Recognising UK schools' efforts to become safe & empowered spaces for learning about tough issues
Applications are now open! We're looking for 10 new schools to join The Olive Branch Award for the upcoming academic year! Join this growing community of like-minded teachers and schools by signing up via the form below.
The Olive Branch Award supports schools to become safe and empowered spaces to talk and learn about tough issues through focusing on four key skills; active listening, empathy, critical thinking, and social and emotional learning. Schools can join and collect leaves for their Olive Branch by participating in SNS sessions and exclusive new programmes for teachers and students. It is a holistic approach for the school to embed a culture of learning, listening, and reflection on Israel - Palestine over a three year period, achieving full SNS accreditation at the end.
Click Here to download the full information pack to the Olive Branch Award and Click Here for the Olive Branch Award Journey.
The Olive Branch Award Journey
How does it work?
Once a school has applied to The Olive Branch Award, alongside this welcome pack, which has all the information you need to get started, you'll receive some printed materials to help you get a display underway. You can then sign up for certain programmes throughout the academic year, and send in evidence of completing programmes in order to receive the next leaf on your branch. SNS will send you new graphics and certificates for each branch. You’ll receive a framework to self-monitor progress, and the Founder and Director of SNS will support you with an evaluation process. There are over 15 different programmes to choose from and full accreditation is reached once you have done 10 of these programmes over three years and you can choose whichever ones you like. Schools need to get at least three new leaves a year in order to retain their Olive Branch Award status over the three years of their journey.
How many teachers should be involved?
Schools should nominate one teacher to be the lead teacher on The Olive Branch Award, but multiple teachers are welcome to run the programmes and attend events.
What are the programmes?
Why do schools sign up for three years?
We ask participating schools to commit to the Award for three years because we have observed from focus groups and focus schools that real cultural and organisational shifts, which have an impact within an institutional setting, require at least three years of active work. The implementation of new policies, training, and skills amongst the teaching staff, and changes to PHSE curriculums take time to settle. In addition, SNS is offering multiple programmes that are best implemented step by step over consecutive years.
How much work is it?
We ask for schools to commit to at least 3 leaves in a school year. Beyond this, the initiative is designed to be as low or high commitment as schools see fit within their needs and within their timetables. Several of the programmes can take place within normal school lessons and are programmes that schools are already doing, and others are self-run student projects, or once a year events. You can also receive DIY leaves.
These are the life skills that the Olive Branch Award focuses on. These are designed for students, but teachers and parents alike can also benefit from better understanding and engaging in training of these skills. Whilst there are many other practical skills that the Olive Branch Award programmes provide such as public speaking, debating, researching, and knowledge on Israel - Palestine, these are the ‘soft’ skills that are important for life.
The Education Policy Institute defines Social and Emotional Learning as “is concerned with fostering children’s social and emotional skills within educational settings, alongside their academic skills. This can include developing young people’s relationships, communication, decision-making, self-esteem and behaviour.”. It focuses on Self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. The Olive Branch Award seeks to address the challenge of delivering this - lack of prep and classroom time - by integrating SEL within the programmes which can be done throughout the school year and which also address other curriculum needs. These curriculum needs are particularly relevant within Geography, History, RS, PHSE, and Politics.
Active Listening
Active Listening is the skill of concentrating and working to understand what is being said by those who are speaking or communicating. It is about:
It connects to social and emotional learning in better understanding the emotions of others. It can help with developing empathy and helps to respect and celebrate diversity and difference with comfort. The National Literacy Trust lists Active Listening as a vital skill in their Oracy and Talk For Learning guide. Being able to fully listen to what is being said and understand the nuances of communication is a vital skill for all sorts of work and careers that students may go on to do later in life. Many things distract us in modern life, and active listening is a skill that many adults do not yet practice including educators. After reading this, why not try to engage in active listening in the next conversation you have and see what difference it makes to that interaction?
The Olive Branch Award includes the fostering of this skill for teachers and for students through the various programmes on offer including the Part 3 session, the Student Leadership Programme, the teacher community, and the annual teacher conference.