A courageous advocate is someone who uses their voice and actions to make a positive difference in the world, stand up for something or someone they believe in and to make a difference. 

Life is full of ups and downs and at times all people will face challenges they need help and support in overcoming. Courageous advocacy enables pupils and our school community to develop a greater awareness of the challenges others face and how they, as individuals, can support causes and make a difference in our school community, locally, nationally and globally.

All acts of courageous advocacy at Marchwood are driven by our school's Christian vision. We want our children to thrive and 'live life in all it's fullness' (John 10:10). We cannot have a vision of this for our children without getting our pupils to think about injustice and inequality in the world and standing up for people so that everyone in the world can thrive. Our vision sets out our desire for pupils to love each other and love God’s world. It focuses on instilling in pupils the courage to take risks and stand up for their beliefs and the desire to make a positive difference.

Underpinned by our core Christian values of Love, Courage and Hope, we consider how we can work so that everyone in the world can 'live life in all it's fullness'. This is something that goes beyond fundraising and charity work. 

Home

Helping at home could include feeding family pets, helping with age appropriate chores such as making beds, laying or clearing the table, reading a younger sibling a bedtime story, gardening; there are lots of things our children can do at home. 

School

Children were challenged to raise £20.25 in 2025 for the school by undertaking sponsored activities. 

Children, families and staff participate in our 'Spruce Up Saturday' to improve the school grounds. 

Our school councillors work together to organise charity events throughout the year, encourage pupils to respect and care for the school environment and find ways to make the school a better place for everyone. 

Some of our children are trained as play leaders, supporting playtimes and leading games with the other children. 

Our Red Caps are responsible for looking after the toys at playtime and helping to put them away at the end of each break time. 

Local Community

Children and their families are asked to nominate our annual charity. These nominations are discussed and voted on by our school council, enabling us to support those of significance for our children and families. These are some of the charities we have supported over the last three years. 

Classes plan and prepare our annual Harvest service at St John the Apostle church. We donate produce to the Waterside Food Bank. 

We have worked with the local hedgehog rescue to find out more about how to look after them. 

We are in the process of becoming Simon Says Champion School, demonstrating our commitment to supporting bereaved children and families. We foster a bereavement-aware culture, provide staff training and have built a bereavement toolkit. Mrs Jerome fundraised over £800 for the charity by climbing Mount Snowdon. 

We encourage the children to support the vulnerable members of all ages within their local community. Our school choir visited the local care home at Christmas to sing for the elderly residents.

Our Year 2 children support our collection for Remembrance Day, taking poppies to classes and collecting donations.

Our children care about their local environment and ensure it is litter free for the enjoyment of local residents.

We encourage the children to be proud of both their village and school community by representing their school at sports fixtures and events. We have participated in a range of different events, including Quadkids, Racquets Festival, Cross Country and Football tournaments. 

We help our pupils understand that help can be needed by anyone at any time. The children have run a pre-loved toy swap before Christmas. This helped support their families to reduce costs at Christmas and promoted recycling to protect God's world. 

Wider World

We teach our children that it is important to help others, regardless of where they come from or what their challenges are. This is taught in many different ways; through our work on values, through links to the Bible, stories from other faiths and world views as well as learning about other courageous advocates. 

Curriculum experiences help children understand the world, their place in it and how they can make positive changes. Children learn about communities, world events and people in history and present day who have shown courage and compassion whilst acting courageously to make the world a better place. 

Participating in a range of charity fundraising and awareness events such also supports this work.