THERE is a new breed of heroes in Kearsley, working to address issues and concerns among schoolchildren and the wider community.

And it is not a new community task force or emergency service, but rather the pupils at Kearsley Academy who, alongside their academic studies, are learning how they can become leaders and make a difference.

The school in Springside Road has embarked on the Humatopia programme, a course developed to develop young people’s leadership qualities and help them understand their important role in school and the society they live in to bring about necessary changes.

A number of year ten pupils have put themselves forward as “heroes”

to tackle concerns and bring about change.

Within days of the training programme starting, traditional high school cliques are on the way out and pupils are keen to meet members of the community, both adults and children, establish more school activities and meet “heroes”

of other schools.

Hero Aiden Whitehead, aged 14, said: “We realised that we can make a difference by doing little things, like making sure everyone is included and understanding how issues like bullying affect people.”

Fellow hero Bethany Goodier, aged 14, added: “It is all about getting along with each other.”

As part of the programme, which will run throughout the year, a “safe and secure” environment was created where young people forsook their bravado and spoke openly and shared their feelings with each other to reveal “themselves”, as well as letting their peers know that their aspirations and ambitions are leading to a deeper understanding between different young people who might not have spoken much before.

Techniques to allow young people to express themselves are also being developed, including “filling my bin”, used to make someone understand they are causing them stress so that they stop, allowing that person to “empty their bin”.

The pupils say the initiative is leading to a stronger support network in their year group, which ultimately impacts on their academic education.

And as all heroes are role models, pupils have unexpectedly realised that they are too.

Not only did they find themselves working with year sevens in the workshops, but also with primary school children, including those at St Stephen Primary School, Kearsley.

“We do have a lot of responsibility because we have realised we are role models to these young people,”

said Aiden.

Bethany added: “It was really good to talk to children.”

Advanced skills teacher Sharon Powell said the programme was cementing and expanding what the school was already doing.

“It has just been amazing, the feedback from pupils has been so positive,” she said. “They want to lead assemblies, have meetings with teachers and say they want to make time for other people.

“They have said taking part in something like this has increased their confidence.

“Creating a calmer and more relaxed atmosphere will have a positive impact on how pupils perform academically.”