Education Today Education Today Magazine
Girls at a primary school in Bath have been leaving notes of kindness for their classmates as part an afterschool
initiative which is sparking friendships and building confidence. The Mighty Girls afterschool club is held at St Martin’s Garden Primary School in Bath. The club provides pupils with the opportunity to nurture their love for each other while becoming champions of their community. The organisation is led by the girls, who choose a theme they would like to explore each week and plan activities together. One such activity is leaving notes of kindness and encouragement for their class. Clare Brown, who runs Mighty Girls, explained: “They made lots of little notes and hid them in the drawers of the children in their classes so when they start in the morning, there are little random notes of kindness, and they really enjoyed that.” In another session the girls showered each other with compliments and recently took part in a catwalk, known as a ‘hype walk’, in which each girl took turns to walk up and down while her peers shouted words of encouragement. The notes and hype walks are just two ways the youngsters have been empowering their classmates and making friends, as well as improving their communication skills. The community-minded youngsters have already held outdoor sessions including nature surveys of the grounds at the school and litter picks.
They have recently taken part in book clubs by reviewing and recommending books to their classmates. There are also plans to learn traditional crafts such as sewing, upcycling clothes, as well as repairing items and cooking. One of the main priorities for Mighty Girls is creating and boosting friendships particularly among Year Six girls. It is funded through the pupil premium grant which provides services to improve educational outcomes. The club has become an overwhelming success with encouraging feedback from the children. Clare added: “The club provides a space for girls to be able to share and talk about things that matter to them. The feedback from the girl is that the club is exciting, fun and encouraging. “The main purpose is to boost friendships, empowering and encouraging girls to find their voices. We select a Mighty Woman of the Week. And I’m hoping as time goes on, they will start to recognise other sort of strong women in society that they can put forward. We recently spoke about Malala Yousafzai. Malala is a fantastic role model for encouraging girls into education.” Head teacher Becky Wilson said: “We are delighted to see our pupils building even stronger relationships with each other. They are a credit to our school. “The Mighty Girls Club is providing our girls with excellent opportunities to get involved in the community whilst taking part in confidence boosting activities. It is also providing them with extra curricular activities which will really help their education outcomes.” Mighty Girls is hoping to branch into other local schools and encourage older girls to attend the club and share their own experiences.
