Leadership Specialism

Our Leadership specialism is at the heart of everything we do. Our students learn all about their rights, roles and responsibilities as young leaders in Britain and the world today.

At Eden, we strongly believe that the leaders of tomorrow must be nurtured through positive experiences today, that it is not enough simply to teach about good leadership, but that it must be experienced; and that the greater individuality and self-reflectivity one fosters within a young person through a personalised and experiential curriculum in leadership, the more rewards there are in terms of personal development and attainment.

Key Leadership Activities

Student Leadership Roles

Student leaders are recruited throughout the school in a number of roles.

The purpose of student leaders is to:

• Provide the perspective of learners into decision-making within the school;
• Support the school in managing key events, processes and groups of students; and
• Develop autonomy and ownership within the student body.

All student leaders are:

• Elected by peers or selected by teachers and school leaders following a recruitment process.
• Provided with training on their role, key responsibilities and leadership skills.
• Managed by a middle or senior leader.

Student Council

Members of the Student Council are elected by their peers and meet with the Chair of Governors or a senior leader on their behalf on a half-termly basis.  The meetings allow students to:

• Provide feedback from their peers on key events and initiatives in school.
• Influence the planning and delivery of forthcoming events and activities.
• Raise concerns on all areas of the school.

The meetings, and their wider role as members of the Student Council, develop students as leaders by developing skills in:

• Building consensus;
• Evaluating and rationalising conflicting feedback that they receive from their peers;
• And being able to persuade others at the Student Council of the merits of their point of view.

Star Baccalaureate

The purpose of the Tauheedul Baccalaureate programme is to encourage learners to develop their performance, moral and civic leadership – rewarding them for attending fully and working hard in lessons, showing excellent character and manners in and around school and showing a commitment to their local community.

Duke of Edinburgh Award

Each year, the school delivers the Bronze Level of the Duke of Edinburgh Award.  The programme involves a range of activities – including volunteering, physical assessments, orienteering activities, a residential and an expedition.

The activities – managed and coordinated by the school – enable students to develop leadership skills relating to working in a team, receiving and giving instructions, communication, mental fortitude and perseverance and social and self-awareness.

Student Newsletter

Each year, student journalists are recruited and autonomously produce a termly magazine (“The Edonian”) which reports on the activities within school as well as the important themes and issues of the day.    There is a student editor, who will commission stories and manage a team of journalists from across the school.   The magazine is shared with students, staff, Governors and parents – and added to the website.

As part of the process, students develop important skills relating to leadership – such as articulacy, interviewing, communicating, meeting deadlines, judicious reporting and empathy.

Holocaust Memorial

Each January, the school marks the Holocaust.

Between 1941 and 1945, the Nazis attempted to annihilate all of Europe’s Jews. This systematic and planned attempt to murder European Jewry is known as the Holocaust (‘HaShoah’ or ‘The Catastrophe’ in Hebrew).  Over the course of four years, six million Jewish men, women and children perished in ghettos, mass-shootings, concentration camps and extermination camps.

Each year, on January 27th, students and staff at Tauheedul remember the victims of the Holocaust and the many subsequent genocides.

As well as the exhibition and special assemblies delivered by descendants of Holocaust survivors, students join learners from other schools to attend a special ceremony to mark the Holocaust at the Town Hall.

Working with the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, our Youth Champions led a series of events to commemorate the Holocaust.

These included assemblies, artwork, workshops led by the family of holocaust survivors and representing the school at the town’s memorial event.