If you are new to Brave Days, the idea is that the children (and staff!) do something brave during the day and push themselves to see what they are capable of. As a school we start with an inspiration, which might be an idea, a picture, a video clip etc, and then each class discusses possible activities that the children could choose to undertake. During the day the children work individually or in small groups on a task identified, chosen and planned by themselves. In the past this has included art work, cooking, embroidery, potion making, puppet shows, story writing or anything else the children can think of! It is an amazing opportunity for the children to use the school learning skills and develop their teamwork, perseverance, reflection, concentration, curiosity and resourcefulness – a real chance to be brave!
A big part of a Brave Day is the children working independently and having to resolve their own problems. Therefore as staff we often sit back on a Brave Day and let them struggle with things, before making suggestions or offering help - as adults that spend their days helping children, this is very difficult, and means that the adults need to be brave too! However it does really help the children to develop as learners and feel a sense of achievement with their end results.
The inspiration for our Brave Day this year was the diocesan project 'Bags of Hope'. The children thought carefully about refugees, asylum seekers and displaced people, and how it would feel to have to leave your home and go to a different country where you might struggle to feel you belong, whilst also feeling sad and upset at losing your home. They then planned their learning around this topic. It was an amazing day, with lots of creativity, perseverance and teamwork - we were incredibly proud of everything the children achieved.