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Dirt Is Good Schools Pilot Programme

Powering up young people to take positive action for a better world

Dirt Is Good aims to enable young people to take action on the environmental and social causes they care about.

Future Foundations has been selected to be the UK National Delivery Partner for the Persil Dirt Is Good Schools Programme, working in partnership with Global Action Plan.

This will be a new fully funded programme, which will support primary and secondary schools, to engage their students in taking action on social and environmental issues, read the announcement.

The programme has been designed based on international research by Global Action Plan. Through collaborative social action the Dirt Is Good School’s programme aims to narrow the values perception gap to bring about cohesive communities of change.  

The programme is aimed at primary and secondary schools (KS2 and KS3) and includes the opportunity for CPD training for teachers on coaching.

This opportunity, is an excellent way to support students wellbeing, and to help them to develop soft skills, work in teams with their peers and feel part of a community.

We are currently running a pilot of the programme with 13 schools from across the UK. The pilot programme has been designed to be delivered within COVID-19 restrictions.

We started with a live Launch Event on the 22nd April (Earth Day), where students and teachers were introduced to the programme. The schools then began working through the programme handbook to plan and run their own Dirt Is Good Projects. The Pilot will conclude with a Celebration Event on the 7th July, where all of our schools will come together to share all the work they have done!

Feedback from the Pilot will help to develop and improve the main programme. This is to be launched in the Autumn term and Registrations are now open! 

Please read below for more information on the Pilot and to register for the Dirt Is Good Schools Programme.

The programme is based on international research:

Read the full Research Whitepaper

Programme Design Principles

The Dirt Is Good schools programme enables young people to take action on the environmental and social causes they care about. Drawing on international research, our design principles are as follows:

  • We don’t tell young people what to take action on 
  • They are not picking an action from a list written for them by adults 
  • They choose what to focus on, based on what they feel is important 

Young people enjoy taking positive action: Getting stuck in feels fun and important. But helping them to learn new skills and develop kindness and empathy is just as important.

Dirt Is Good will help your young people feel that they have a role to play and that we are all united in compassion. They will go on a journey and become Changemakers for life.

Find out more about the programme's ethos & values
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The Dirt Is Good schools pilot programme will include the following elements:

  • Launch event (22nd April): We will deliver a live event and provide resources to support the launch of the programme in your school  
  • Dirt Is Good Groups Form (April to May): Using the Dirt Is Good handbook and resources your students will form Dirt Is Good project groups and plan a project  
  • Reflection (27th May): We will invite your students to take part in a a live facilitated focus group  
  • Dirt Is Good Group Action: Your students will put their project into action 
  • Submission deadline (30th June): We ask all groups to share with us evidence of the activities they have completed 
  • Celebration (7th July): We will deliver a live celebration event bringing together all participating schools 

We will also invite teachers and parents to attend focus groups.

Please note: If a date or time does not work let us know, we have flexibility to adapt the elements to your school’s timetable.

Why take part?

  • Collective action: bring together groups of young people to get stuck in on a project 
  • Quality resources: access to a range of quality resources for Key Stage 2 and 3
  • Improve wellbeing: support development and improve well-being in young people 
  • Make compassion the norm: help embed a culture of compassion, care and cooperation at your school 

We will provide support:

  • CPD for Teacher (s):  We will deliver ‘coach’ training to help supporting teachers develop the skills and understanding of the content to best support your students
  • Live events (3 hours): We will deliver two live training sessions for your students to help launch Dirt Is Good and celebrate collective action in the programme
  • Dirt Is Good Handbook & Curriculum content: You will have access to session content to help you support your students get stuck in (you choose when, where and how this is delivered)

The Dirt Is Good Schools Programme will be launched in the Autumn Term and Applications are now open!

CLICK HERE TO REGSITER

If you have any questions  please contact our Dirt Is Good School’s Programme team at Future Foundations, at

dirtisgood@future-foundations.co.uk

Help us shape the future of the Dirt Is Good Schools Programme

Taking part in this pilot will mean your school will have a pivotal role in how the future programme will look across the UK and world!

As part of the Persil Dirt Is Good Project, Ashley Banjo meets young people taking action on causes they care about, inspiring others to roll up their sleeves and take part too. Watch the full episode below!