AN academy focused on developing its students as good citizens who contribute positively to society has teamed up with one of the world's leading experts on character-first education.
Professor Tom Lickona travelled from the United States to Trinity Academy, in Thorne, where students are taking part in a pilot to help develop his learning programme that could be used in schools globally.
Developing character is at the heart of the academy's ethos and is demonstrated in its core values that are explained on a card given to all students.
The link with Prof Lickona, which came about through Professor Mark Pike, head of the School of Education at Leeds University and a governor at Trinity, is putting the academy at the forefront of character-first education.
Described as "the father of character-first education", developmental psychologist Prof Lickona is the author of eight books on character development and appeared on the cover of the New York Times magazine for his book 'Teaching Johnny To Be Good'.
He is director of the Center for the 4th and 5th Rs (Respect and Responsibility) at SUNY (State University of New York) at Cortland and has been a visiting professor at Harvard and Boston Universities.
In an assembly at Trinity Academy, he told students: "If you look around at who is really fulfilled in life and who is really successful, character is the key to that; it's the key to self-respect and respect of other people; it's the key to achievement and happiness. In every area of life, character counts."
Asked by principal David Page how to obtain good character, he said: "You need a goal to be the best human being you can be, and wake up in the morning ready to make a positive difference to the world around you and to life of others.
"You need a plan, then it's about practice to form good habits and then recreate them by the choices you make every single day."
He told the students: "To get good character takes a lot of hard work and you are the chief architect. Adults can give you good advice but in the end it's an inside job."
Afterwards Prof Lickona joined a Year 9 English class where students discussed and gave him feedback on a learning pack he has developed.
The Narnian Virtues Project, which is funded by the John Templeton Foundation and Dr Pike and Trinity teacher Katy Hill developed with Prof Lickona, requires students to read extracts from books, identify examples of vice and virtue among the characters and discuss how they can develop those virtues in themselves.
Mr Page and other senior colleagues in the Emmanuel Schools Foundation (ESF) also attended a presentation by Prof Lickona on character-first education at Leeds University.
Executive Principal of ESF Jonathan Winch added: “We're all out for academic excellence at Trinity Academy, but we care even more about character. We believe that our talents are gifts from God and that we have a responsibility to use them in the service of others.”