Character strengths sessions.

Our strengths are those things that we are good at, which we enjoy doing and which make us feel most like ourselves when we are using them. There are two types of strength: character strengths and talents/abilities. A character strength is also known as a virtue: it is an ability to achieve something of moral value. For example, courage is a character strength which might help a person to overcome something evil, such as having the courage to stand up to a bully. A talent or ability is where we are able to achieve something of practical value, such as playing a sport, producing works of art, fixing cars or being a good salesperson. For more detailed notes on strengths, please click here.

In this sense, our character strengths are like a toolkit that we can dip into to get things done or make things happen in life. For this reason, using character strengths is an excellent way of addressing some of the issues that young people come up against. Instead of trying to equip young people with dry facts that effect no change, or trying to scare them with horror stories in the vain hope that they will avoid whatever it is we want them to avoid, the aim is to help them recognise the strengths of character they already possess which could help them make better decisions in difficult situations. The aim is also to help them to build the character strengths that they will rely on as their lives unfold.

The 4th, 5th and 6th Form students all have 5, 1 hour character strengths sessions with their tutor over the course of an academic year covering topics from smoking to making a positive difference to the world. The sessions and the resources that support them can be found in the table below. Simply click on the session you want, and you'll be taken to another page with the resources on. For an overview of the format of each session, please click here.

For the powerpoint show presented to tutors introducing character strengths, please click here.