Stand Up, Speak Out, Be Kind

A new student-led programme called Stand Up, Speak Out, Be Kind which launched to students in Latymer’s Lower School (Years 7&8) at the start of term, is already a big hit with students and staff.

Students worked with Pastoral staff to design, develop and deliver the new initiative which aims to empower Latymerians to be active bystanders and adopt the School’s ethos and values. 

The committee of 24 students from Years 7 and 8 is headed up by School Vice Captains, Daniel and Mollie. They meet fortnightly and have already started actioning matters raised by students. The first thing they did was to introduce Prefect lanyards, ensuring that our Prefects are more easily identifiable around school. They’ve also had an input in the way lunch queues are overseen by teachers and prefects to improve students’ experience and will soon start trials of a ‘Lower School Pen pals’ initiative which, if successful, will launch around February half term. 

School Vice-Captain, Daniel said: “We’ve been so impressed with their engagement and enthusiasm. It tells us that the way in which we have designed and pitched the programme is sustainable and right and it gives pupils in the Lower School a voice’. 

As well as these three initiatives the Committee has also run assemblies about inclusivity  and are looking at incidences of behaviour that are not felt to be in keeping with Latymer’s values.  

“We want these values to be embedded, to be second nature,” added Mollie. “So that we are all feeling empowered to be proactive and confident in dealing with situations that might arise in our lives, both online and in real life.”

“As pupils returned to school after lockdown, we could see the impact on them of time spent out of the classroom – difficulties socialising in person, communicating through screens or social media platforms – all of this had affected the way they engaged with each other,” said Mrs Sellars, Head of Lower School. “So we focused on supporting the children back into the classroom, positively reconnecting and interacting with each other.”

“When we looked at setting up the programme we felt it vital that students in Years 7 and 8 were fully involved and felt ownership; that the words and advice were from them and not something that was imposed on them by adults,” she added. 

Laura, a Y7 student and a member of the committee, designed a logo for the campaign which everyone felt really encapsulated the three pillars of the programme: 1) being kind to yourself and to others 2) feeling confident –  standing up for yourself and for others and 3) knowing how to identify and call out behaviour that wasn’t aligned to Latymer’s values. The logo was turned into a pin badge that every student in Years 7 and 8 can wear with pride and it’s also on the posters and infographics that have been put up all around the school. 

Author: Karen Dove