Heart: A Place of Respect
What is 'heart'?
Trinity students know to value, not just their academic and co-curricular learning, but also their well-being and sense of care and respect. At Trinity we call this the ‘Heart’. We understand that students (and indeed all of us) make mistakes. We believe that, in order to respect and care for others and our surroundings, we must start by caring, respecting and valuing ourselves. We teach the pastoral aspect of school through weekly assemblies, collapsed timetable days, tutor time, private conversations, tutor discussions, group reading and reflections, tutor competitions and of course rewarding our students where appropriate.
Have fun filling out the ‘Heart’ section of the Step up to Trinity - Summer Work
Rewarding ‘Heart’
‘Heart’ is interwoven throughout Trinity Academy. Respect is recognized and celebrated through our three-tiered reward system (Reward Points: R1; R2; R3). Examples from this academic year comprise of picking up litter, helping a teacher, caring for another student, assisting the canteen staff and sometimes stretching to helping an upset primary school student from Stoke Park Primary. This recognition forms part of what we are at Trinity however is not limited to the school walls. We welcome news from home and tutors talk to students about what they’re doing to help families or others outside school.
Termly Reports
At Trinity we are pushing to be the best school in Bristol but not just academically, we draw on how students should function effectively in society, otherwise known as ‘soft skills’, those which separate one candidate from another in an interview. Trinity’s termly reports therefore inform students and their parents/carers of progress made with regards to their self-direction, resilience, self-control and communication.
Tutor Groups
Year groups at Trinity are made up of four tutor groups. We encourage students to build a positive relationship with their tutors and someone to turn to with a concern or indeed something to celebrate. We teach students in these tutor groups but also take part in tutor competitions, group reading twice a week called DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) as well as covering our Pastoral Curriculum. At Trinity we invest a lot of time and thought into planning the Pastoral Curriculum built around three principle pillars:
- SMSC (Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural)
- Health (Physical, Mental and Relationship and Sexual)
- Preparedness (Character, Careers Education, Transition between Phases)
Students have tutor books where they record key information and material covered in tutor time and collapsed timetable days. We encourage students to reflect and share ideas during these periods so the written work complete is often brief and set more as a reminder. Topics are broken into termly questions and weekly themes. Below is the breakdown of Autumn Term 2 to give you a flavour of our teaching as well as some examples of work produced during this time.
AUTUMN 2: is the internet a good thing?
Week 1 - Resolutions
Reflect and improve: set specific goals to succeed
Week 2 - Realism
Seeing the bigger picture with regards to social media
Week 3 - Manners
Would you say the same words in person?
Week 4 - Esteem
Individual value and self-worth: use data positively
Week 5 - Etiquette
How should we act online/via email?
Week 6 - Safety
How best to stay safe: precautions
Week 7 - Health
'Friends’ are people we trust and on whom we rely