schools project leader, I find it interesting to observe young people’s culture through the eyes of the teachers in our partner schools and of youth leaders too. I find it especially illuminating when considering young people’s interaction with award schemes.
On the one hand, young people are immersed in a ‘me-culture’ that drives them to a hyperfocus on ‘my looks’, ‘my rights’, ‘my education’, ‘my tribe’, ‘my profile’ and ‘my image’ – both in terms of actual physical body image and through the distorting prism of social media.[1]
Our individualistic culture – based on the philosophy of the “unencumbered self”[2], shaped around a false conception of freedom unburdened by the relational constraints of family, community and history – reduces the value of giving time to others. Instead, there is enormous pressure for personal perfection and self-actualisation, resulting in anxiety[3] and a consumerist mentality towards education and life in general.
On the other hand, ‘Gen Z’ are the generation that apparently care more passionately about social justice than any before them:
“For today’s teens, addressing injustice in our world is a top priority—more than any other generation [we have] studied to date… The emerging generation truly wants to make a difference when it comes to addressing what is broken in the world.” Barna Group 2022[4]
Paradox
These observations may seem at odds with each other. As if the confusion of the post-modern mindset allows for our teens to hold these seemingly opposed perspectives simultaneously.
But concealed within this paradox are some poignant truths. Sometimes, the passion to change the world can represent justifiable concern about genuine injustice, but sometimes it can be driven by individualistic motivations.
“Young people are ostensibly the most socially conscious generation in recent history…But on the other hand, they are easily the least socially attached to interpersonal networks or to their neighbourhood… Young people are half as likely to speak to neighbours, and a third less likely to borrow or exchange favours from them, as they were in 1998.”[5]
As many observers have noted, willing the world to suit one’s own desires while avoiding mutual obligation can result in motivations for “justice” morphing into self-gratification, virtue-signalling, and even narcissism.[6] The drive to campaign for change may be accompanied by anxiety, by an inability to set one’s own house in order and by the absence of true solidarity.
At the same time, despite these pressures, there are some young people who instinctively feel the void generated by the ‘me-culture’. This recognition drives a desire for the kind of justice that is rooted in a deep longing for connection[7], and which rejects the individualistic paradigm. They sense that their needs can only be truly met through relationship, and that authentic connection simultaneously benefits both parties.
Sources of Joy
There is plenty of evidence (and memes on social media) to show that, rather than being counter-intuitive, putting others’ needs first in the context of reciprocity and mutuality is invariably life-giving, a source of joy.
Our young people urgently need opportunities to learn what it takes to build lasting local relationships.
This begs the question whether social action opportunities offered in schools are relational or transactional. And, whether, without due vigilance, the individualistic culture can reduce the good opportunities offered by awards schemes to mere forms of self-development, where it is “all about me.”
School leaders will already be familiar with young people’s innate sense of justice and their desire to address issues they perceive as unfair. Research by the Barna Group demonstrates that young people of faith in Christ are particularly motivated to act where they see injustice. It is interesting to note that:
“Most teens, including Christians, have reservations about today’s leaders. Educators are a notable exception. Far and away, teens most look to schools and educators to play a role in justice. Nearly 9 in 10 justice-motivated teens (86%) say schools should play a “major” role in addressing injustices. Among Christian teens, 71 percent feel this way.”[8]
Social action and the building of local relationships
Young people are looking to their schools for a lead in terms of making the world a better place. Whether it be injustices overseas or national issues, schools are often keen to help young people raise money for charity and run campaigns, but these are often transactional activities.
There are also injustices in our own neighbourhoods that need attention too, and which are within our capacity to address through local relationships of solidarity. It is worth investigating if young people are aware of their own communities’ concerns and whether they can identify ways to respond appropriately, in relationship with others. This is a question of agency.
We might also consider ways to encourage young people engaging with the volunteering elements of youth award schemes to adopt more relational approaches, and to avoid a consumerist mentality, so they find the award activity fulfilling, more than a means to an end for their CV.
Where are the opportunities for social action centred on genuine connection that enable our young people to gain experience in their local area? How can our young people taste the life-giving joy that comes from real, reciprocal relationships?
This is where Common Good Schools can help.
Our proposal is:
A school rooted in the community can be a force for the common good.
Rather than seeing volunteering as a discreet activity for a limited project, and rather than outsourcing the charitable work by raising money to pay others to be ‘on the ground’ doing the work, Common Good Schools encourages young people to contribute to their neighbourhood through local relationships.
Enabling young people to discover a sense of purpose alongside others, where social action means acting together in the local, we encourage our partner schools to form and develop long term relationships with their neighbours. These are foundational. Our vision is for the school community, including students, to be routinely working alongside local bodies to address shared concerns in the neighbourhood.
Through Common Good Schools lessons and assemblies, young people look at who they are, what they have to offer and what their neighbourhood needs. During the 10-week programme they might notice in their area that loneliness in young people and in the elderly is a concern. Together with community partners, a school may begin a conversation about what might help and devise a plan that involves the participation of all parties.
Complementary, not competitive
Whilst some youth award schemes place the onus on young people to find and organise their own volunteering opportunities, Common Good Schools encourages the school to take the lead through developing existing and new local relationships.
The work done by young people with community partners, through being a partner with our programme, counts towards the experiences required by other youth award schemes such as Duke of Edinburgh, Romero Award and Faith in Action. In this regard Common Good Schools is complementary to other programmes.
We recognise that establishing something new can be a challenge but is also exciting and break new ground. This can be of great value for a school community, not only in terms of fulfilling Ofsted requirements and enhancing local reputation, but also enabling a genuine contribution to the strengthening of local neighbourhood life.
CPD
As a charity, T4CG accompanies schools through an offer of CPD. Our first will run in October and will bring together colleagues from across the UK to receive input on Common Good Principles, be inspired by examples of Community Engagement activities in other schools and provide an opportunity for discussion and Q&A.
From me to we
Thinking back to that campsite conversation as dawn was breaking, I believe passionately that young people are hungry for real relationship and for a more just society. But they need help to overcome the culture of individualism that fuels self-consciousness, isolation and anxiety. Their natural sense of justice and longing for connection can be nourished through local relationships and collaboration with neighbours in the places where they live and work.
When a young person adopts ‘Common Good Thinking’ they begin to see that they belong to a place. As they build relationships with the people in that place, there is then the potential that they will begin to see themselves as ‘we’ rather than ‘me’, developing an understanding of their neighbourhood and its needs, giving them reason for action that is not simply for their own benefit.
We’d be grateful for prayers during the next few weeks.
Thank God for…
A new school partner – Oaklands Sixth Form College
The new Common Good Schools website due to launch in October
Pray for:
A successful first CPD session
Schools who have expressed an interest in the programme to make a commitment to join
For Jo to achieve a lot in limited time
For financial support to further Common Good Schools
“So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.” Romans 12:5
Do you have a link with your local school? Are you a parent, student, teacher, senior leader, director of an academy trust, trustee or governor? We find the best way to engage is via a personal introduction. Please get in touch with Jo if you could help facilitate an introduction.
Click here for a free sample pack of the Common Good Schools resource to try at your school.
Last week Together for the Common Good’s partner schools welcomed a group of Italian school children on a week’s visit to Liverpool.
Pupils and teachers from the Scuola Primaria Don Milani were welcomed at a special assembly at Walton Parish Church. Organised by the students from Alsop High School, and the two Church of England Primary schools Arnot St Mary and Kirkdale St Lawrence, the assembly was held in the presence of the Lord Mayor of Liverpool, Cllr Mary Rassmussen. Students spoke about their communities, their schools and their desire to “Be the change they want to see.”
Students from Arnot St Mary performed several musical items, accompanied by musicians from their school orchestra. The young people from Modena reciprocated, singing a rendition of the Beatles song Yellow Submarine and Il Viaggio, The Journey.
After the welcome the Italian visitors had a tour of Alsop High School and enjoyed a traditional lunch of fish and chips followed by apple pie and cream. The young people then experienced a lesson in a British school and Alsop students shared some films they had made recently for collective worship. The day concluded with a visit to the school library for afternoon tea, where the school librarian read them a story which was translated by Franca Gambari, a teacher from Don Milani School.
Franca’s association with Liverpool is longstanding. As lead organiser of the trip, she commented: “I first came to Liverpool in 2009 for my research about Liverpool Hope University, the only ecumenical university in Europe. I was deeply hit by the Sheppard-Worlock partnership and by what they did for the common good of the city. I had the privilege of meeting Lady Sheppard and her daughter, Jenny Sinclair. In 2012 I saw the birth of Together for the Common Good (T4CG) and in 2016 I was introduced to Peter Bull. Thanks to Peter, my colleagues and I had the chance to work in partnership with Alsop High School. In 2017 we came to Liverpool for their Faith 17 Festival and since then we have shared videos, photos and cards about our school projects built upon Common Good values. Thanks to Jenny Sinclair and Peter Bull we were introduced to Dave Harrop, Headteacher of St Mary Church of England Primary School, West Derby and two years ago we started a shared project that we decided to call ‘Together We Can’.”
During their time in Liverpool the Italian visitors toured Anfield Stadium and the Beatles Museum. They also enjoyed a lesson on the common good with Jo Stow, T4CG’s Project Leader for Common Good Schools. Jo joined the Italians for a walk along Hope Street as they visited both cathedrals. Alan Matthews, Chair of the Friends of Liverpool Cathedral led the group in a tour of the Angilcan cathedral.
The young people stayed at Hope Park, Hope University’s main campus, enjoying its grounds and three talks were arranged for them. The first was by Dr Wendy Bignold about studying at Liverpool Hope, then the second was by Willem Toet, a Ferrari aerodynamics engineer, on the importance of teamwork for the common good. And the third was given by Jenny Sinclair, about the “Mersey Miracle”, the joint twenty-two year partnership between her late father, David Sheppard, and the late Archbishop Worlock.
The Don Milani young people spent a day with the children at St Mary’s Church of England Primary School, West Derby. They played together in person, having first met several times via joint lessons conducted over Zoom over the previous year. An international England v Italy football tournament was arranged. St Mary’s PTA provided sandwiches and cakes. The trip was rounded off by a wonderful day out at West Kirby beach, a walk along the promenade and a visit to the Sisters of Jesus Way for tea.
Franca continued:
“Thank you for making our young people so welcome. We love Liverpool, not only because it’s a very beautiful city, but also for the values fostered here and testified. Over the years, we have learned to know this is an international and ecumenical city and we are deeply impressed by the commitment of its people to promoting the Common Good principles. We are delighted to visit again and share activities with our friends in the four schools. We are so grateful. We, the teachers and pupils from Modena, will remember this visit forever.”
Peter Bull, Co-ordinator of Together We Can comments:
“We were so privileged to host our Italian colleagues and their group of amazing young people. We greatly value these international bonds of friendship and we hope that the links with Don Milani School will continue to prosper and grow.”
Jo Stow, T4CG’s Project Leader for Common Good Schools adds:
“It was a joy to meet Franca and everyone from Don Milani School. What an attentive group of young people! We enjoyed lunch together and learned about the common good. I told them a story about two friends from our Common Good Schools programme. In the story, one friend needed the assistance of a wheelchair and one did not. The children reflected on the dignity and worth of each person and how everyone has something different to offer that helps the whole community flourish. The children enjoyed identifying the common good principles and applying them to their own experiences.”
Jenny Sinclair, founder director of Together for the Common Good comments:
“Our young Italian visitors impressed me so much with their curiosity and joyful care for each other. They asked excellent questions too: their parents and teachers should be very proud. This trip was completely bespoke, quite unlike a tourist package deal: every element was the result of genuine relationship and friendship. It was a privilege to help Franca realise her vision – she overcame many obstacles to achieve this and her determination was unwavering.The importance for young people of building meaningful human connections cannot be overstated. As the corrosive impact of individualism and technocracy continues to degrade our common life, it is vital that we intentionally work together for the common good.”
Jenny Sinclair, Jo Stow, Peter Bull, Franca Gambari
Click here for a free sample pack of the Common Good Schools resource to try at your school.
Do you have a link with your local school? Are you a parent, student, teacher, senior leader, director of an academy trust, trustee or governor? We find the best way to engage is via a personal introduction. Please get in touch with Jo if you could help facilitate an introduction.
The late HM Queen Elizabeth II, in the manner of her life and her death, was an inspiration for us all. In terms of her moral character, she was a model of virtue in devoting her life to public service.
In this respect her life has many resonances with T4CG’s Common Good Schools 10-week programme which encourages young people to take responsibility within their local community. The resource is designed to support 11-16 year olds to value community and each other, and enables them to learn to put the principles of the Common Good into practice.
In honour of Queen Elizabeth II, T4CG has created a free, short classroom resource in powerpoint format for young people to engage with ideas around personal responsibility, relationships and service to the community. This 5-minute presentation is an opportunity for students to pause, reflect and pray. Please note the presentation contains transitions. Download via the button below.
Meanwhile, the full Common Good Schools programmeis a linked set of ten lesson plans, ten assemblies and community engagement activities designed for KS3 and 4 (and can be scaled up for VI form, or down for Year 6). Each with four or five activities to choose from, the lesson plans are flexible and lend themselves to suit pretty much any time slot, from RE lessons, to PSHE sessions to a short Tutor time slot.
The programme helps young people learn a sense of mutual obligation and how to handle responsibility with integrity for the benefit of the community in which they live. By fostering local engagement, the programme helps to position a school rooted its local neighbourhood as a force for the Common Good.
Grounded in Christian social teaching but communicated in non religious language, this programme enhances moral, spiritual and character education, encouraging independence of thought and enabling young people to discern their unique vocation in relationship with others.
The inspiration for the resource comes from five years of partnership work with Alsop High School in Liverpool. Alsop won the WOW Educate Award in the North West, “for outstanding work to foster community cohesion and develop pride in the wider community of North Liverpool.” They won other awards too, and were shortlisted for a TES Schools Community Impact Award.
The Common Good Schools programme is currently getting going again after pausing during the pandemic. Schools across the country are getting involved, including SEN schools who can use our specially adapted version for SEN children. Young people are growing in terms of undersanding their own value in the context of their community. There is a growing sense of purpose as they learn to take responsibility in building the Common Good together and learn the importance of relationships.
Learn more about COMMON GOOD SCHOOLS and get involved here
Photo courtesy of St John Bosco College, Battersea.
Here, Alison Gelder reflects on ways to seek a better distribution of power in our country, and explains how T4CG’s Common Good Schools programme resources young people to take responsibility to help them find their unique purpose as well as benefiting their local community.
Recently I took part in a round table discussion with a group of fairly powerful people to talk about sharing power with the people we work with in communities. Most of us acknowledged the irony of the situation and some spoke from personal experience about the challenges of practical power sharing. Some of us were able to speak from the point of view of being excluded or powerless. All of us are seeking a better distribution of power in our communities and, scaling it across our country.
Often in a discussion about power, there is an emphasis on rights. But for me there are two key factors to think about, both of which came up in our conversation.
The first is the principle of Subsidiarity. This is one of the least well known but most important principles from Catholic social teaching and Common Good Thinking.
Subsidiarity, as we at Together for the Common Good explain it, is where responsibility is taken at the most appropriate level. Its key purpose is to protect the integrity and dignity of the human person.
So decisions should always be taken as close as possible to where they will have their effect. A central authority should perform only those tasks, take only those decisions, which cannot be performed or taken at a more local level. Since responsibility for decision-making implies power to take decisions, this means that power should be vested as close to the action as possible.
For example, when you are bringing up children, you don’t give them too much responsibility too early, but equally you don’t give them too little or you infantilise them and make them dependent. Similarly, the administrative state should not usurp the responsibilities of the family or the community. It is very revealing to run scenarios under the lens of Subsidiarity, from domestic decisions, to social action projects, to government policy.
Therefore, and this is my second factor, there is little point in devolving power and responsibility for a decision to individuals or a community organisation if they do not also have the resources, energy, training, headspace to take it on. Which is where our Common Good Schools programme comes in.
The ten session Common Good Schools programme enables young people to take personal responsibility, to value community and each other, and shows them how to put the principles of the Common Good into practice.
The programme helps them learn a sense of mutual obligation and how to handle power with integrity, for the benefit of the community in which they live. By fostering local engagement, the programme helps to position a school rooted its local neighbourhood as a force for the Common Good.
Grounded in Christian social teaching but communicated in non religious language, this programme enhances moral, spiritual and character education, encouraging independence of thought and enabling young people to discern their unique vocation in relationship with others.
The inspiration for the resource comes from two years of partnership work with Alsop High School in Liverpool, which won the WOW Educate Award in the North West, “for outstanding work to foster community cohesion and develop pride in the wider community of North Liverpool.” They won other awards too, and were shortlisted for a TES Schools Community Impact Award.
Common Good Schools is a linked set of lesson plans, assemblies and community engagement activities designed for KS3 and 4 (and can be scaled up for VI form, or down for Year 6). The lesson plans are very flexible and can be incorporated into pretty much any time slot, from RE lessons to a shortened form in Tutor time.
As our round table reflected on the difficulties people sometimes face in taking or exercising power, one of us came up with the phrase ‘a sense of constructive entitlement’. To me this would be the opposite of the benefit/welfare dependency or the scrounger mentality that is scapegoated in the tabloid media or reality TV.
And again it links with a key aspect of our work at Together for the Common Good; the idea that each of us has a unique vocational responsibility. Reflecting on, and practising, Common Good principles can help us discern what our purpose is and how better to live it out.
The Common Good Schools programme is currently in an extended pilot phase, being used in two schools in London and more are set to join soon. Through the weeks, the young people involved are developing a sense of their own value as human beings located in a community – each with unique gifts and skills. There is a growing sense of purpose as they understand the importance of their role and as they learn to take responsibility in the building of the Common Good.
Alison Gelder
Alison Gelder is Director of Operations at Together for the Common Good. For more information on the Common Good Schools programme click here.
Photos courtesy of St John Bosco College, Battersea, London and Alsop High School, Liverpool.
Common Good Schools: Pentecost 2023
Schools, the Common Good and the Holy Spirit
Our Common Good Schools Project Leader, Jo Stow, considers how an openness to the Holy Spirit can prompt a school to become outward-facing, then through the building of local relationships, contribute to renewal in its neighbourhood, cultivating a greater sense of purpose for all involved.
There is no denying the great pressure on teachers today.
Educating young people requires schools to achieve greater outcomes for students: to provide a curriculum that is broad, rigorous and ambitious, to be attentive and meet students’ learning styles, especially those with special educational needs and disabilities and set them up to achieve their potential. Schools carefully consider pedagogy, maximizing the amount of knowledge students commit to long term memory in order to demonstrate it when assessed. Ensuring young people achieve their academic potential is, rightly, a matter of great importance.
The pressure for schools is that they must also prove it! Staff are primed in readiness for Ofsted who will scrutinise their work and ‘triangulate evidence’ to check its authenticity. Schools rejoice when graded ‘outstanding’ while sadly, being graded ‘inadequate’ can have deeply unwelcome and sometimes devastating consequences. There are also challenges in managing relationships with parents, when they don’t always agree that the school is making the right decisions or that teachers are meeting their child’s needs.
Immersed in the consumerist ‘me-culture’, young people today are growing up in a world where the individual reigns supreme. The pressure on schools and students to succeed, coupled with the prevailing individualistic worldview, naturally influences schools to focus on the students’ academic outcomes. ‘Child-centred learning’ is a phrase well used in education. Students have come to see themselves as ‘consumers’ of education, with schools and teachers the ‘provider’. Whilst the introduction of character education, PSHE, personal development and citizenship recognise the need to prepare students for the wider world, the focus is still squarely on the individual and the grades they will achieve. Through this lens, students may perceive that their education is entirely about furthering their chances of gaining a ‘good’ job, for their own personal benefit.
Together for the Common Good exists to promote and enable spiritual and civic renewal. We work in partnership with schools to equip and empower them to be a hub in their community to work for the Common Good. Through lessons, assemblies and local engagement, pupils in the schools we work with develop an appreciation of what it means to be a good neighbour and to become active citizens, taking responsibility in their community.
The first Pentecost was a moment of profound spiritual renewal that also caused immediate civic renewal, as those in the newly formed church, after being filled with the Holy Spirit, became attuned to the welfare of every member of the neighbourhood. This wasn’t an inward-looking community just looking after its own. New people were welcomed as, “enjoying the favour of all the people… day by day the Lord added to their number…” (Acts 2:47). The Holy Spirit called the early Christians to be outward-facing and to become part of their wider community.
Common Good Thinking is derived from Catholic Social Thought (CST), which is sometimes described as theology of the Holy Spirit in practice.
Pentecost demonstrates God’s will for us to connect with people living around us, with those who are like us and those with whom we have differences. The Holy Spirit gave early Christians the ability to speak in many languages, to ensure everyone could understand God’s Word regardless of their native tongue. At the same time, Pentecost reminds us of God’s frustration with the Tower of Babel, when, much like the individualism of today, human arrogance assumes it can take on the role of God.
Pope Francis refers to the fundamentally relational nature of human anthropology in Fratelli Tutti where he writes: ‘Human beings are so made that they cannot live, develop and find fulfilment except “in the sincere gift of self to others”. Nor can they fully know themselves apart from an encounter with other persons: “I communicate effectively with myself only insofar as I communicate with others”.’ [FE, #87] Human beings are not designed to be isolated individuals: it is through relationship that we find meaning and purpose.
In conversations with colleagues in our partner schools, we considered how much their planned community engagement activity upholds the Common Good. Reciprocal relationships are key.
This month, St John Bosco College have launched the Common Good Schools programme with their entire student body – 825 students! They will use the resource in personal development time in the context of vertical tutor groups across Years 7-13. They look forward to partnering with local neighbours and community groups who share their passion to care for their local environment, and to address local food poverty and homelessness.
At Worth School, ninety Year 9 students will participate in the programme throughout the year, taking part in the ten lessons and ten assemblies. In addition, they will have the opportunity to get involved in working together with local people in the neighbourhood. It is a joy to be accompanying wonderful staff in all our partner schools and to see their delight in their students’ flourishing.
Schools are places of tremendous goodwill, where the very best for students is sought, and where staff should also experience the reward of a fulfilled vocation. What if the very best for everyone was to be found by focusing not only inwardly on the student, but also on each other, and outwith the boundaries of the school, adopting a relational, outward-facing posture? A school that is filled with the Holy Spirit could be a place that initiates renewal in its neighbourhood, drawing students into relationship with members of the local community.
Common Good Schools offers a curriculum enabling students to learn about and live out the Common Good. It offers teachers training and accompaniment through CPD and a reciprocal relationship with Together for the Common Good and other Common Good schools, for the benefit of all.
Jo Stow
Project Leader, Common Good Schools
Click here for a free sample pack of the Common Good Schools resource to try at your school.
Prayer requests
We’d be grateful for prayers during the next few weeks.
School staff who are planning to run the programme for the first time.
Schools actively seeking community partners to work with.
Students who will participate in the Common Good Schools programme.
Jo, as she develops relationships with partner schools and seeks new partners.
“So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.” Romans 12:5
Do you have a link with your local school? Are you a parent, student, teacher, senior leader, director of an academy trust, trustee or governor? We find the best way to engage is via a personal introduction. Please get in touch with Jo if you could help facilitate an introduction.
Our Common Good Schools Project Leader, Jo Stow, here reflects on the common good understanding of diversity, and reports on how our work with schools is addressing the fundamental importance of relationship.
It has been a great spring term for Common Good Schools. It was wonderful to spend time with colleagues from three of our partner schools and develop a connection with a new school.
I was delighted to deliver training to assistant head Victoria Tiffany, along with headteacher Dominic Kelly and senior leaders at Cardinal Heenan High, Leeds. Then, last week I travelled to Ruislip, Greater London to be with Malcolm Britton, deputy headteacher with school chaplain, Revd Suzy Dand at Bishop Ramsey. I look forward to partnering with both schools in the coming months and years as they begin to establish deeper links with their neighbours.
In addition, we warmly welcome Worth School, near Crawley, to Common Good Schools. Staff will receive training in May, to begin the programme in September.
T4CG’s long-term partner, Peter Bull, Head of RE at Alsop High School, Liverpool, celebrated the beginning of a new initiative, becoming a Growing Faith Hub after receiving national funding from the Growing Faith Foundation. Calling their project #TogetherWeCan, they will link with local primary schools, families, church and faith communities to work together for the common good in their neighbourhoods. It was a pleasure to attend their launch event and see young people from Alsop High, as well as two feeder primary schools, taking a lead.
During the Common Good Schools training sessions, we ask schools to consider how they can embrace local partners who might bring something different from themselves to the relationship. When we consider the word diversity, often our first thoughts may include race and ethnicity. I used to work in Harehills, Leeds, often described as ‘diverse’ because of the 170 languages spoken by residents.
Diversity of age might also spring to mind. The documentary Old People’s Home for 4 year olds first brought the benefits of intergenerational projects to our attention back in 2019. Today, there are many initiatives bringing old and young together. Some of our partner schools have engaged with their community in this way.
In addition, we ask schools to consider other forms of diversity. As we attract schools from different parts of the country, it is a joy to welcome a diversity of opinion, education, class and ability. We partner with schools awarded a range of Ofsted gradings; with a Special Education Needs school and a school that has provision for SEND alongside mainstream education; schools attracting the wealthy and those supporting the poor as well as schools facing the challenge of diversity of opinion amongst their community.
Diversity can bring discomfort, but the Common Good Schools programme allows both students and staff to take a step back from the heat of the challenge and take a wider view. The Common Good principles, especially human dignity, participation and reconciliation, remind us that all people are of intrinsic value and that forming relationships makes it possible to develop trust and work together for the common good.
Do you know a school that would benefit from become a Common Good School?
Can you help us?
We are looking to partner with more schools.
Do you have a link with your local school? Are you a parent, student, teacher, senior leader, director of an academy trust, trustee or governor? We find the best way to engage is via a personal introduction. Please get in touch with Jo if you could help facilitate an introduction.
Prayer requests
We’d be grateful for prayers during the next few weeks.
School staff who will receive training and commence the programme in May.
Schools actively seeking community partners to work with.
Students who will participate in the Common Good Schools programme.
Jo, as she develops relationships with partner schools and seeks new partners.
“So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.” Romans 12:5
For more details about the Common Good Schools programme, contact our Common Good Schools Project Leader, Jo Stow.
Our Common Good Schools Project Leader, Jo Stow, here reflects on the impact of our individualistic culture on young people, and reports on how our work with schools is addressing the fundamental importance of relationship.
A secondary teacher colleague and I met recently. Reflecting on the loss of in-person contact in school during the pandemic, he confided that “our young people are desperate for connection”.
That desperation for connection may be linked to a decline in students’ mental health and well-being that was predicted in the IPSOS poll of July 2021[i], as a long-term effect of the pandemic. This is not surprising considering that lockdown wrenched young people away from face-to-face connection with friends, teachers and significant relationships within their community.
In addition, students were forced onto mobile phones and laptops for both education and to stay in touch with friends and family. Most young people are now hyper connected. However, one of the key findings of UK Onward’s research was that the ‘always online’ culture in fact exacerbates disconnectedness and drives detachment:
“young people who rely on social media for validation or socialising are becoming disconnected from democracy and social norms.”[ii]
Through conversations with colleagues, I know that schools are acutely aware of these ongoing challenges. During the pandemic, vulnerable children were allowed to attend school alongside the children of key workers, as connection was recognised as vital for their health and wellbeing. This remains normal practice when schools must close. The mental health and wellbeing of students continues to be of major concern.
On their own
Isolation does something to erode trust. At Together for the Common Good (T4CG), we believe in the importance of human connection. Our work is informed by Catholic Social Teaching which regards human beings as embodied, social beings made in the image of God. We thrive when we live in relationship with Him and with each other.
“Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” Jer. 29.7
But since 1950 a culture of individualism has taken hold, and so it is no surprise that our social fabric has suffered.[iii]In a culture of the self, how can young people develop trust? Increasingly atomised, if they don’t know their neighbours, how can young people learn to trust? UK Onward, an independent, not-for-profit think tank, points to dramatic changes over the last few decades:
“Young people appear to be around half as likely to say they think other people are trustworthy as they were sixty years ago, with 56% of young people saying that other people could be generally trusted in 1959 compared to 30% today. This represents nearly double the rate of decline of older groups, and there is evidence to suggest that this may be particularly impacted by the pandemic.”[iv]
It is clear that this shift is not simply due to the Coronavirus pandemic. The authors show that a gradual decline in social trust, already underway, was merely brought into sharp focus and accelerated by lockdowns. This suggests that things are unlikely to ‘go back to normal’.
Schools work hard to prepare students for adult life and work. But when they leave education, what sort of a world are they stepping into?
UK Onward’s research The Kids Aren’t Alright, recognises the trends towards further atomisation and their consequences, not only for mental health but also for the social cohesion, the economy and democracy:
“Young people today are unhappier, less socially trusting, and more detached from society than young people historically or older people today. They have fewer friends and lower quality friendships. They are less likely to volunteer or contribute to their neighbourhood. They are more likely to suffer emotional problems at school and stress at work. And their narrowing social networks are undermining economic mobility. All of these are self-reinforcing, with narrower networks driving greater loneliness and lower social trust. This is not just about rising loneliness among young people. It is also driving a generational slide away from social and democratic norms towards atomisation.” [v]
As these trends continue, will they consider themselves victims of their circumstances and consumers with rights that need fighting for, or engaged citizens with agency, able to take responsibility? The time for acting to prevent the ‘generational slide’ is now.
The UK Onward report, Age of Alienation concludes,
“We must act – to deliver a much-needed jolt of participation and contribution to younger generations who have increasingly lost touch with each other and their communities.”
Time to Act
The Common Good Schools (CGS) programme offers young people just that! It gives schools an opportunity to make meaningful connections with local community groups and institutions. More particularly, CGS allows young people to meet and form relationships with people in their school’s neighbourhood who they might not ordinarily get to know.
Through ten lessons and assemblies, students learn about Common Good principles and consider how they each have something important to contribute to society. Community Engagement Activities give the opportunity for their learning to be applied. Our desire is that by volunteering and enjoying new friendships, young people will establish connections in the local neighbourhood which can be developed.
These new bonds of trust generate a sense of safety and lead to improvement of mental health and wellbeing and create a sense of shared pride in the neighbourhood. Social action in this common good approach is more than service, it is not just one way traffic. The building of reciprocal, mutual relationships leads to all parties experiencing their dignity and worth, and over time the reweaving of the social fabric. Every member of the community can contribute according to their ability and every contribution is seen as valuable.
Establishing Common Good Schools
Almost a year on from my appointment as Common Good Schools Project Leader, the number of schools engaging grows. The top priority has been to meet with senior leaders, teachers, chaplains, MAT directors and other key leaders in education to share T4CG’s vision and the CGS programme and listen to the challenges faced in our schools. We’re in a great position to have established some strong relationships.
Our strategy is to partner with a small number of different schools to see the impact of CGS in a variety of settings. So far, we work with Catholic and Church of England schools, a Special Educational Needs school, and a community school in a deprived area; we are also developing a relationship with an independent school, and with a Multi Academy Trust. We operate a discretionary bursary fund to enable schools under financial pressure to participate.
The flexibility of the Common Good Schools resource means that it can be used in a variety of ways in different contexts. One school is using it as part of their personal development programme in vertical tutor groups; another as an extra-curricular activity; yet another school will use CGS to enhance their PSHE curriculum, as it helps with citizenship and Character Education as well as helping children with Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural development. For church schools, it provides an opportunity to live out their virtues and values, enhancing the Christian life of the school so all can flourish.
A fruit of the pilot stage of Common Good Schools was a Special Educational Needs (SEN) version of the programme, developed for students with an EHCP for speech, language and communication. One of our partner schools has now embedded it into their annual timetable for their Year 10s. It is our hope that more special schools, and mainstream schools with SEND provision, will benefit from this version.
As the conversation with my secondary school teacher friend continued, he described how he continues to be shocked by the cheerful, “good mornings!” he receives as students stand on the street, eagerly waiting for the school gates to be opened. His shock, rather that pleasure, inferred that under the surface of their enthusiasm was a deep need for conversation and acknowledgement. “Our young people are desperate for connection.”
With the help of T4CG, a school using the Common Good Schools programme can generate a culture where young people see themselves as having something important to offer to society and to each other. Further, the programme builds bonds between the school and its neighbours in the community, creating a wider culture of connectedness where bonds of trust are strengthened.
A school rooted in its community can be a force for the common good.
Prayer requests
We’d be grateful for prayers during the next few weeks.
School staff who will receive training and commence the programme in March.
Schools actively seeking community partners to work with.
Students who will participate in the Common Good Schools programme.
Jo, as she develops relationships with partner schools and seeks new partners.
“For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” Gal. 5:14
A school rooted in community can be a force for the common good
When trust is broken and the social fabric is torn, when loneliness is higher in the young than the old, how do we prepare our young people for an uncertain future? Our 10-week Common Good Schools programme for 11-16 year olds enables young people to value each other and local neighbours, to build relationships, to grow in character and resilience. Here, Jo Stow visits a T4CG partner school which has adapted our resource for SEN children needing speech and language support. Seeing the students thriving by learning to take responsibility, she reports on how their developing skills can be applied with community partners.
Year 10 students are happily cleaning, clearing, sorting the recycling and throwing away rubbish. You would be forgiven for thinking that these young people are getting paid for their efforts. In fact, they are learning that taking responsibility for their working environment can bring joy to themselves and others.
St Marylebone CE Bridge School in London participates in the Common Good Schools (CGS) programme. Musenga Mumbi is an enthusiastic and gifted RE teacher who skilfully adapted T4CG’s Common Good Schools resource for students needing additional support with speech and language.
Since 2020, Musenga, with the encouragement of Headteacher Kate Miller, has been using the CGS programme with a new cohort of Year 10 students each year. The SEND version of CGS is a simplified format, incorporating ‘Widgit’ symbols, to introduce students to Common Good Thinking. It is used to teach in a way that considers the students’ learning needs and the pace at which they can work.
Musenga recognises the unique opportunity CGS gives students to flourish in a way that might not be seen in an ordinary school day. Speaking about the lesson on the Common Good principle of ‘Stewardship’, she said of the students,
“They were so earnest in their work and were beaming about helping others. I’d offered them reward time for completing their tick lists, but it wasn’t necessary. They were super proud of themselves and received loads of positive feedback from appreciative staff.”
Earlier learning about the Common Good principles of ‘Dignity of work’, ‘Responsibility’ and ‘Participation’, were experienced by students during their lesson, giving them confidence and developing skills to be applied again with community partners.
The ‘Community Engagement Activity’ strand of the programme equips schools to partner with local groups and institutions. St Marylebone CE Bridge School has partnered with Oakray (a company that reviews electricity in homes), a community gardening project and a Cat Protection charity. As the relationships grow, shared projects are developed, giving the students a variety of experiences. This benefits the local community, allowing for the mutual flourishing of all involved.
Setting up new partnerships has its challenges. While CGS particularly encourages schools to work with local partners, Musenga finds that larger companies and charities, with a branch in the neighbourhood, can sometimes better understand the needs of her students than small independents. She has embraced doing what is possible and is enthusiastic about the relationships that their newly appointed school chaplain will help them explore.
T4CG and the staff and students of St Marylebone are keen for other schools to benefit from the SEND adapted version of the CGS programme. Whilst written with speech and language difficulties in mind, it is also suitable for students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and those with low literacy level.
Would this be beneficial for a group of young people known to you?
For more details about the Common Good Schools programme, contact our Common Good Schools Project Leader, Jo Stow.
We are delighted to announce the appointment of our Common Good Schools Project Leader, Jo Stow. Here, she introduces herself and shares her vision for young people and schools.
I am delighted to be part of the T4CG team and feel blessed to be able to further the work of Common Good Schools.
A little about me… I’m married to Duncan and we have two daughters, who are both at secondary school. As a family, we span different Christian traditions and have worked ecumenically on various projects over the years. I enjoy playing the piano and singing both for worship and for my own enjoyment.
I began my career as a primary school teacher, working in Bradford and then in Leeds. Whilst teaching in Leeds I had the opportunity to serve as a youth minister in a vibrant and diverse inner-city parish. In 2005 I began work for the Catholic Diocese of Leeds as Coordinator for Evangelisation, where I stayed until 2012. When the children came along, I took a break to have time with them at home. Since, I have developed several roles such as freelance writing, teaching the children music for use during Mass and collective worship in our local primary school.
Common Good Schools is a flexible off the shelf resource for 11 – 16 year olds. Students learn about the Common Good Principles through 10 lessons and 10 assemblies and then apply and develop their knowledge during the Community Engagement Activities. Together, these three strands promote transformation within a school or youth organisation and outside in the neighbourhood. Running over ten weeks, the resource guides schools to become a ‘Hub’ in their community, engaging with institutions and groups for the flourishing of all in the locality.
A couple of examples of Community Engagement Activities in our pilot schools show the impact of bringing together local organisations for a common purpose, and the benefits for all involved.
In Liverpool, a local exhibition for Holocaust Memorial Day was put on by young people, and hosted by a community partnership forged through Common Good Schools. The school assembled a working group involving the local Jewish Community, the Anne Frank Trust, local youth organisations and a neighbouring church, all working together. Local guest speakers and sponsorship strengthened the relationships. Attendance was significant. The local newspaper editor commented “Alsop is not just a school at the heart of a community, it is leading the community.”
In London, St John Bosco College forged a relationship with a local care home and Year 9s met with the elderly residents. The relationship continued despite lockdown, within the constraints of government Covid safety measures. Thanks to the Common Good Schools programme, residents were not forgotten and stayed connected with their young friends over Zoom, who even sent hand-written personal Christmas cards. Now lockdown is over, young and old will continue meeting in person and carry on building their relationship.
Common Good Schools is based on Catholic Social Teaching but is presented in non-religious common good language – making it suitable for everyone of all faiths and none. It helps schools to meet the six Character benchmarks, helps with Ofsted section 48/SIAMS and links to PSHE curriculum. It places a strong emphasis on relationship building, relationship with place and the value of each human being. For church schools, worship and scripture are a natural fit and complement the versatile content. The programme allows students to explore their vocation and purpose, recognising that each person has something important to contribute, strengthening their sense of wellbeing.
My vision for Common Good Schools is that:
Students would be inspired to take responsibility for and engage with the civic life of their local community. What excites me is that through the confidence and skills they have gained, young people would be equipped to build relationships of trust with diverse groups, in contrast to the fragmentation of communities through polarisation of opinion.
Schools would be enabled to explore their unique identity as a trusted institution in their locality and develop an ethos that is outward looking, enabling their students, school community and neighbourhood flourish. My hope is that schools who use the Common Good Schools programme would support other schools to do the same in their area.
If you have a connection with your local secondary school perhaps as a student, parent, leader, member of staff or governor or belong to a youth organisation and would like to know more, visit our webpage or contact me on jo@togetherforthecommongood.co.uk
Jo Stow
Common Good Schools Project Leader
Together for the Common Good
Jo works for T4CG on Tuesdays and Wednesdays
Society and Catholic tradition
The gifts of Catholic education for civil society
Jenny Sinclair, T4CG’s Founder and Director, took part in a panel discussion on the impact of Catholic education on civil society. The panel explored questions such as:
What are the gifts from the Catholic tradition that can benefit wider society? How could such gifts be integrated into ‘wellbeing’ in schools or universities? How would you engage with young people struggling with the tensions between the convictions of the Church and the reality of the world?
The panelists were: Renee Kohler-Ryan, National Head of the School of Philosophy and Theology at the University of Notre Dame Australia; Paul Stubbings, Catholic Head Teacher at the Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School in West London, and Raymond Friel, CEO of Caritas Social Action Network.
The conversation was chaired by Maggie Fergusson, Literary Editor of The Tablet.
You can listen to a recording of the discussion HERE
