What is Courageous Advocacy?

It is defined as ‘the act of speaking out against an issue of injustice, often on behalf of those whose voice is not heard.”  It “must involve being informed about an issue and it must move beyond simply knowing, to saying and doing.”  (Christian Aid)

We believe that courageous advocacy is an important part of Christian life and acknowledging this is fundamental to us all being able to flourish and live life in all its fullness.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” – Jeremiah 29:1

What does Courageous Advocacy mean at St Leonard’s?

Given the definition of Courageous Advocacy, we feel it is particularly important for our children to begin to explore and take ownership of it themselves in order to build communities of people who have the courage to stand up for things they believe in, whilst keeping Christian values at the heart of this.

“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.  Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.” – Proverbs 31:8

This means that at St Leonard’s, it is important to us that we develop all children as Courageous Advocates – listening to everyone’s thoughts and ideas and acting on this.  We want to move past the need to just fundraise and beyond simple solutions allowing children to look at the underlying injustices and ask why and what can be done about it.  We want to encourage them to think deeply about issues and empower them to understand, question and think of creative solutions whilst challenging decision makers.

Who are the Courageous Advocates?

The Courageous Advocate group is made up of children from Year 2 upwards, having been voted by their peers to represent a whole school voice.  This group will give children the voice to speak out for others, whether a school issue, a local issue, national issue or global issue.

The group start by having a class debate about issues they feel strongly about, these are then brought to the group’s meeting where they present the issues to each other and decide which they would like to focus on.  From this, discussions and presentations take place to identify the issue including the bigger picture of it and look to ways we can tackle this and how far we can go to tackle it.

What are our Courageous Advocates focusing on currently?

Our Courageous Advocates have recently met and decided that they would like to tackle issues surrounding Homelessness and the School’s Willow Garden Area.

More details to follow.