Character education has been featured heavily in the news over the past twelve months. As a trust and school, it underpins everything that King’s Leadership Academy Hawthornes and The Great Schools Trust offers.

We are immensely proud as a school and trust that we have been recognised in the Department of Education publication on Character Education that was released to all schools in the country on 5th November 2019. The guidance advises schools on how character can be promoted in schools; we are highlighted for the work done by the Combined Cadet Force (CCF) and the transformative effect it can have on young people’s behaviours and attitudes.

Congratulations to everybody who has been involved in the CCF since its inception.

The full text in the case study section reads:

Kings Leadership Academy, Sefton, Merseyside.

The Academy is part of a Trust which introduced a Combined Cadet Force (CCF) under the Cadet Expansion Programme. The initiative was intended to promote positive beliefs and 27 Benchmark Example habitual behaviours for attendance, as well as strengthening the positive attitude to learning displayed by students with the intention of promoting social mobility. Further objectives included increasing opportunities for physical activity, character development and the chance of exposure to experiences rich in cultural capital. The programme has a capacity of 24 students per year group from Years 8-11, meaning that the total cohort has grown to 96 students. The cadets parade weekly at their school for two hours during the school day: timetabling this during the school day broadens the curriculum and removes obstacles to student participation. Cadets contribute to the vibrant culture of the school by leading their fellow students at formal occasions throughout the academy year and by setting the standards for behaviour which permeates the classrooms. With the positive impact on the Academy’s climate of education already evident, the military ethos model has since been transferred across to other schools within the Great Schools Trust. Aspects of the CCF programme have also been adapted and introduced into the Alternative Provision Unit situated in one of the Trust’s schools, providing the most at risk students with a military ethos and leadership-based training opportunities.