"A world where Students thrive ... and shout out loud about all their Good Points!"

[June 30th 2022]

A recent report, published by the Times Education Commission, entitled "Bringing out the Best ... How to transform education and unleash the potential of every child" explored many areas, including the purpose of education, social mobility and levelling up, the curriculum, assessment, teaching, technology, wellbeing and mental health, schools in the community, special educational needs and disabilities and alternative provision, further education, higher education and lifelong learning.

The report highlighted “how parents overwhelmingly prioritise their child’s wellbeing over academic attainment - by a majority of ten to one - and they feel that schools focus too narrowly on exams”. Mental well-being of young people is reaching crisis point (e.g. over 400,000 young people are now being seen/ referred to CAMHS a month) and recruiting yet more therapists will not solve the problem.

To truly tackle the issue and to help all young people to thrive we need to think differently and look to solutions capable of creating step change improvements in mental resilience and the well-being of every child. Thousands of years of psychology/philosophy highlight how well-being can be broken down into two areas; hedonistic well-being and psychological well-being. The former involves seeking pleasure for oneself and creates short-term happiness (e.g. eating cake). The latter focuses on leading a meaningful/purposeful life, for instance by doing good for others, communities and the planet. As social animals this connects directly with our inner-self (and our intrinsic desire to do good for others) and is well known to lead to a fulfilling life and, paradoxically, to long-term happiness too.

The Good Turns Foundation directly focuses on improving psychological well-being, by recognising and rewarding the good young people do for others, for communities and the environment. To do this the Foundation is introducing a new measure of good, called Good Points®, which has unique and meaningful sub-categories too.

For instance, by walking to school young people earn Climate Points® and by cleaning the school playground and surrounding parks/countryside/beaches they'll earn Environment Points® too. By joining befriending groups and antibullying initiatives they’ll earn Community Points®, by supporting groups/charities they'll earn Volunteer Points®/Charity Points®, and by supporting one another Mentoring Points®/Tutoring Points® too. In addition to this, young people earn Character/Personality Points® for demonstrating skills such as leadership, teamwork, resilience, resourcefulness and creativity (e.g, Leadership Points®, Teamwork Points®, Resilience Points®, Creative Points® etc) and earn Health Points® for engaging in exercise/sport (e.g. the school mile), mental wellbeing activities and healthy eating (e.g. Exercise Points®, Wellbeing Points®, Nutrition Points®).

History highlights the power/importance of stories, and by introducing Good Points® (which is part of the Jewel of a School® system) young people start to create their own unique story and to shout out loud about their thousands of good points too! The Foundation will also provide detailed/objective references for all the good they do, something forward looking enterprises so desperately look for and yet is so difficult to find (many try to find this out by looking to see what people do in their spare time)! Psychology also points to the fact that the most important story of all, the one our mind tells itself every single day, has by itself the unique power to transform a person’s well-being and increase their opportunity to thrive.

The Times Education Commission report highlighted many more key areas for the future too; including the growing importance of character/skills, volunteering and connecting with communities, nurturing creativity and unleashing untapped talent, and creating an army of volunteer tutors too. These also align very well with what the Foundation has planned, for instance through the introduction of further Jewel of a School® initiatives including The Creative Crew®, Finding You® and Tutor the Future® programmes.

Through partnership with forward-looking organisations/schools we will pilot these initiatives, starting with the Good Points System™. This will help address the forgotten third, provide hope and opportunity to all young people and create step change improvements in mental well-being. Early findings from pre-pilots already re-enforce this and what the Times Commission has found, with parents clearly stating they would choose a school prioritising well-being, the development of character/skills and doing good for others, over any other attributes ...

• "As a parent, when searching for schools I would choose the school that rewards good, over all others. I believe that schools should focus on creating well rounded individuals not just academic talents"

• "The 'Jewel of a School' is such a simple idea but a very powerful robust tool to help our young people thrive and be rewarded for doing good. I have no hesitation in saying that the 'Jewel of a School' is going to be as important as School league tables"

• "I love the idea of 'Jewel of a School' as it would help develop my child to be a more rounded individual and help get recognised for the Good that they do for the community. I would definitely choose a School with the Good Points System"

The Commission's report provides additional background and support to the work we're doing ... and by partnering with like-minded individuals and organisations we are now bringing this to life ... to provide hope and opportunity and to change people's lives for the better ...

David Clift, Founder of the Good Turns Foundation

© Good Turns Foundation 2022    [GTF30062022_01]