Easton Royal Academy becomes a National School of Character 

Easton Royal Academy has been awarded the National School of Character quality mark by the Association of Character Education. This national recognition follows a comprehensive two-year process of development, self-reflection, and external assessment.

As part of the assessment, the school hosted a full day visit from an external assessor, who interviewed staff, pupils, parents, and governors to gain a full picture of the school’s culture and approach to character education.

Beck Stubbs, Principal of Easton Royal Academy explained, “This award marks the culmination of a whole-school journey which began by bringing everyone together to explore what truly matters to them. From these conversations, seven core values emerged and were wonderfully illustrated for us by well-known children’s illustrator, Catriona Tyrwhitt, forming the foundation for the school’s character education framework.”

Project leader and class teacher, Julie McKay, said, “Our motto is ‘Excellence & Adventure” and this really means something to us – we want to provide inspirational experiences that help develop the whole child and encourages everyone to be themselves.  Everyone in the school community came together to ask: what do we want our children to be like when they leave us? What kind of people do we hope they become? From there, we carefully developed a shared language around character that now shapes everything we do.”     

The school then embarked on a process of defining what these values would look like in action across different stages of a child’s education — identifying the specific attributes and behaviours that would represent a child’s full engagement with the school’s values.

On the intensive assessment day, the Association of Character Education praised the school for “clear and authentic vision for character development” and the way this vision is “embedded across all areas of school life.”

Beck Stubbs commented, “This award places Easton Royal Academy among a select group of schools nationally recognised for outstanding practice in character education and we will now be helping to support other schools who join the network. If your school would like to be involved, please contact Easton Royal Academy on 01672810477.”